The courtroom is making a remote shift.
According to Law360, 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. Many states across the nation where already grappling with a shortage of judges, leading to up to 3 year wait times for trials. With the current pandemic, the light at the end of the caseload tunnel seems distant.
We are seeing it more and more.
The legal industry is quickly turning to technology solutions to aid them in virtual bench trials, hearings and depositions. Just this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert, testified virtually (dog barking and all) for a hearing in regards to the pandemic. He, like many others, are self-quarantined, leading to the use of digital solutions to allow hearings to continue.
The popular CBS show, All Rise, looks at the personal and professional lives of the judges, lawyers, clerks, bailiffs and cops who work at an L.A. County courthouse. In a recent episode, with Los Angeles under a mandatory shelter-in-place order and trials piling up, Judge Benner authorizes Judge Carmichael to preside over a virtual bench trial, a case regarding a dispute between brothers over a car.
In both fiction and nonfiction scenarios, the courtroom is embracing the use of digital video technology to carry out civic duties and caseload.
VIQ Solutions can help.
VIQ Solutions recently made available CapturePro™ Conference, a value-added solution supporting remote hearings for courts and the legal industry. CapturePro™ Conference’s timely introduction addresses the COVID-19 crisis that forced in-person court hearings to quickly transfer to video-conferencing tools to conduct essential business. CapturePro Conference allows a judge, court reporter, or other legal professionals to capture testimony from a live web-based conference application. Continuous recording is securely captured, managed, and stored in the same manner as testimony obtained in a fixed courtroom. The real time recording allows live annotations and system monitoring and also enables VIQ’s transcription team to create a nearly live transcript. Visit our website to learn more.