Covid has not brought with it many perks. And certainly, the one I am about to mention is not worth the disruption that we have all had in our lives. But perhaps there has been one thing of positive note about the pandemic – the advent of Zoom.  In order to keep the disease from spreading at the courthouse, judges have been employing the use of Zoom attendance at non-evidentiary hearings. This makes sense. To climb in your car, drive half an hour, park, go through courthouse security, wait for the judge to take the bench, and then hold a five minute case status check just did not make sense. However, that’s the way it has always been done. In person. The client misses a day’s work and the lawyer is out of the office for three hours and all for a five minute status check. Before the pandemic, Zoom did not exist. It wasn’t needed. At least so we thought. But now that we have all tried it, it makes sense to continue using it even after the Covid is completely under control and the risk of infection is gone.

So, I am not happy that my life has been disrupted by this worldwide infectious disease. But if I can consider the glass half full, then it will be because it will be much easier to handle routine hearings where the client is not required to be present. I’ll take it.