Use of Technology in Family Court Cases Varies Across US

CHICAGO, Sept. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As a companion piece to the survey on the overall demand for divorce, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) has conducted a survey on the use of technology in family court cases across the US. The AAML is a group of 1600 Fellows who are family lawyers located in every one of the 50 states. Two hundred and thirty-one AAML Fellows responded to this survey.

"The most striking result of the technology survey," says Elizabeth Lindsey, a family lawyer practicing in Atlanta and currently president of the AAML, "is the fact that there is no consistency. It appears that each attorney and each locale are trying to bridge the gap between in-person and virtual meetings or court proceedings in their own way."

As COVID-19 has flared up again in many places across the country, 32% of the responding lawyers report that they are still conducting in-person meetings, 24% report they are in the process of moving from in-person back to virtual meetings, and 20% say they are entirely back to all-remote meetings.

Sixty-five percent of respondents indicated that their local courts are continuing to permit electronic filing and remote video technology for most or all family law mediation and hearings. Thirteen percent say their courts are scaling back on remote technology in favor of a return to live mediations and hearings. Seventeen percent report that almost all mediations and hearings are now live. Only 51% of respondents report that courts are requiring masks for everyone in in-person proceedings.

Open-ended survey questions offered attorneys a chance to comment on their personal preference for Zoom versus in-person meetings. Zoom supporters like the "enhanced comfort, safety and convenience." Some commented that meeting on Zoom is also less expensive and often more convenient for the client.

Some lawyers expressed a very strong distaste for remote meetings in all circumstances, while others said they felt it was harder "to establish the same level of rapport with a client" remotely or that an in-person meeting was "more conducive to building trust and facilitating meaningful communication."

Obviously, the use of remote technology is still very much in a state of flux and attorneys, clients and the courts are still in the process of getting accustomed to this New World.

SOURCE American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers

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