Massachusetts' top court held Wednesday that evidentiary hearings can be conducted virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic without violating a criminal defendant's state and constitutional rights, ruling on an issue of first impression for the Bay State.

In July, Michelle Rick, then a circuit-court judge in two Michigan counties, tweeted cheerily about a divorce she’d recently finalized. The participants had appeared in court via their smartphones.

January 2021 proved to be the deadliest month of the COVID-19 pandemic so far for Los Angeles County, with more than 6,400 deaths. Included are three Los Angeles County Superior Court employees—two Spanish-language interpreters and one court clerk. 

For Denver-based litigator Theresa Wardon Benz, conducting remote proceedings from home just didn’t feel the same as going to an actual courtroom.

New York state Chief Judge Janet DiFiore on Monday announced that court leaders are taking the indefinite postponement of in-person jury trials announced last week as “an opportunity to dramatically expand the number of virtual trials conducted across our state court system.”

It was something many lawyers predicted at the start of the pandemic would never happen: a federal civil jury trial conducted live over the internet, with the judge, the lawyers and the members of the jury all in different locations.

Zoom became the favorite video conferencing platform for law firms at just the right time, jumping from a preferred choice at 34% of firms in 2019 to 71% in 2020, according to a study released Tuesday by the International Legal Technology Association

Perkins Coie’s in-house trial consultant Karen Lisko says that most jurors participating in an Arizona mock virtual civil trial claimed that the format put them more at ease and allowed them to answer questions more candidly.

The third virtual asbestos trial in Northern California starts Monday, while jurors are scheduled to resume deliberations in the second. This all follows the result of the first – a victory for defendant Honeywell, which convinced Alameda County Superior Court jurors a plaintiff who sought $70 million failed to prove his case.

Want to try a case before a Floridy jury during the COVID-19 pandemic? Don't forget to bring a mask- and a hefty dose of patience.

Evidentiary issues are crucial to any trial team, and often present both substantive and logistical hurdles.

Six months into the pandemic, trial-by-video-jury—at least in the civil context—is morphing from experiment to expectation. And while lawyers aren't totally sold on the concept, a growing chorus of judges is making clear that it may be the only way to keep their dockets moving.

The Kansas Supreme Court has issued administrative orders and guidance for courts to safely resume jury trials. The Kansas Supreme Court says it has issued two administrative orders and a mandate and guidance document to direct cost as they prepare to safely resume jury trials.

In the middle of March 2020, court buildings around the world began to close in response to the rapid spread of a newly identified coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 (the “virus”). Within days, alternative ways of delivering court service were put in place in many jurisdictions. The uptake of various technologies, especially video, was accelerated in the justice systems of numerous countries. There remain some skeptics and critics, but in light of the experience during the crisis, there is certainly greater acceptance now than in February 2020—amongst lawyers, judges, officials, and court users—that judicial and court work might be undertaken very differently in years to come. Minds have been opened and changed over the past few months. Many assumptions have been swept aside.

The Northern District of California’s courts will not be conducting any new jury trials—criminal or civil—until October in light of the uptick in coronavirus cases in the state, according to an order issued Thursday.

For many immigration cases, testimony from a witness -- a co-worker, a friend or relative -- able to come to court and vouch for you is critical for the defense of why you should be allowed to stay in the country. But with courts going online because of the coronavirus pandemic, defendants aren't afforded that help in some cases.

Broward Circuit has been testing its ability to conduct online jury selection, and the verdict is in. Despite some technical hiccups, a few moments of tedium and weak excuses not to participate, online jury trials appear to be a viable alternative to in-person proceedings amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Apple is demanding that Eastern District Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap postpone a patent infringement trial until October, with backing from a UT epidemiologist who says COVID-19 would pose an "extraordinary risk" for participants and the surrounding community. Optis Wireless says Apple has continually tried to delay trial over its refusal to pay reasonable royalties on LTE patents, and that chances are the pandemic will be more dangerous in October, not less.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant havoc on every aspect of our daily lives. The legal system is no exception. For months now, the majority of court hearings, both criminal and civil, have been postponed or canceled altogether.

As masses of legal work shift online, trial lawyers are turning on their webcams and realizing their old courtroom skills are no longer enough. But recent remote proceedings are already showing that online trials can actually work — with the right considerations

Three high-level judges testified to Congress on Thursday that Covid-19 was the disruption needed to break with old norms and allow technology to open the judiciary to the public eye. 

