New York State currently mandates wearing a face covering when people are outside home and unable to maintain six feet of distance from others. Throughout New York, there are simple signs posted and dots on the ground.
Wear a face covering.
Seems clear enough.
Oh, but it’s not.
This weekend, when wondering around Downtown Brooklyn, I noticed various interpretations of New York State’s face covering mandate. I saw ’80s-style sweatbands, chin supports, and several folded mask bracelets.
I was curious as to who was technically complying with the letter of the law. And so, like a good lawyer, I dug into the mandate.
New York State’s mandate is more specific than the public posters. It contains two pages defining a “face covering,” detailing when and who needs to wear one, outlining what the covering may and may not be made of, explaining what needs to be covered (nose and mouth), and providing other best practices.
I wish I had been in the Zoom room when the mandate drafters (likely lawyers) predicted my Brooklyn stroll. During an edit, I envision a senior member of the mandate writing team saying something like, “If we just tell New Yorkers to wear a face covering, they may dangle a paper mask from their ear.”
The next time I’m asked why attorneys tend to be verbose when writing policies or contracts, I’ll talk about the Brooklyn fashion statements. Lawyers must contemplate the edge cases. We must remember those who focus on technicalities instead of using good faith to comply with the spirit of the language. In an ideal world, we could keep legal writing as simple as a sign on the street or a line on the pavement; but with simplicity comes vagueness and wiggle room. And that’s not always the best for a client (or for public health).
After all, Americans, New Yorkers, and Baby Unicorns, tend to push boundaries.
Sarah was the General Counsel / first Lawyer at Etsy and Vroom. She’s a co-founder of The Fourth Floor, a creator and producer of Legal Madness, an NYU Law School Engelberg Center fellow, a board member, an investor, and a speaker. You can also find Sarah hammering silver, eating candy, and chasing her child. sarahfeingold.com.