During the height of the pandemic, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore created the Commission to Reimagine the Future of New York’s Courts (the Commission) to “consider regulatory and structural innovations, and enhanced use of technology and online platforms, to more effectively and efficiently adjudicate cases and improve the accessibility, affordability, and quality of legal services for all New Yorkers.” The Commission’s mission is to “provid[e] short-term recommendations as the courts resume in-person operations while developing a blueprint for the court system of tomorrow.”

One of the Commission’s working groups focused on technology and it is co-chaired by the author and Sharon M. Porcellio of Bond Schoeneck & King. The first task of the Technology Working Group was to survey New York’s judges, court attorneys and judicial staff to inquire about their use of technology in performing their work remotely. The survey had an incredible 25% response rate. The Working Group’s first report addressed the judiciary’s access to and use of mobile devices for working remotely, such as laptops, iPads, tablets and/or cell phones, whether personal or court-issued, as well as other remote-judging issues. The Working Group’s second report will address the judiciary’s use of technology to conduct virtual proceedings and how such technology is being used, as well as issues related to digital recording of proceedings, court reporters and interpreters. The third report will focus on the use of remote technology used by Town and Village Justices.