On Monday, May 18, 2020, 26 Texans in separate Zoom video boxes were sworn in to serve on what is believed to be the first American jury trial conducted over online video.
At the same time, federal courts in some parts of the country are preparing for a cautious reboot of civil jury trials in June—following strict social distancing and sanitation guidelines.
The pandemic is having an impact on every facet of the court system.
Join Betty Dunkum, an attorney with 25-years of experience in complex litigation and currently CEO of Victory Trial Consulting, a full-service national trial consulting firm, as she reports on her recent work with thought leaders across the country to develop ways that jury trials will change in response to the coronavirus epidemic.
She explores:
- Big picture issues relating to the coronavirus epidemic and jury trials
- Key provisions from court orders regarding reopening courts
- Issues going forward with in-person trials like:
--Jury selection: achieving a fair cross-section of the community
--Implementing social distancing and protecting those at risk
--Restarting civil trials
- Online Jury Trials:
--Considerations for jurors, attorneys and witnesses
--Getting cases ready for trial in a virtual environment
--Juror attention span in an online environment
--Dynamics of online jury deliberations
- Jury selection in an online jury trial
- Research regarding juror perceptions in an online trial: Are there winners and losers when things go online?
- Alternatives to a jury trial
Recorded on June 16, 2020.