With state courts navigating backlogs, budget problems and what’s essentially been a non-stop emergency sprint over the past 11 months, you might expect that getting a group of top state court judges from around the country together could yield a collective gripe session.

On Thursday, when the Legal Service Corporation hosted the top judges from Texas, California, Michigan, and Nevada on a virtual panel to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their courts, the judges chose to focus on the ways recent changes have expanded access to justice.

Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht.