Chief Justice Burke: Remote court proceedings are here to stay

A few years back---before COVID-19---I had an insurance defense matter pending in McHenry County. My client was insured with an out-of-state carrier that wrote only statutory limits policies in Illinois. The carrier, being relatively new to this market, did not have any arrangements with counsel in Woodstock, but it had me, and I had a car.

When I schlepped out there for an initial status conference, I discovered that the judge handling this case had made arrangements with a company called CourtCall to permit litigants and their counsel to participate in status hearings by telephone. For a per-hearing fee, roughly comparable to the mileage charge the insurer was willing to pay, I could attend the next status hearing by phone -- and charge the insurer for only 10% of the fee that I had charged for that first hearing. I had to sign up in advance, and there was at least one subsequent hearing marred by a technical glitch, but, on balance, I felt pleased that I found a genuine savings for the carrier -- of critical import in matters with so little at stake.

Good for the insurer---if bad for me---but, then, I was never a good businessman.

No good deed goes unpunished. Later, when the carrier assigned me to a case in another outlying county (Kane, I think) that didn't have a judge who had subscribed to CourtCall, my "windshield time" aggravated the carrier more than ever because my trips to Geneva were now seen as "unnecessary." CourtCall, though a national company, was, like my insurer-client, new to the Illinois market, and not yet well-established. It was a good concept, whose time had not yet come.

Then came the Pandemic... and everything changed. Lawyers got used to Zooming in and out of hearings from their home offices, sometimes a/k/a kitchens or bedrooms. In May 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court promulgated new Rules 45 and 241. Litigants and counsel were not only permitted to attend status hearings, by phone or video, under Rule 241, litigants were also expressly permitted "to testify or otherwise participate in a civil trial or evidentiary hearing by video conferencing from a remote location." Where video links were unavailable for trial testimony, phone testimony might be permitted.

The Pandemic is officially over now, except in places where it isn't, both in the U.S. and abroad, where people won't (or can't) get vaccinated -- but never mind that now: Most of the nation, including Illinois, is making a forced march toward the New Normal.

That New Normal will include more remote hearings than were ever imagined, much less permitted, in the Old Normal. That is the directive contained in a June 14, 2021 letter from Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne M. Burke to all Illinois trial and reviewing court judges. Here's a copy of the letter:

"While the effects of the pandemic are beginning to recede," the letter reads, "remote court proceedings will not." In Chief Justice Burke's view, "courts, lawyers, and litigants have [all] significantly benefitted from remote court proceedings, and the option to appear remotely will continue as a key component in keeping our court system open and accessible."

Supreme Court Rules 45 and 241 are "permanent and enduring features of our justice system," the letter continues. "Remote court proceedings are a critical part of meeting the current and changing needs of our society, and the Supreme Court continues to encourage and support remote court appearances."

This is not just an access to justice issue, according to Chief Justice Burke. "Lawyers across the state have embraced remote court proceedings as it has allowed them to appear in multiple courts, representing multiple clients, without extensive travel." Costs are reduced where "the client pays for 20 minutes, not 3 hours or more."

This, in turn, makes legal representation more affordable -- and affordable access to lawyers is itself an access to justice issue, whether the courts want to say so or not.

Anything that reduces the costs of litigation will be a benefit to lawyers. When litigation costs are reduced more otherwise 'self-represented litigants' can become clients. Remote hearings should help.

And, as long as the Supreme Court is on a roll, could it next take up the issue of zero-based discovery? Please?