In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, videoconferencing technology has played an increasingly important role in connecting lawyers, litigants, judges and court staff to help keep the wheels of justice turning. But, allowing an injured plaintiff to videoconference his family into the courtroom on monitors displayed to the jury is a step too far, according to one Pennsylvania judge.

In late December, Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas Judge Terrence Nealon denied efforts by Martin Snyder, the plaintiff in Snyder v. Scranton Hospital, to allow his five children and “several grandchildren” to be continually shown to the jury through the Zoom conferencing platform during the trial’s opening statements and closing arguments.