Extract from Doug Austin’s article “Are Virtual Court Proceedings Here to Stay?”
We all know what happened when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down life as we know it back in March 2020. Workers were forced into remote work environments because of social distancing requirements and the US court system ground to a halt – at least temporarily.
Necessity Breeds Proficiency
But as it became apparent that the pandemic was going to last well beyond the initially intended two-week quarantine period, the court system had to find a way to get back on track. Just like the business world, the courts began using Zoom to conduct proceedings virtually, including hearings, depositions (many of which have been virtual already for years) and even trials.
How many proceedings? A lot more than you might think.
Less than a year into the pandemic, my home state of Texas announced in early February 2021, that its approximately 2,000 judges had conducted one million virtual hearings since March 2020!
