Jury Trials in the Time of COVID-19
NEWS
Jury Trials in the Time of COVID-19
The wheels of the litigation train are starting to turn once again as the legal industry inches closer to a renewed sense of normalcy.
For the past year, “in-person” jury trials were relegated to the back burner as the pandemic shut down courts across the country and slowed the litigation process to a crawl. As we enter the second quarter of 2021, our recent federal trial with an in-person jury and Zoom© witnesses provides some observations and insight into the current in-person jury trial experience.
We have provided litigation consulting for hundreds of trials over the past 30 years and recently received a call from a client about an upcoming trial scheduled in a federal courthouse halfway across the country. The trial would be conducted with an in-person jury and most of the trial witnesses would testify live, while a few would testify via the Zoom video conference platform. Most courts that have conducted in-person jury trials during the pandemic have already set up procedures for witnesses testifying remotely via Zoom or other platforms. We coordinated with the court’s technical staff to confirm that the courtroom could accommodate our Zoom witness requirements, and we contacted the trial coordinator to get information about the courtroom’s technical capabilities and limitations. Fortunately, the courtroom was fitted with all of the necessary equipment for a traditional jury trial – projector, screen, document camera, and monitors for the jury, witness and attorneys. High quality webcams were added for the Zoom sessions so that the questioning attorneys could be viewed by the remote witness during their testimony.
A few days before the first day of trial, we arrived at the courthouse to thoroughly test the courtroom’s evidence display equipment and WiFi reliability for the remote witness testimony. We reviewed the COVID-19 prevention measures and protocols that were posted on the courthouse website prior to arriving to set up and test the equipment. The COVID-19 precautions were stringent and followed CDC guidelines: temperature checks, social distancing, hand sanitizing stations and mask requirements.
The courtroom itself had been fitted with plexiglass barriers at the clerks’ desks and around each juror’s seat. The rules of the courtroom were simple:
Masks must be worn by everyone at all times except for attorneys that are speaking at the podium
Social distancing must be maintained
Trial witnesses should not wear masks while testifying so that the court reporter can hear them and read their lips if needed
In addition to our typical set up and testing of the court’s equipment, we focused on the reliability and bandwidth of the courtroom’s WiFi. We tested a Zoom call from the courtroom to our office in Houston and did a dry practice run of video, audio, and trial exhibits from our trial presentation software so that we could stress test the court’s system and have confidence that the network could handle the load for the Zoom witnesses during the trial. The practice session proved flawless, confirming that the court’s system was more than adequate. As an additional safeguard, we thoroughly tested our backup WiFi hotspot system to ensure continuity should the court’s connectivity fail. With testing complete, we were ready for trial.
The voir dire process was structured so that potential jurors were assembled in groups of 16 at a time, rather than as a single group. The jury panels were spread throughout the gallery in assigned seating during attorney questioning. Once the jury had been selected and the trial underway, the trial itself was remarkably “business as usual”. The old saying that “the more things change, the more they stay the same” is truly fitting. Having been in pandemic mode for over a year, everyone in the courtroom – attorneys, staff, witnesses and jurors -- were conditioned to wear face masks and maintain social distancing. The trial proceeded as one would expect in pre-pandemic times, with only minor logistical hiccups. After each trial day, the strategy meetings in the war room, the prepping of trial witnesses, and the day-to-day litigation housekeeping matters followed familiar processes, but they were augmented with the common-sense virus reduction measures that have become a part of everyone’s daily life.
A few things to remember:
Coordinate with the courthouse technical staff to ensure all of the necessary equipment is available
Test, test and test
Have a backup plan
This experience confirmed that our courts have learned to adapt technologically, procedurally, and pragmatically to the challenges that COVID-19 has thrust upon the legal community. It’s remarkable how far we’ve come in this pandemic journey, reinforcing the resilience of our institutions. The crisis has forced the legal community to become more innovative, more efficient, and more able to successfully adapt to disruption. We’re now better prepared to navigate and overcome the challenges to our continually evolving industry.
ROB LEGASPI
Director of Trial Services, Pennebaker Inc.
As the Director of Trial Services for Pennebaker Legal, Robert manages all aspects of trial presentation, courtroom, and litigation graphics support for the firm. He has managed and provided courtroom support for hundreds of trials, arbitrations, hearings, and mediations. Robert has supported a range of complex civil matters such as construction, energy litigation, contract disputes, insurance matters, and toxic tort cases. He has also worked in-house at a major law firm providing courtroom and graphics support for over 300 attorneys across six offices. Robert’s experience and technical expertise in the courtroom has assisted trial teams in high-stakes, “bet the company” litigation obtain defense verdicts and multi-million dollar judgments in venues across the country.
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