Complete an online survey before heading to federal court, listing any signs of contact, symptoms or infection with the coronavirus. Permission to enter, should you qualify, will come with a QR code. You’ll need that, plus a mask and hand sanitizer, to get inside. 

Long before social distancing entered the global lexicon, Zoom, the videoconferencing platform, touted its capabilities for lawyers.

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In a 2015 blog post, the company suggested its platform could be used for remote depositions, a range of meetings and mediation, among other uses.

While remote jury trials are technically feasible and legally plausible, the twin risks of procedural injustice and rampant retrials reduce their appeal.

Could a trial by one's peers still work when all one's peers are WFH? 

HERE’S A FUTURE scenario. Soon after you get your jury summons in the mail, you receive a SurveyMonkey link. Under oath—a checkbox and e-signature sufficed—you answer several questions not just about your personal background but also your Wi-Fi connectivity. Do you solemnly swear that you have home broadband?                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Zoom? CourtCall? GoToMeeting? WebEx?

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Our May Question of the Month asked judges which online platform they’ve been using most often to conduct court operations remotely during the coronavirus crisis.

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In April, a Florida court held a bench trial over Zoom to decide a child abduction case under the Hague Convention. Later that month, the same state held a major virtual trial on the voting rights of convicted felons, with the public listening in by phone.

“Our world has changed and the world we had prior to the pandemic,” Mohammed said in a phone interview from his home. “It will not be the same world. It’s a new world and I think when we go back to physical courtrooms, people will be demanding advanced technology.”

Guidelines given to federal courts Monday lay out how they might gradually reopen after closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There have been marked changes in how society functions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its “social distancing” practices. Out of necessity, we have adapted our behaviors both personally and professionally. 

Virtual court proceedings during the COVID-19 pandemic have seen their share of cyber blunders.

Courts around the nation are locked in a holding pattern, halting trials for month after month, or resorting to Zoom, which requires courts to create new procedures and systems to be effective. But in Texas, Houston's Harris County has found its own way to keep in-person trials galloping along.

Litigants will soon be forced to bring their suits before Garden State juries in virtual settings fraught with potential distractions, technical glitches and challenges to presenting evidence, raising concerns about them getting a fair day in court as state judiciary officials strive to move cases amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Read more at: https://www.law360.com/articles/1352833?copied=1

 U.S. District Judge James Donato touted the benefits of using online video as the default option for hearings in a post-pandemic world, telling Law360 on Tuesday that it saves time and money, improves attorney quality of life, reduces polluting air travel and offers young lawyers an important learning tool.

Litigators, judges and court administrators have been forced into a high-stakes game of "Would You Rather?" featuring several equally unappealing options.

With COVID-19 infections surging across the nation, some court systems have been calling off jury trials in hopes of containing the spread of the virus. Some others are taking a wait-and-see approach or allowing decisions to be made on the local level.

The order puts a halt to disruption in a case that is central to the judiciary's effort to resolve any glitches with COVID-19-related procedures before restarting criminal and civil jury trials statewide.

Remember the iconic, cinematic scene in "The Wizard of Oz" when, after having her home swept up by a tornado, Dorothy emerges from her house, steps outside, takes in her new, albeit strange, surroundings and exclaims, "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore"? For anyone involved in litigation during the COVID-19 outbreak, this sentiment may be all too familiar.

After months of delay due to COVID-19, the Indiana Supreme Court allowed jury trials in the state to commence on July 1. Two weeks later, attorneys and parties from within the state and beyond convened in Warsaw, Indiana, for a weeklong civil jury trial.

Judge Scott Schlegel’s history of utilizing technology in his Louisiana courtroom to make life easier for attorneys and members of the public has come in very handy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Philadelphia's district attorney told the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday that the city's practice of livestreaming criminal trials, adopted as cases restarted this month after the pandemic largely shut down court operations in March, threatened the privacy of crime victims and raised the specter of rampant witness intimidation.

During the past several months we have been exposed to a number of different approaches to practicing law remotely. One of these has been video conferencing through a variety
of platforms that work well generally but present questions of insecurity, awkwardness, and general lack of formality. Services have been available to assist courts with remote  technology, but the coronavirus
pandemic has brought them front and center.

