Well, it is now mid-September in the strange and challenging year of 2020. One thing we know is that uncertainty still reigns supreme. To say that our court system has articulated a cogent plan for going forward in light of the pandemic, would be charitable. Yes, things can change (and hopefully they will) but we remain mired with a dangerous virus and, of course, socially distant.

The SDL is understandably concerned that the hotspots we are seeing around the nation with the reopening of colleges are another warning sign for the court system. While the SDL understands there will not necessarily be frat parties in the court system, it’s the similar gathering of strangers in a public activity, such as jury duty, that still seems very problematic.

The assembly of jurors in old buildings with questionable ventilation issues appears to invite COVID-19 transmission.

It has been reported that the return to colleges and universities has caused about 90,000 new cases of the Coronavirus. It is also important to note that even though those number seem high; it is based on a transmission rate of about 5% (not out of control).

For jury trials, 2020 is shaping up to be mostly a lost year for litigation in many large jurisdictions with even larger caseloads. The SDL is not going to speculate on the arrival of vaccine (other than that we need one) to change this situation.

Recently, the SDL taught a beginning litigation class to 110 adjusters over Zoom. Normally, this is an in-person class and accompanying a large conference. The class went with success but what was severely compromised was the Q&A portion that follows the lecture. Typically, there is a ninety-minute session and then questions are answered until there are no more. This time however, we hit the hard break that Zoom requires after ninety-minutes and that was all. Hard break.

The status of jury trials in many large venues is also at a hard break for 2020. Likewise, business travel is basically at a standstill. Conferences scheduled for early 2021 are already being delayed. Professional organizations are scrambling to backload events into the second half of 2021.

The concept of “adapting” is critical throughout the industry in these times. It is incumbent on all of us to do what we can to “push the ball” forward every day. From lawyer to SDL to “on-line lawyer” the changes just keep coming.