For the legal community, the current moment resembles the early days of the Covid pandemic in one respect: rules, policies and norms are in a constant state of flux.

“When we were getting executive orders from state governments (during Covid), it was a similar environment, where we were up late at night interpreting orders, figuring out what they mean and what’s the impact to clients, so we could advise them on next steps,” said Paige Spratt, an attorney at Schwabe’s Portland office specializing in real estate and construction.

“It still feels chaotic,” she said. “There are a lot of unknowns. It’s always uncomfortable to say we’re all figuring this out.”

The legal and business communities are attempting to stay on top of the head-spinning barrage of executive orders issuing from the Trump White House on everything from immigration to tariffs and trade to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to trade policy. Schwabe launched an executive orders team composed of attorneys at its offices across the country, posting blogs as issues emerge and offering a first 30-days webinar, to be followed by “first 60” and “first 90” to track new developments.

“What people are feeling and hearing is concern about the lack of predictability and not knowing what’s going to happen next,” said Brad Maier, a Schwabe attorney in Portland who focuses on workplace and immigration.

Read the full article in the Portland Business Journal.

A portion of this article was republished with permission from the Portland Business Journal.

This article summarizes aspects of the law and does not constitute legal advice. For legal advice for your situation, you should contact an attorney.