COVID-19 Court Updates

COVID-19 Court Updates:

Generally, jury trials are not happening anywhere right now in Southern California. The few jury trials that have gone forward during the pandemic are taking much longer than usual with the need for social distancing of jurors, witnesses, court staff, and litigants.

Court dates for traffic matters, misdemeanors and even felonies are often being rescheduled unilaterally by the court without any input from the defense or the prosecution. Many matters are proceeding through the use of Zoom, Microsoft teams, Webex and telephone.

The severely restricted access to our court system caused by COVID-19 has made the lawyer’s job less a matter of getting out of court, and more a matter of finding a way to get your case in front of a Judge so that you can resolve your matter, clear a warrant or license hold, argue for release on bail, etc.

If you have any questions about a case you or a family member or friend may be facing, please give us a call so we can talk about a solution.

California Courts Closures

COVID-19 UPDATE – California Courts Closures

California courts are beginning to announce closures and rule changes. We will continue to monitor and update as much as possible. As of today 03/16/20 here is the current update:

LA county-closed till Friday 03/20/20
SD county-closed through April 6th
SB county-Most courts closed through April 2nd but some exceptions
Ventura County – closed through March 18th
Orange County – closed through March 27th
Riverside county – no announcement yet
Santa Barbara-closed through April 3rd
Alameda-closed through April 7

If you have are an existing client or if you have a question about court status, feel free to call, we are here to help in anyway we can.