A Virtual Court Counter and More in East Lansing Michigan

 

 Image use rights from PXhere.com
https://bit.ly/3lF5uAx

Our favorite fans of film noir, NCSC Tiny Chatters DanielHirsch and Zach Zarnow brought to our attention the virtual court counter, in the Michigan District Court 54B.

Webinar: What are we learning about remote hearings?

 

Thursday, April 14th, 2022 03:00 pm - 04:30 pm

Join five leading NCSC experts for a 60-minute briefing that will distill recent NCSC research on remote hearings. Panelists will draw on new studies—from analyzing judicial time in Texas to considerations in child welfare cases to judicially led diversion programs—to summarize critical “aha!” moments about remote proceedings. The speakers will draw together what NCSC is learning about where remote proceedings make sense, where challenges may exist and what lessons can be drawn from the research to date.

Court Tech News and Notes for February 2022

 

Slow and steady wins the court tech race

This post includes news about court text messaging in Colorado, a TurboCourt anniversary, nine justice reform programs to review, some free court subject public service announcements, a study on remote hearings costs and benefits, and innovations from the HiiL Demo Day 2022.

Online Seminar: Tips for Conducting Remote and Hybrid Hearings with Self-represented Litigants

 

When? Thursday, January 20, 3:00 pm ET

Addressing the digital divide. Communicating scheduling changes. Providing legal information in layman’s terms on court websites. Managing the waiting room. Since the start of the pandemic, courts across the country have adapted their processes to allow for remote and virtual proceedings. Join us for the next discussion in a series of webinars focused on best practices for engaging with attorneys and self-represented litigants in remote and virtual hearings.

Beam (my language) up, Simultaneous Interpretation Feature Added to Virtual Proceedings Platforms

Created by Yu luck, Noun Project

By Konstantina Vagenas, NCSC

At the onset of the pandemic, courts pivoted overnight to virtual hearings to comply with health and safety guidelines.  Court interpreters were required to provide their services remotely via court-approved and licensed videoconferencing platforms. Among these, WebEx and Zoom were the most common. The major challenge in these proceedings was the absence of an integrated, simultaneous interpretation channel, which interpreters overcame by adding an additional audio device, usually a personal mobile phone—a suboptimal solution.  Within a few weeks, the court interpreting world was abuzz with the advantages offered by Zoom’s embedded simultaneous court interpreting channels. Like characters in Star Trek, interpreters were being “beamed up” to virtual courtrooms.

Court Tech News and Notes for September 2021

 

September means “back to school” days.  Learning for my court tech friends includes CourtStack CMS training, the upcoming LegalXML Electronic Court Filing (ECF) face to face meeting at CTC 2021, planning for new Microsoft Teams capabilities, and Ontario’s new legal innovation regulatory sandbox project.

 

Register for CTC2021 Livestream Access Today

 

Registration for livestream access is ready. If you’re planning to attend CTC 2021 online, now’s the time to sign up. Here’s how it works.

We recognize that not everyone is able to travel to Columbus, so we’re excited to share that registration for livestream access is ready. If you’re planning to attend CTC 2021 online, now’s the time to sign up. 

Here’s how it works.

This and That in Court Technology, August 2021

 

In this month’s collection of notes we have news about an online forms creation website, punishment for abuse of social media by posting a judge's personal information, ideas for "engineering gatherings", New Mexico finishing their statewide E-filing implementation project, the new NCSC's Courthouse Retrospective report, CCJ/COSCA support for remote and virtual hearings, and a cool new data tool.

Some Great NCSC Tiny Chat Sessions

 

My friends in the NCSC Tiny Chat Division, have been doing some terrific work lately. Here is a selection of some interesting and fun sessions.

 

15 Months

 

Abraham Lincoln as a young lawyer

Stating the obvious, since March 2020 we have seen massive changes in court and work/office organization and communications.  The pandemic forced changes to process, office, and data design that embrace the new virtual environment.  But first, we must discuss some pushback.

A List Web Conferencing Transcription Systems

 

Microsoft announced an AI-powered live transcription service (AI we can use BTW) in Microsoft Teams, answering Zoom’s new feature.  That got me thinking that they are not alone, as we share below...

