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4 ¦ SEPTEMBER 7, 2020 NEWS

¦ From THREE NEW on PAGE 1 Forrest said the two, who opened for business
he received for working full time with his brother: with McPadden out of Waterbury and Forrest out
“Let the insults out in the morning over a cup of cof- of a temporary location in Wethersfield on July 1,
fee and proceed with the rest of your day.” said negotiating for a new space is now being done
Ron Etemi said he and his brother, both person- virtually and via email. The end result, he said, is a
al injury attorneys, were lucky not to have opened waiting game.
during March or April, when COVID-19 was rela- Forrest said he expects the firm to have a perma-
tively new. If they had, he said, business would have nent Wethersfield home later this month. “We are
stalled. They opened for business Aug. 1. negotiating all the contracts for the services, leasing
“Ballpark-wise, about 60% of our business are mo- and subleasing virtually when they’d normally be
tor vehicle cases,” Ron Etemi said. “If we began our done one-on-one in person,” he said. “It’s just more
firm back in the spring, business could have been difficult this way and that’s because of COVID.”
down or not have been steady
because people were simply not
driving. People, though, are back Uptick
Tony Interlandi teamed up with
to business as usual.” his friend Daniel Sieden to open
up Monarch Law LLC on Aug.
No Zoom? No problem Some Connecticut attorneys 1. Both attorneys handle em-
Also on the move: attorney Les- are responding to the ployment law, while Sieden also
ley McPadden, who went from COVID-19 pandemic by focuses on real estate. Interlandi
being a Waterbury solo practitio- is based out of Hartford and his
ner to teaming up with Matthew stepping out into unknown partner is based out of Milford.
challenges, leaving

Forrest of Wethersfield. The firm their former places of Interlandi said COVID-19 has

is known as Forrest McPadden. employment to start their given both an uptick in business.
McPadden handles personal inju- own law firms. “As far as the employment
ry and medical malpractice while piece, many people are being let
Forrest’s specialty includes gen- go from their jobs because of CO-
eral property damage cases. The VID, so we are busy,” Interlandi
firm also has hired attorney Marc said Tuesday. “There are also
Ubaldi. many unemployment appeals.”
One obstacle the pandemic accelerated, both But Interlandi said the pandemic affected their
agree, is dealing with elderly clients. banking, and their ability to establish their law firm.
“Many of the elderly clients are just not comfort- “It took a little longer than usual to get our busi-
able with Zoom, so we try to coordinate on how to ness up and running,” he said.
meet with them so it’s safe for everyone,” McPadden Seeing a banker to set up the firm’s IOLTA, as well
said Tuesday. “It’s not like it used to be where they’d as the firm’s credit and debit cards was delayed be-
go to the office; many don’t want to do that. So, we cause of short staffing at their bank.
meet them in person, but we socially distance.” “As a result of the pandemic, they had less staff
Forrest said he’s representing a 92-year-old client and limited hours,” Interlandi said. “There was an
in Litchfield who had 400 gallons of oil spill in his obstacle there. We did, though, get everything re-
basement. “No way, will he do this virtually,” Forrest solved in less than two weeks.”
said. “I will be going all the way to his home and will ¦

meet him outside, all socially distancing.” Robert Storace covers legal trends, lawsuits and
One major challenge made worse because of CO- analysis for the Connecticut Law Tribune. Follow
VID-19, Forrest said, is for the firm’s partners to get him on Twitter @RobertSCTLaw or reach him at
a permanent space to work in Wethersfield. 203-437-5950.

CONNECTICUT
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