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Trial Tactics
Courts have signaled the use of video in certain types of proceedings could become the norm, avoiding rescheduled hearings and reducing back logs. For example, the U.S. Tax Court allows for remote mediation proceedings and document subpoena hearings. The judicial system has moved to e-filing, migrated a lot of motions practice, status hearings and “accelerated pre-COVID experimentation with online dispute resolution platforms, including diversion programs for evictions and other high-volume case types,” said David Freeman Engstrom, co-director of the Stanford Center on the Legal Profession.23
Law firms will need to utilize increased technology with increasingly more attorneys engaging in full-time remote work. Increased remote practice is here to stay, after virtual offices open as law firms look to cut costs or meet new workforce expectations. More remote work has also demonstrated why attorneys need to master technical skills such as how to properly back up data and participate in virtual proceedings. Technical competence also means understanding how to safely store and transmit information and how to satisfy the ethical obligation to safeguard client information in the post-pandemic era. Other measures to take when working virtually include making sure third parties cannot access confidential client information, which includes listening-enabled devices.
Mohamed N. Bakry is an FDCC Defense Counsel member and a Shareholder at Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin in Philadelphia, PA. Contact him at: mnbakry@mdwcg.com.
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FDCC ANNUAL FIVES 2023