Roger Plawker Quoted in Law360 Regarding Continuation of Remote Court Proceedings
Roger Plawker, Partner and Chair of the Attorney Ethics and Professional Misconduct practice at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, was quoted in the Law 360 article “NJ Attys Praise Order to Continue Remote Proceedings.” The article discusses a recent New Jersey Supreme Court order allowing remote proceedings to continue. As stated in the Law 360:
Roger Plawker, a partner at Hackensack-based Pashman Stein Walder Hayden PC, said that in October he participated in his first remote jury selection.
Plawker said the process was organized well and said he was "surprised at our ability to take the measure of the jury pool on a computer screen."
"In some respects, one can see and scrutinize a person more closely on the screen than in the courtroom," he told Law360 Pulse.
"However, only the selection was remote, and the trial commenced live with the jury spread out in the gallery instead of the jury box. I am unsure how I might have felt about a complex civil jury trial proceeding remotely."
Presenting evidence is challenging in a remote format, he said, as is engaging with the jury.
"All that said, the ability of citizens to meet their jury service obligation may be enhanced by the convenience of remote proceedings," Plawker said. "This is certainly true for jury selection, and it may no longer be necessary to have hundreds of folks show up to the courthouse. As to other civil trials, bench trials are certainly well-suited to proceeding remotely, and I would not be surprised to see lawyers and their clients more routinely consenting to remote bench trials."
To view the full article, click here.