Just weeks ago, the idea might have seemed inconceivable. Now, as remote meetings using videoconferencing tools such as Zoom become a regular fixture in courts, some are concerned that virtual trials would deprive defendants of the constitutional right to confront witnesses, an impartial jury, due process of law and effective counsel.
Students may not feel safe attending courses because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that’s also true for professors, say law school deans, many of whom want in-person classes this fall but are making various plans they hope meet ABA accreditation standards.
If the novel coronavirus pandemic leads to online remotely proctored bar exams, controlled test-taking environments, one of the most equalizing factors, will be eliminated. Such scenarios raise questions about whether exam results would be fair or valid.
With Tiger King, Netflix promises “murder, mayhem and madness,” and the seven-part series delivers. “Video games, the news and Hollywood have inured the public to the idea of violence while camouflaging the grisly consequences,” writes the ABA Journal’s Liane Jackson.
Many lawyers across the country are now using online video meetings to help senior clients arrange their affairs. This has become increasingly vital as the CDC warns that individuals who are age 65 or older and have underlying medical conditions are at higher risk for developing more severe cases of COVID-19.
As the COVID-19 pandemic quickly spread across the country, the ABA pivoted its second annual survey of civic literacy to gauge Americans’ support for online voting, as well as their thoughts on how the government should respond to a national emergency.
PACER seems like a simple enough concept: It provides digital access to U.S. appellate, district and bankruptcy records and documents. But the people the ABA Journal spoke with describe PACER as less of a service to citizens and more of a labyrinth that’s not only difficult to navigate but also costly and tedious to even enter.
Clinical law students across the country say their work helping clients remotely is now much different and more difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it comes closer to real-life lawyering than ever before, according to some law professors who direct the clinics.
As law firms establish processes to create digital documents, they then need to be able to store them online in a location that is easily accessible by all firm employees. That’s where cloud-based document management software signed with law firms in mind comes in.