Waterbury solo practitioner Michelle Holmes knew that if she were able to get her client, a former licensed practical nurse at Advanced Nursing & Rehabilitation Center of New Haven, to testify during the first federal Zoom bench trial since COVID-19 started, the plaintiff would be able to give an impassioned and credible account of what led to her firing.

So Holmes did just that. She had Deborah Carmichael testify virtually in front of U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton of the District of Connecticut during three days in September.