Many courts have embraced innovative communication technologies, especially videoconferencing platforms, to conduct routine hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although these technologies provide an effective solution for managing cases until the pandemic abates, interpersonal communication in a remote platform differs considerably from the in-person experience

The prosecutor reported to Courtroom 4J with a tape measure. The public defender rolled in with a bag full of six-foot lengths of rope. A defense attorney showed up lugging a hockey stick.

As the coronavirus crisis closed off physical access to courthouses across the country, many federal and state courts pivoted to conducting their business remotely, including conducting hearings and even trials via videoconferencing and teleconferencing.

In the latter part of June, 120 prospective jurors residing in Broward County, Florida, received a summons for jury duty from the 17th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, where I serve as chief judge. 

Jurors curled up in bed, working out on an elliptical machine, getting up to check if the stove’s burner was on.

As masses of legal work shift online, trial lawyers are turning on their webcams and realizing their old courtroom skills are no longer enough. But recent remote proceedings are already showing that online trials can actually work — with the right considerations.

Recent articles in the public and legal press have started a discussion about the need for virtual trials. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our judicial system has struggled to balance the competing right of health and safety with the right to due process in criminal and civil actions.

Courts create safety measures that include screening, cleaning, and social distancing.

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A middle school basketball court in Tishomingo County will become a temporary Circuit Court next week.

Five trial court circuits have been chosen to test remote technology for in-person civil jury trials across Florida as a safer alternative to comply with the coronavirus social distancing safety measures.

Attorneys and self-represented litigants will have the option to make audio or video appearances in Los Angeles County courtrooms by using the Court’s new LACourtConnect technology that will provide a secure, safe and convenient way to attend hearings remotely. 

Southern California courthouses whose operations were drastically curtailed in  the midst off the Coronavirus pandemic  are  gearing  up  for  a  reawakening,  butt  
justice will look much different as judges work to balance health concerns and constitutional rights. 
 

Zoom and WebEx are the online platforms of choice for judges throughout the country in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the National Judicial College's polling of hundreds of judges.

The Judicial Council of California has launched the Pandemic Continuity of Operations Working Group, which will quickly collect best practices and publish a framework to help the state's 58 superior courts address interrupted services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Federal and state court judges say they are likely to rely heavily on remote courtrooms, including virtual trials, as the prospect of fully reopening the justice system to its former capacity remains a distant goal for many, and case backlogs and delays continue to mount.

The incident, which was livestreamed on the court's feed, has provided something of a cautionary tale for courts and attorneys as local justice systems across the country begin to figure out how to relax restrictions.

In an extraordinary criminal trial that ran through the heart of the coronavirus pandemic, jurors listened to evidence in a federal courtroom in Lexington that was reconfigured specifically to protect them from the virus.

In response to the growing legal needs of ordinary Americans arising from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the American Bar Association has created a nationwide task force of volunteer lawyers and judges from across the legal profession.

When courtrooms shifted to remote technology due to the pandemic, some felt that the virtual experience didn't feel as realistic as an actual in-person trial.

At least four more federal courts are using virtual jury trials to help move their civil dockets along during the pandemic, which has caused courts across the country to modify their operations.

Perhaps now is a good time to address our world after the end of Covid.  What have we learned over the course of 2020?  Can cases be effectively handled without the ready availability of the courts?  Does technology work?  

A California federal judge overseeing consumers' and app developers' antitrust claims against Google over its Play app store said Thursday he'll continue holding status conferences online "ad infinitum" even after COVID-19 vaccinations become widespread, lauding the time and money saved as well as the benefits to attorneys' work-life balance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widescale disruption to U.S. litigation practice and has forced the industry to get creative and adapt to new practices. In the early stages of the pandemic, many courts canceled in-person appearances. Now, over six months later, many tribunals are embracing virtual trials and other proceedings.

The Texas Supreme Court has further extended its prohibition on in-person jury trials for justices and municipal courts until the start of February, the high court announced in its latest coronavirus pandemic order.

As I sat at my laptop to view the recorded videos of the nation's first remote jury trial with a binding verdict (Cayla Griffin v. Albanese Enterprise Inc., d/b/a/ Paradise),[1] I was enlivened as the event was a sign that jury trials were back. The trial was part of Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit Court's virtual civil jury trial pilot program,[2] which was created to address the challenges generated by the pandemic.

