In October’s cover story for Bench & Bar of Minnesota, remote court proceedings are the new normal and what that means for clients, attorneys and the courts is explored. Dori Rapaport, executive director of Legal Aid Service of Northeastern Minnesota (LASNEM), discusses the impact of virtual court on her program’s clients and legal aid in “Courtrooms without borders.”

Before the prevalence of remote court, LASNEM staff were forced to make difficult decisions. The logistics of appearing in court for one client in Duluth and for another the same day in Grand Marais, three hours away, was sometimes insurmountable. With the use of “Zoom court” responsiveness to clients has increased dramatically and made it easier to secure representation. Clients have also benefitted by not having to take time off work and find child-care or transportation.

“Because we had virtual courts, we could coordinate all the housing hearings in one calendar. It was one referee hearing all the cases and he became a subject matter expert,” Rapaport said. “Instead of picking and choosing where we could drive to and pick which clients we could help, we could represent them all.”

Litigation director Valerie Field of Anishinabe Legal Services (ALS) has mixed feelings about the impact of remote court. ALS provides civil legal services in tribal and state courts and many of their clients have limited access to the internet. The tribal courts have developed different pandemic approaches, with some remote, some mostly in-person, and some, like Leech Lake, a mix of both.

For more about the benefits of remote court in greater Minnesota and the metro, as well as drawbacks, and a view from the bench, read the full article.