I can still recall my panic when my client approached me with panic in her voice during that first Zoom hearing in April 2020. “Can they actually do this?” she asked. “Is this even legal?”
Nowadays, I have done more than 200 virtual proceedings. What used to be an emergency action has silently transformed the way justice is done in America.
Why Courts Went Digital (And Never Looked Back)
When courthouses closed in 2020, judges had two options: either postpone justice for months or solve the problem of video conferencing. They selected the second option, and something out of the ordinary occurred. It worked.
Not perfectly. Not without hiccups. Yet it was so effective that even when buildings were reopened, many of the courts continued to have their cameras on.
The numbers tell the story. In 2019, the percentage of remote court proceedings was less than 5. The National Center for State Courts reported a 40 percent and 25 percent increase in civil and criminal cases, respectively, by 2023.
What Actually Happens in a Virtual Hearing
Your hearing is at 10 AM. You enter the court into the video platform from the comfort of your kitchen table rather than driving downtown, parking, and sitting on a hard bench in a time span of two hours.
The judge comes in a tiny square on your screen. And your legal man is in a different square. The opposing party in a third. All people are able to view and listen to one another instantly.
The judge swears you in. You present your case. Sharing of evidence occurs via screen sharing. Paperwork appears on the screen of all. When it is done, you shut your laptop and make another cup of coffee.
That’s it. No metal detectors. No waiting rooms. No taking a day off work.
The Good Parts Nobody Talks About Enough
Access wins big. Maria is located three hours away in the closest courthouse. Her custody hearing would be her hotel stay, off work, and someone to look after her children. She now requires an internet connection and a quiet room.
Rural areas benefit most. The counties where individuals had to spend 90 minutes to reach court were suddenly opened to all citizens with a smartphone.
Money matters. The American Bar Association discovered that virtual hearings helped in reducing the cost of clients by an average of 1,200 per case. No travel. No hotel. No full day of lost wages.
In the case of lawyers, the math works. We will be able to do a motion hearing in Bakersfield at 9 AM and a status conference in San Diego at 10:30 AM. The efficiency brings our rates down or allows us to take more clients who could not afford us previously.
Faster justice. It required weeks of back and forth to schedule five people for an in-person hearing. Identify five individuals who will be available on Tuesday afternoon, with a 30-minute break. Much easier.
Hearings for criminal defendants are provided earlier in jail. Family court parents find their cases faster. Minor cases that have been pending in their dockets for months are solved within weeks.
The Problems We’re Still Solving
I won’t sugarcoat this. There are real problems with virtual court.
Tech anxiety is real. One month ago, a 67-year-old client was calling me crying an hour before her hearing. She was not able to unmute herself on Zoom. Her grandson was not there to assist. On the telephone, we took 45 minutes to go through basic functions.
Younger generations have an assumption that everybody is familiar with technology. They’re wrong. According to the Pew Research Center, 43% of Americans aged 65 years and above do not feel confident using video calls.
Internet gaps create justice gaps. Test drive a video hearing on the rural internet, which drops every five minutes. Or when three children are watching homework video streams, with the same connection.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, 19 million Americans have no reliable broadband. In their case, virtual justice is not accessible justice.
Reading the room becomes impossible. During a physical courtroom, I observe the body language of the judge. I observe whether the jury member sitting in seat three is confused. I sense the shaking of my client.
On a screen? I see a forehead. Maybe shoulders. Small gestures indicating all of the trial work are lost in a 3×3 grid of faces.
This is the worst part for criminal defense lawyers. The attitude of a defendant is important. Repentance, believability, and the ability to connect as a human being; these are some of the things that will affect sentencing. They are more difficult to express using a webcam.
What the Law Actually Says
Virtual proceedings are no longer flying by the seat of their pants. Formal rules have been put in place in most states.
