Predictions for the Justice System in 2021

• Author: Mark A. Drummond
• Pages: 28-29

Published in Litigation News Volume 46, Number 1, Fall 2020. © 2 020 by the American Bar A ssociation. Repro duced with permissi on. All rights reser ved. This informati on or any portion the reof may not be copie d or disseminated in any form

or by any means or stored i n an electronic database o r retrieval syst em without the expr ess written co nsent of the American B ar Association.

By Hon. Mark A . Drummond (Ret.), Litigatio n News Associate Editor

In 1957, Popular Mechanics magazine pre dicted that

by the 21st century, roads would be replace d by pneu-

matic tubes. Ou r car would just have to make it from

our home to the nearest t ube. Then there is the Ladi es

Home Journal article from 1900. T he curator of

mechanica l technology at the Smit hsonian predicted there

would be no C, X, or Q in ou r alphabet since they were

unnecessa ry. I think I can g et by without the X or the Q for

this arti cle, but no C would be problematic.

Right now, we are tryi ng to predict what our justic e sys-

tem will look li ke not 50, 25, or even two years out. We are

trying to pred ict what it will look like next month and nex t

year. Here are my predict ions.

Access to Justice Will Be a P atchwork

Courts arou nd the country are brainstormi ng and imple-

menting new avenues for acces s to justice. Most are u sing

videoconferenci ng for such things as motions or scheduli ng.

The focus of thi s article will be restar ting trials.

The variables for rest arting trials are the te chnology

Predictions for the Justice System

in 2021

available, the space available , and the schedule for change.

Some courts have more spac e for social distancing. Some

areas of the countr y lack the broadband internet service

necessary for r emote hearings. S ome courts are moving fast

and modeling vi rtual jury t rials. Others are takin g more of a

“wait and see” approach.

Counsel wil l have to research what is avail able and what

platform a partic ular court is using for remote hear ings.

There is large var iation state to state, and even county to

county. The silver lini ng may be greater public access to the

court system w ithout the need to travel to a court house.

Criminal Case s Will Have Priority

Speedy trial de adlines have been continued. Crim inal cases

will be given prior ity for in-person ju ry trials. The remote

jury trials t hat have popped up around the country have all

been civil cas es in which the par ties agreed to that format.

Time, and our suc cess at controlling the pandemic, w ill

determine whet her the criminal court s will consider break-

ing pieces of the tr ial apart for public safety. Although the

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PRACTICE POINTS