By Michael Shammas, Research Fellow & Attorney By some estimates, a COVID-19 vaccine may be delayed until mid-2021. I’ve previously examined the logistical difficulties affecting virtual trials and hearings. Two as-yet unexamined aspects involve technology’s impact on (1) judicial time…

By Michael Pressman, Research Fellow Last Thursday, the Civil Jury Project—with the help of many contributors—conducted a mock jury trial over Zoom. This endeavor had several goals: (1) demonstrating to judges and attorneys across the country that jury trials can…

By Andrés Harfuch[1]and Juan Sebastián Lloret[2] Trial by jury was guaranteed in Argentina since 1853, when three different sections of our country’s constitution established jury trial not only for criminal trials but also for other branches of the law. As…

By the Hon. Mark Drummond (Ret.), Judicial Advisor I am writing this column in my “home office,” which is our dining room table. The world outside has changed. Keeping my social distance, I can jaywalk across 5 th Avenue at…

By Michael Pressman, Research Fellow In various courts across the country, judges have been beginning to conduct civil bench trials over videoconference platforms (such as Zoom). Among the first of such videoconference trials was a one-day civil bench trial conducted…

By Michael Pressman & Michael Shammas, Research Fellows Below, our research fellows analyze, in the form of a legal memorandum, whether online jury trials are constitutional and permissible under federal and local rules. This question is likely to be met…

By Richard Gabriel Federal and state courts in all 50 states have postponed jury trials and are struggling to try and maintain court functions and access to the justice system in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and public health concerns.…

By the Honorable David Keenan, Judicial Advisor It’s early on a Monday morning.  You lost an hour’s sleep yesterday because of Daylight Saving Time.  Your city recently emerged from a record-breaking 30 days with rain in a single month and…

By the Honorable Nathaniel Gorton, Judicial Advisor As a United States District Judge, I almost invariably impose time limitations on counsel in civil jury trials.  I find that such limitations benefit not only the jurors who are, of course, required…

By Michael Elias Shammas, Research Fellow “It is clear that the number of jury trials declined in many, perhaps most, jurisdictions … over the last fifty years.”[1] As Professor Marc Galanter writes, this decline reflects a long-term phenomenon with roots…