Law Practice Management Tips and Tricks
| Publication year | 2020 |
| Pages | 64 |
July 2020
The Court During Crisis
by Larry Zimmerman
The impact of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 continues to be felt throughout Kansas by courts, lawyers, and citizens, introducing significant challenges to maintaining access to justice. Lawyers and the courts can utilize the lessons learned so far to harden the justice system against further health impacts of the virus, resultant economic disruptions, and other as yet unknown challenges lurking in our future.
Throughout the current crisis, I have had opportunity to meet with lawyers, litigants, judges, and court personnel across the state as we have each struggled in our own ways to protect litigants and citizens, maintain practices, and open the courts for business. Certain themes emerge from each of those conversations which underline the basics of a robust response to emergency.
Communication
The Kansas Supreme Court is front and center in addressing any statewide emergency like COVID-19. The court, in coordination with the legislature and governor, acted immediately and decisively to address the growing crisis back in March. The court's website, kscourts.org, features a prominent link at the page header to COVID-19 response that provides quick access to key issues like deadlines, statutes of limitation, and administrative orders related to court functions during pandemic.
Some opine that the website resource should be supplemented with a regularly scheduled press conference or, at the very least, recorded statements available for media use and distribution. Just as the governor and legislative leaders are addressing citizens and constituents, the third branch of government can be similarly accessible and interactive. Communication targeted at a non-legal audience is also recommended as vital outreach to citizens. Such press conferences or communications would not need to be as regular as the other branches but should accompany issuance of significant orders released to adapt to evolving circumstances.
Order Release Schedule
The kscourts.org website lists 26 administrative orders issued by the Supreme Court related to COVID-19 from March 12 through June 16. Those orders dropped on every day of the week and appear always to have always been released at or near 5:00 PM. Sometimes orders trickled out one at a time over the course of a week and other...
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