 

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Never Waste a Good Crisis to Update your Court

The Freakonomics website has a page that discusses the quote in the title of this post.  It is obviously appropriate for the courts in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, but I have used it in another context, when a new case, document, or e-filing systems are being introduced into a court.  I explain below…

Zoom Web Conference Filter Opportunity?

 

Most of our readers have seen the Zoom filer mishap online video known as “I’m not a cat”.  The story even made the news in Germany and late-night TV shows.  First, I want to congratulate the Judge for handling the problem, but I have a different view of how we can learn from this?

 

Looks Like a Court Record to Me?

I read with interest announcements regarding a new MicrosoftTeams “Meeting Recap” feature (along with a couple of other interesting functions) that begins roll out soon.  The announcement says…

“Originally announced in September 2020, this new meeting experience will allow participants or people unable to attend the meeting to access meeting content after it has ended. Microsoft Teams will automatically share the meeting recording, transcript, chat, shared files, and more in the meeting’s details tab.”

New Jersey Remote Court Instructions

 

See attribution below

This past weekend I read an article in our local newspaper regarding problems some courts were having dealing with the backlog of housing/landlord-tenant cases due to the pandemic.  I was somewhat surprised to read that all their hearings were still being done in-person.  Why?  I do not know. But for those courts who may not be able to develop their own procedures, I suggest that you take a look at the New Jersey Courts “Instructions for Participants in RemoteCourt Events”?  Surely these would be helpful for many court and chambers hearings?

Explaining Why Court Tech Seemed to Move Slowly in 2020?

 

Recently I heard multiple legal technology writers bemoan the slowness that courts adopt and implement new online and similar services.  I explain why that is, and why it is likely not to get better soon in this post? It is going to be a cold winter.

IJIS Virtual Summit: The New Age of Court Technology

Join the IJIS Courts Advisory Committee (ICAC) on November 17, 2020 for a no-cost technology summit focused on engaging practitioners and industry, through open and frank conversations that advance the fidelity of virtual court operations. Practitioners will provide insight on needs, priorities, and experiences while the industry shares new opportunities that technology brings to the table.

COVID, the Court, and the Future of the Jury Trial Summit

 

A free virtual summit is scheduled to be held on Friday, November 13 and continue the following Friday, November 20 from 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST each day.

The summit is being organized by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and the Online Courtroom Project.  The conference writes “As courts around the country have struggled to continue operations in the face of the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, each state and the federal courts have issued their own set of guidelines to try and resume trials. However, each jurisdiction, and each judge has also implemented their own set of practices, given their resources, staffing, budget, and judgment. While most of these national, regional, and individual practices have been conducted on a trial and error basis, the goal of this conference is to provide practical recommendations on procedures, resources, and skills for both courts and attorneys who are looking to conduct jury trials in this challenging time.

This conference is free of charge. Attendees are encouraged to donate to a designated charity to assist underserved communities gain greater access to technology and the internet.

For more and to sign up go to https://www.nita.org/summit-about

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The photo above is from the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida’s Virtual Court Resources by Division/Case type web page at:

https://www.jud11.flcourts.org/Court-Announcements/ArtMID/584/ArticleID/3567/Virtual-Court-Resources-by-Division-Case-Type

 

 

Tips to Reduce Ransomware Risk and More…

 

 

In this post we share tips to protect you from malware, Harris County’s new Covid-10 juror procedure video, the new Zoom language interpretation service, and a web page showing how Covid-19 aerosol dispersion works.

A Domestic Violence Hand Signal for Video Calls

 

Just a short note today that shows how tech can really help.  In an article on Medium.com, we learned a hand signal has been created that can be used by web/video conferencing users to signal domestic violence.

Elizabeth “Barajas-Román, who is the president and CEO of the Women’s Funding Network, a global philanthropic network dedicated to women and girls, wondered: How could survivors reach out and get the help they need in a safe way? The solution she landed on, with the help of a WFN partner group, was Signal for Help, a simple hand gesture that people experiencing abuse could silently use during video calls to tell friends or loved ones that they’re in trouble.” 

The result is the graphic shown above.  The signalforhelp.net website has more.

The great benefit of this approach is that it leaves no trail on messaging or e-mail systems that the abuser can find.

Pass this along.