L.A. Goes Remote for Civil and Criminal Cases

As of August 10, every criminal courtroom in the L.A. Superior Court is equipped to hold hearings by audio- or video-conference. You just need the judge’s approval and the defendant’s consent.

The same goes, more or less, for family-law matters. In restraining-order or contempt proceedings, you can now appear by audio or video. For all other matters, it’s just audio for now but stay tuned.

The court plans to roll this out to all courtrooms by the end of summer. It’s already brought the technology to most of its civil and probate docket as well as to criminal arraignments and preliminary hearings.

It’s made other changes as well. It’s installed drop-boxes for filing outside the courthouse, and it’s created a virtual clerk’s office with more self-help services. It’s also working on virtual options for criminal jury trials, some of which may resume in September, and civil jury trials, which likely won’t happen until next year.

For more information on these changes to the largest trial court in the country, visit this webpage.