As the pandemic continues and recovery plans progress, President Dori Foster-Morales will host a statewide town hall meeting March 30 to provide Florida lawyers with court operations updates and plans and a status report on the legal profession. This one-hour live continuing legal education credit Zoom program, titled, “Florida Bar Town Hall: COVID-19 Court Operations…

After 20 town hall meetings in 58 days devoted to finding out how lawyers are dealing with COVID-19 stresses, Bar President Dori Foster-Morales said one lesson is that “technology is not the biggest problem.” Since the courts stopped most in-person proceedings in mid-March, the rapid shift to online hearings has been taken in stride by…

There may be less in-person contact among clients, courts, and lawyers in the Third Judicial Circuit because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there’s more, quicker, and less tense electronic and online communications. “We’re more connected than ever,” said Rachel Butler, who represents the Third Circuit on the Young Lawyers Division Board of Governors. “The response…

Judges and lawyers in the 10th Circuit have made great strides in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic but the greatest challenge may be not knowing what’s next. “The biggest concern now is anticipating the unknowns,” said 10th Circuit Chief Judge Ellen Masters at the September 23 Town Hall meeting hosted by Bar President Dori Foster-Morales….

Senior judges in the Seventh Judicial Circuit weren’t eager to embrace online technology, and some practitioners are letting decorum slide. That’s the assessment Chief Judge Raul A. Zambrano gave President Dori Foster-Morales at a September 15 virtual town hall forum on the COVID-19 pandemic. “If you have a Zoom meeting, get out of bed, please,…

The Ninth Judicial Circuit adapted well to the COVID-19 pandemic, conducting nearly 60,000 remote hearings since jury trials were suspended in March, said Chief Judge Donald A. Myers, Jr. “Our primary backbone is on Cisco, but our users have the choice of Teams, Zoom, or WebEx,” he said. “I’m encouraged because our experience has been…

Adjusting to remote technology was a struggle at first, even for a legal community that includes the Space Coast, 18th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Lisa Davidson told President Dori-Foster Morales. “Getting lawyers to accept change and use the technology,” was the biggest challenge after the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March, Judge Davidson said. “But now…

The COVID-19 pandemic has created administrative challenges, but it’s also forged stronger alliances in the sprawling Fifth Judicial Circuit, a five-county region of Central Florida that is roughly the size of Connecticut. That’s the message Chief Judge Daniel Merritt, Jr., gave President Dori Foster-Morales during an August 26 virtual town hall. Since the crisis forced…

With a determination reflective of its large military population, the First Judicial Circuit is using teamwork and remote technology to soldier through the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s the message Northwest Florida lawyers, judges, court administrators, and voluntary bar leaders delivered to President Dori Foster-Morales during an August 19 Virtual Town Hall. “It’s been truly awe inspiring…

“Settle your cases.” That’s the advice 19th Circuit Chief Judge Lawrence Mirman gave those Zooming in to President Dori Foster-Morales’ recent Virtual Town Hall meeting. Mirman said civil litigators are fooling themselves if they believe when the pandemic subsides and the courthouse doors swing open there will be extra senior judge time or additional resources…