As readers of this blog know, the pandemic has changed how civil jury trials work. Fortunately, the effort and innovation by King County Superior Court has allowed for a significant amount of civil trials to proceed, most entirely over Zoom. This includes the first (to our knowledge) medical malpractice verdict for a plaintiff.

Now, as the world attempts to return to normalcy, King County continues to deal with the effects of the pandemic. Priority is given to criminal and family law cases ahead of civil cases. Currently, there are 4,800 pending felony cases awaiting resolution. This backlog – and the efforts taken to reduce it – affect not only the participants of those cases (those accused of felonies and victims of those felonies), but downstream the ability of civil litigants to get their day in court.

There are unfortunate barriers to addressing this backlog of cases, some COVID-related and others long standing.

With regard to COVID, now for every criminal jury trial, two courtrooms are necessary (one for the trial, another for deliberations). The jury selection process is being done over Zoom, which often comes with technological delays. Attorneys on both sides are juggling very large caseloads. A lack of access to interpreters, security and other staff have contributed to delays as well.

And, although it is unclear the cause, the percentage of cases resolving with a plea deal has gone down. Prior to the pandemic, the number was 80-90%. The number of people entering guilty pleas has gone down considerably.

And when jurors are selected, pandemic-independent issues remain. Jurors are required to come in person to the courthouse, including navigating sometimes dangerous areas around the courthouse. For this privilege, jurors continue to be compensated only $10/day, the same pay rate that has existed since the 1950s.

All of this has put pressure on the court system that is reflected in civil litigants’ ability to get to trial. In a recent experience, one of our client’s cases was continued from February to June. At a recent trial scheduling conference for the June trial date, the Judge we were before told us she would not be the trial judge hearing our case (she was scheduled to preside over a murder trial) and that we would be put on standby. Essentially, “be ready to try your case with 24 hours notice.” With cases often involving numerous witnesses – including professional medical witnesses with active, busy practices – being placed on standby can be a maddening exercise.

King County has done a terrific job at innovating to continue the wheels of justice turning through this unprecedented period in our society. And still, significant delays remain common place for all litigants attempting to seek justice through the court system.

You can read more about this here.