Omicron Surge Pushes Courts Back To Remote Proceedings

In a trend emerging across the country, many courts are responding to the Omicron surge by returning to remote proceedings in the name of health and safety. The fact that the requirements vary by district, circuit and area of the country as well as the evolving nature of this newest turn in the pandemic has forced practitioners and parties to practice flexibility and pivot yet again in the wake of this virus.

Pandemic related closures resulted in a substantial backlog of cases, which the courts began to tackle with varying degrees of success following the implementation of safety protocols with Covid top of mind. These protocols continue to develop, but of late have taken new shapes as the variant mutates providing a corresponding change for courts tackling hearings and trials throughout the nation.