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14 ¦ JULY 27, 2020 NEWS

Get Used to It: Court Administrator Says
Online Proceedings Are Here to Stay

By Robert Storace

The Connecticut Judicial Branch unveiled a 32-
page handbook Friday on working remotely,
and the state’s chief judge administrator said
the new way of doing business for attorneys is here
for the “foreseeable future.”
The handbook, “Connecticut Guide to Remote
Hearings for Attorneys and Self-Represented Par-
ties,” includes information on how lawyers and their
clients can telecommute amid COVID-19 and post-
pandemic.
Chief Court Administrator Patrick Carroll III
sounded the bell that hearings conducted remotely
will be part of the new way of attorneys doing busi-
ness. Shutterstock

“We fully expect that the use of remote proceed- satisfactory process for entry of exhibits hasn’t been
ings will not only respond to the challenges caused articulated as of yet.”
by the pandemic, but will transform our courts for MacNamara added, however, that the biggest
the foreseeable future,” Carroll said in the hand- upside to working virtually are pretrial and status
book. conferences. “I personally hope pretrial and status
Attorneys had mixed reactions to the handbook conferences are here to stay. It’s economical and
and the idea of attorneys and their clients working allows us to do business in a quicker fashion,” she
virtually now and in the future. said.
Greenwich solo practitioner Amy MacNamara Shelley White, director of litigation and advocacy
reviewed the handbook for the Connecticut Bar As- for the New Haven Legal Assistance Association Inc.,
sociation while it was being drafted. MacNamara, said she understands the need for working remotely,
chairwoman of the association’s Family Law Section but said there’s a cautionary tale when dealing with
and a member of the COVID-19 committee, said, nonrepresented parties.
“The handbook is easy to read and relatively com- White, whose organization represents low-income
prehensive.” individuals, said it also turns away “about half of the
MacNamara, though, said there were several people that come to us for assistance because we
“blind spots” within the handbook. MacNamara don’t have the capacity to help them.” That, she said,
said the Judicial Branch asked for comments and translates into hundreds of individuals a month that
suggestions and she told it her biggest concern dealt are turned away.
with introducing evidence on a virtual platform. Many of them, she said, aren’t familiar with tech-
“They said they’d take it under advisement,” Mac- nology and some don’t have computers. That, she
Namara said Tuesday. “Evidence in a physical court said, poses a big problem.
is a simple process. We know when we have to ex- “Our biggest concern is this creates a scenario
change things and how to introduce them. We are where there is unequal access to the courts,” White
learning in an entirely new technological way and a said Tuesday. “Many of the people we see are not fa-

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