State’s ‘virtual courtrooms’ surpass million-hour mark

Listen to this article

Michigan’s courts have logged more than 1 million hours of online hearings since proceedings were moved online in late March.

Since then, the Michigan Supreme Court ramped up use of remote proceedings via Zoom, trained judges and court staff, and leveraged new technology to boost security and access to justice for litigants. To help prevent spread of COVID-19, the court issued a series of administrative orders to put these measures in place.

Now, nearly 1,000 judges and other court officers around the state are using Zoom licenses provided by the State Court Administrative Office.

“I believe strongly that the more access the people have to court proceedings, records and case-related data, the more trust they have in our judicial system and willingness to abide by court orders,” said Chief Justice Bridget M. McCormack, as she testified before the state Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. “Conducting 1,000,000 hours of hearings in less than six months’ time is simply remarkable. At the same time, we build trust by making sure those proceedings can be viewed by the public.”

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court developed a Virtual Courtroom Directory; people can search the interactive map by location or judge — or simply clicking on a county — to find virtual courtrooms and watch proceedings. Courts must either live stream proceedings to YouTube live, or post a video of the proceedings immediately after. Since its launch, the public has used the directory more than 80,000 times and trial court YouTube pages have more than 30,000 subscribers.

In addition to the virtual courtroom directory, the Supreme Court is safeguarding access to justice by:

• Offering the nation’s first statewide online dispute resolution tool (MI-Resolve).
• Developing a new application that enables courts to text parties regarding hearing dates and payments owed.
• Protecting secure access to data for courts by partnering with Microsoft to build a Windows Virtual Desktop environment so judges and court staff can securely access case files.
• Providing guidance to courts on all aspects of holding jury trials that protect public health and the rights of parties — from voir dire to verdict.
• Improving access for self-represented litigants through Michigan Legal Help on issues ranging from evictions to unemployment insurance.

In July, the Supreme Court announced that Michigan’s courts logged more than 500,000 hours of online hearings; it released a chart showing the steady increase in hours of Zoom hearings since April.

Michigan Lawyers Weekly talked to judges, magistrates and court administrators earlier this year about how they rose to the challenge of providing access to justice for Michiganders. All agreed it has been successful despite a few bumps in the beginning.

For more information about the judicial branch’s response to COVID-19, visit www.courts.mi.gov/COVID19