Law360′s Bill Wichert interviewed some New Jersey attorneys about upcoming mandatory virtual trials in the state.
As seen in this article, “Retired state Supreme Court Justice and former state Attorney General Peter G. Verniero, now with Sills Cummis & Gross P.C., echoed that point about the balancing act at work with virtual trials.
“‘There’s a point in time where you have to move forward, if you can, if it’s appropriate, because … the system has to continue,’ he said. ‘Otherwise, there’ll be such a backlog of cases. That in and of itself will then create problems.’
“The virtual format can provide for fair adjudications and ‘a lot will depend on the professionalism of the lawyers and the … gatekeeping function of the judge,’ the ex-justice said.
“‘Those two elements — professionalism of the bar and the gatekeeping function of the bench, of the judiciary — those have always been important functions in our system and even more so perhaps in a virtual format,’ he added.”
