I recently came across an article in the ABA Law Practice Today by Kandis L. Kovalsky titled Zoom Court Appearances: Rising to the Occasion While Seated.  She shares some suggestions that I have already discussed – dressing accordingly, testing your technology beforehand, and mind what is in your background.  But Kandis did provide some extra ideas I thought I would share with the TSL.P audience.  This includes one idea I think may have been unintentional by Kandis.

First, don’t lean back or slouch in your chair.  Yes, you are at home, and you are in your office.  But more importantly, you are in a courtroom.  Would you slouch or lean back in a courtroom?  Why would you do this on video?  How would the public, e.g., your client or next potential client, react to see you behaving “unprofessionally” if the video was to get out in the public domain!

Next, don’t forget you can pass virtual electronic notes!  In a courtroom setting, it used to be you could only pass handwritten notes between those sitting at your courtroom table and maybe with some staff in the courtroom gallery.  With the internet and technology bulldozing their way into our personal and professional lives, it’s easy to chat or e-mail in a physical courtroom on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone with your firm’s internet communication platform.  This can easily be accomplished in a remote setting:  In addition to e-mail, you can use messaging platforms like Slack, Zoom, MS Teams, Apple Messages, etc., to send notes, questions, etc., to clients, staff, co-counsel, and partners who can give you real-time responses.  This is great when an answer, argument, or fact is not at the tip of your tongue.

Be on time for your hearing!  If your hearing is set for 10 AM, be ready to go, on-camera, and live at 9:55 PM.  You don’t show up to a courtroom exactly at the time of the hearing.  You show up early.  Likewise, you show up early for your video hearing.  Plus, if you have technological glitches, you want that resolved before the hearing start time.  Not the exact moment you are to be live!

Lastly, the unintentional tip – do we rise for the judge?  In a physical courtroom, we rise when the judge enters the courtroom, when we address the judge or witnesses, when the jury enters and leaves and when the judge leaves the courtroom.  Unless we are at a standing desk, we are naturally sitting for our video hearing.  Judges have complete control of their courtrooms.  Just because you are appearing by video does not mean that you don’t have to abide by the judge’s courtroom rules and customs.  It is always a good idea to check with the judge’s clerk to ensure you follow proper courtroom etiquette!

MTC!