Daily Times

The coronavirus has impacted industries globally, forcing modernisation and allowing for flexible working.

New trends have been born out of a unique situation which will be remembered for generations to come. This includes holding legal proceedings entirely online — which has involved meticulous planning and scheduling as the judge, barristers, solicitors, witnesses, experts and translators all need to join calls throughout the course of the proceeding.

The concept has now been globalised, with courts from Texas to Indonesia all adopting online proceedings until virus cases ease in their respective cities, countries or state.

In fact, a commercial court in the UK heard a $530 million trial online, which was brought to a conclusion at the beginning of this month. The proceeding involved numerous different parties, and was brought by the Republic of Kazakhstan, with regards to assets held by the bank, BNY Mellon.

The seven-day trial had been forced online due to safety concerns because of the coronavirus, which were especially prevalent given the magnitude of the case. The online proceeding took place over Zoom, and received largely positive reviews on both sides.

Following the trial, a partner at one of the participating law firms branded the experience “successful,” and went on to comment that online trials were “inevitable” in the future.

This was corroborated by law firm Reed Smith, who concluded in an article on their website that, “Virtual hearings work; we [the legal sphere] should embrace them during and even after the COVID-19 lockdown. We believe the enforced change in approach is here to stay.”

The presiding judge, Mr Justice Teare, himself agreed with the above comments, stating that overall, the trial had been “most remarkable.”

With witnesses already afforded the option to testify online, the virus has just sped up an inevitable process of modernisation and digitalisation in law.