After months of delay due to COVID-19, the Indiana Supreme Court allowed jury trials in the state to commence on July 1. Two weeks later, attorneys and parties from within the state and beyond convened in Warsaw, Indiana, for a weeklong civil jury trial.

The Texas Supreme Court said Friday it was pushing back in-person jury proceedings to Dec. 1 for justices and municipal courts while establishing a five-step plan for district courts that wish to try cases live before that date during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Think a remote trial is “virtually” impossible? Think again.

Lawyers are getting schooled in how to be effective on screen because many legal proceedings are still not taking place at courthouses.

These days, the work of a U.S. district judge can seem a lot like “building an airplane while you’re flying it,” says Judge Karen K. Caldwell, one of the first federal judges to resume jury trials after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic bloomed like ocean algae in the United States this past spring.

All 13 federal appeals courts now are livestreaming oral arguments compared to four prior to the
pandemic, the latest sign of how Covid-19 has made U.S. courts more transparent. The embrace of live audio or video by federal and state courts that’s attracting audiences in cases from Washington to Hawaii has advocates hopeful that increased public access will remain even after the
pandemic ends.

A tall, bearded federal inmate sobbed loudly in front of New York City's first live jury amid the COVID-19 pandemic as he spoke of his friend's gruesome death — the witness's features obscured by a shiny face shield, a blue mask dangling from his left ear and a wall of plexiglass.

Two months ago, organizers for a mock trial program decided to pull together an online version of an event that ordinarily takes two years to plan.

Joel M. Androphy, a partner at Berg & Androphy in Houston and co-chair of the program, has helped organize the biennial National False Claims Act and Qui Tam Trial Institute for several years.

New Jersey judiciary officials unveiled a plan Wednesday to resume jury trials in September under a hybrid system that will combine remote jury selection with in-person proceedings, saying "waiting is not an option" for litigants as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

It’s not just a theoretical question. A defendant set to begin voir dire this week in an asbestos trial in Oakland cited face masks on prospective jurors as a primary concern in a July 9 petition before the California Supreme Court.

Some courthouses across Georgia are closing again as employees and judges who had begun restoring court operations have tested positive for COVID-19. 

Zoom Video Communications announced the launch of its first ever Zoom Hardware as a Service (HaaS) in the US on Tuesday. Zoom HaaS provides technology equipped with Zoom Rooms and Zoom Phone, making the products more accessible and scalable, which is especially critical during the evolving enterprise landscape.

While judges in Pennsylvania's legal epicenters of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh eye the fall for a potential return to jury trials after courts were largely closed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, a handful of smaller counties are providing a blueprint of sorts after trying cases this month with a slew of new safety measures.

Oregon and other states have begun holding jury trials again, leading to courtroom drama that may have nothing to do with the charges.

California’s court administrator released its guide Wednesday for keeping court employees and the public safe as courthouses start to reopen after months of closures and scaled-down operations due to Covid-19. The 75-page handbook by the Judicial Council was crafted by the Pandemic Continuity of Operations Working Group, a team of 23 volunteer judges and head clerks representing courts from around the state.

While the medical profession is reporting evidence of a resurgence of the virus and warning that a second wave of deadly infection is expected for autumn 2020, the nation’s courts press forward with tentative reopening. It is imperative that leadership of the judiciary and other stakeholders understand the implications for the criminal legal system and adhere to core principles going forward.

Chief Justice Charles Canady issued an order late on May 21 creating a new pilot program for civil jury trials to be held using remote technology. It will explore ways to let one of the most central parts of the state justice system – jury trials – begin again using health-related distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

With jury trials on hold throughout the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic, court officials in Texas are trying something new: let jurors hear a case through Zoom.

As courts across the country take measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, some are restricting access and altering their procedures.

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Centripetal Networks Inc., based in Herndon, Va., is alleging that Cisco infringed five of its network security patents, and seeking almost $500 million in damages. Their bench trial—to be conducted with Zoom’s video tools—is scheduled to start May 6 in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia.

IMS ExpertServices announced it will reveal the top trends and findings from a recent survey of more than 400 commercial litigation industry stakeholders during a live Analysts’ Briefing on April 30, 2020. The briefing will include a live preview of the findings to be published in May from the survey, and discussion and context from seasoned industry analysts and experts.

Courts are moving online due to COVID-19. No one is sure if that’s a good thing.