On September 21, NYS Chief Judge Janet DiFiore provided this video update to discuss the continued progress of the Unified Court System’s jury trial pilot, which has continued to expand into the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Judicial Districts. Chief Judge DiFiore notes that the process has not resulted in any incidents or complaints of health and safety violations. She states that these pilots will continue to expand in the coming weeks, likely arriving in New York City in mid- to late-October.
Chief Judge DiFiore then turns to the enhancement of the courts’ virtual capacity, led by Christine Sisario and Sheng Guo, through the move from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams. Teams has already been piloted in a few different courts. She notes that another innovation introduced during the pandemic has been Electronic Document Delivery System.