The Code of Civil Procedure Section 367.75 of California allows courts to hold remote proceedings at their own discretion. It is the same with Texas Rule 18c of the Rules of Judicial Administration.
Criminal cases get trickier. The Sixth Amendment ensures that you have the right to face the witnesses. Courts have decided that confrontation can occur through video in certain proceedings but not others.
Bail hearings and arraignments? Usually fine remotely. Jury trials? Practically always demand the presence. Sentencing hearings are in an intermediate area that depends on the judge and the jurisdiction.
The case United States v. Torres (2020) determined that in remote hearings, functional equivalence needed to be offered in comparison to in-person hearings. What counts as equivalent? Still undergoing case by case.
How to Actually Succeed in Virtual Court
I have attended hundreds of these hearings, and I have learned to do what works and what bombs.
Test everything twice. Log in 20 minutes early. Check your audio. Check your video. Ensure that your background is not your unmade bed or a poster with a question mark.
Look at the camera, not the screen. This feels weird, but matters. You want the judge to feel like you are talking to him and not to see your own face.
Dress like the court is real. Because it is. I have seen judges lose it with individuals wearing pajamas or tank tops. Wear what you can put on in a real courthouse.
Find a quiet space. Your children screaming in the background or your dog barking at the mailman does not go well. The judge will wait once, possibly twice. Then you are killing your case.
Have a backup plan. Internet crashes happen. Be prepared with the phone number of the court. Learn to make calls in audio-only in case of video breakdown.
What’s Coming Next
Virtual court is not going to disappear. Courts found that they could process more cases using fewer resources. Lawyers understood that they could be of more service to clients. Individuals understood that justice does not involve a two-hour travel.
But pure virtual is not the future either. Hybrid is.
Routine matters stay online. Disputed cases are sent back to the courts. Every case is matched to the format in which it is best served.
Some courts now offer choice. You may be present virtually or physically at some proceedings. This possibility allows individuals to have the freedom to obtain justice in an individual manner.
The Bigger Picture
The use of virtual hearings altered one of the core aspects of American courts. They cleared the building to break the wall.
Justice in 200 years was to appear in a certain place at a certain time. Failure to reach there meant losing. Now, location matters less.
This change does some good for others. Single parents who are unable to miss work. The inaccessible disabled who have difficulties accessing the courts. Anybody who lacks good transportation.
But it puts new obstacles in its way. Digital literacy. Internet access. Privacy in which to have a confidential hearing.
It was one set of obstacles in place of another. It all depends on who you are and what you require as to whether that is progress or not.
Making It Work for You
In case you are having a virtual hearing, here is my advice on the ground rule:
Pre-call the clerk of court a week before. Question them specifically on what platform they are on and whether you are required to download anything or not.
Carry out a practice with a friend. You have time to familiarize yourself with the interface, and then you can be ready to hear.
Get your paperwork ready in soft copy. The majority of the courts desire PDFs that can be shared on screen. Paper is not a good photographic material.
Note down questions in advance before logging in. The format feels different. It helps to have notes so that you are not distracted when you get nervous.
In case you are not strong in technology, seek assistance early. The majority of courts have personnel who can assist. Others offer tech support contacts directly related to virtual hearings.
The Verdict
There are things that the Virtual court performs well, and there are those that it fails to perform. Five minutes of a status conference? Perfect online. A murder case where the life of one person is in the mercy of a jury whose judgment is to be read? Most likely requires a physical room.
It is not whether virtual hearings are good or bad. They’re a tool. Just like every other tool, they are excellent in the appropriate context and awful in the inappropriate one.
The thing at this point is to ensure that this tool is put to good use. That would be leaving the possibilities open. Building better technology. Educating those who require assistance. And keeping in mind that behind each screen, there is a real person whose life is based on receiving justice.
The courts made a giant leap within a very short period. Some stumbled. Some soared. Everybody knew that justice was never a thing with the building. The people were. And people may also appear in other forms, which we never imagined.
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