Biglaw Partner Treated To 37-Day Quarantine As China Launches New COVID Lockdowns
Perkins Coie partner having a disastrous time getting back to work in Beijing.
China — the O.G. superspreader — is still deeply concerned about COVID-19 and prepared to take drastic measures to keep a lid on the virus. It’s a pointed contrast to the United States, where we allow a Jones Day associate with a copy of a 1940s dictionary to strip the Centers for Disease Control of public health authority, while China’s still responding to even the hint of viral outbreak with full lockdowns and lengthy quarantines.
One suspects there’s probably a middle ground where countries have a vaccine mandate and otherwise get back to work, but it’s 2022 and we can’t have nice things so you have to choose between totalitarian lockdowns and letting Karen launch unvaccinated spittle into your face while she explains why schools need to be more balanced when teaching the Civil War.
In any event, the lockdowns in China ensnared one Biglaw partner who found himself stranded in a quarantine hotel when the country imposed new restrictions this spring.
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Forbes has an interview with Perkins Coie partner James Zimmerman, who has worked in China for almost a quarter century, but found himself locked up when he tried to return home after Christmas.
Zimmerman flew to the United States for heart surgery and, after recovery, began the trek back to Beijing. He only made it to Shanghai before COVID policy caught up with him. After 22 days in Shanghai, he’s now gotten permission to get back to Beijing, but he’s still not free to go home and instead relegated to a quarantine hospital:
“The State Department needs to release another advisory that warns people that they might end up in central quarantine for 37 days, like me,” Zimmerman said in an email exchange today. “It’s not just a manageable 14 days. But given the lack of transparency of China’s policies, even the U.S. government is having a challenging time predicting the unpredictable.”
While the food is improving for Zimmerman after he complained about the rotting fruit, the heart patient really needs to be transported back to his home. But the Chinese government doesn’t have much time for nuance:
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The government’s reaction to the outbreak in Shanghai the past month is a textbook example of China’s clumsy policy decision-making process. When someone at the top shouted to shut down the city, that is all that the local officials needed to hear. Nobody thought to evaluate the practical consequences of such draconian measures. What did they expect when, without warning, they locked down a city of 27 million people, and then wonder why there was a rush of panic buying and no food to feed the masses? Logistics matter. And the same thing is unfolding in Beijing this week.
It’s a reminder that there are a lot of moving parts in responding to a crisis and without thinking through all of the consequences, one bold move just screws up a hundred other concerns. This is the sort of thing a responsive government that gives administrative deference to professional planners can avoid — to the tune of turning in booming growth during a pandemic — but the Framers didn’t put the word “mRNA” anywhere in the Constitution so I guess that’s a no go.
Meanwhile, Zimmerman has some pointed thoughts about how all this bodes for the future of Chinese business investment:
On the overall impact for the foreign business community, my assessment is that foreign business – and that includes from the U.S. and EU – is starting to question how this government is managing the economy, the pandemic, and its geopolitical relationships. While no one in the foreign business community wants to talk about decoupling or divestment, there clearly is a strong inclination to take a closer – and more critical look – at the business environment.
And where foreign investment goes, so goes Biglaw in China.
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American Lawyer Quarantined For 37 Days In China Describes ‘Chaotic’ Environment [Forbes]
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
