“I’ve become a therapist,” said Terence Hanley, whose hospitality accounting firm in Brooklyn serves more than 50 restaurants. “Weekends mean nothing now.”

Most chefs and restaurateurs ask him about the same few issues. “The number one concern is, can I take care of my people?” Mr. Hanley said. “And unfortunately, the answer is, no, you can’t. That was the first few horrible days. A couple of people are trying to give it a go with takeout and delivery with limited success, or no success at all.”

Jasmine Moy, an attorney in Manhattan who specializes in hospitality law, said in an email that she, too, had received “a barrage of inquiries” about layoffs. Her clients also had questions about paid sick leave and visas for workers from other countries.

Fielding these calls filled some of the time that used to be taken up in negotiating new restaurant deals. Last week and the week before, she said, about half of those deals “basically died on the spot.”

Ms. Moy said that once the urgent employee issues had been handled, she expected to spend the next few months in one of two ways. For restaurants that are reopening, she said, she will try to get rent abatements or deferrals. For the restaurants that go out of business for good, her job will be “the assignment of lease and sale of assets,” she said.

“I don’t have any idea at this point how many will fall into that bucket,” Ms. Moy added. “But hopefully they will be few and far between.”