Judges side with Zoom as their top choice of platforms for remote court hearings during the COVID-19 crisis, a National Judicial College survey found.
An unscientific poll received more than 700 responses from jurists nationwide, 48% of whom said Zoom is their go-to platform for remote video court proceedings. The WebEx platform was a distant second with 25%, followed by Skype (9.69%), Microsoft Teams (9.12%), GoToMeeting (6.13%), Google Hangouts (3.85%), BlueJeans (3.56%), CourtCall (3.13%), Adobe Connect (0.14%) and other (10.54%).
Several judges reported that Zoom streamlined operations and that they plan to continue using the service even after social distancing requirements have been lifted.
Judges said they liked these Zoom features:
- The “waiting room” that limits admission to meetings;
- Recordability, which can create copies of hearings for court files;
- Breakout rooms for confidential counsel, and;
- Greater access to the justice system overall.
A summary of the results, including judges’ comments, can be found here.