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If you’re a civil attorney practicing in the Eighth and you missed the May Civil Bench-Bar Meeting, you missed a lot. A total of 161 people attended the Bench-Bar on Zoom that addressed the backlog, remote appearances, electronic exhibits and other need to know info as the court ramps up operations.

Here’s a recap:

A new trial plan and a new admin order are forthcoming. “The main concern is to move forward with trials,” said Chief Judge Linda Bell. The backlog estimate is at around 300 criminal trials and 1000 civil trials.

• As of June 14, when additional jurors will be summonsed, the court is planning to do 10 trials a week.
• Each judge will prioritize their own cases on five-week stacks.
• Jury selection will be Wednesday and Thursday, on the week prior to trial.
• Jury selection will move into the courtrooms with smaller panels than those prior to the pandemic.
• Part of the plan is to replace chairs with new, non-cloth chairs and to continue with some social distancing. The intent is to ensure that everyone feels comfortable.
• Eight people will be allowed on an elevator. That is up from the prior limit of four.  
• It is expected that masks will be required until the end of this year. Clear masks are recommended for witnesses in trials, to enable lip reading and observation of expressions.  Open face shields will not suffice. Clear masks are required to have a barrier that has a seal.
• The length of jury selection and trials will be determined by judges.
• Cases already scheduled to be conducted at the convention center will go forward. No additional trials will be scheduled there.
• Trials will ramp up at the Regional Justice Center the week of June 14, and accelerate the week of June 28.

Remote appearances

• Remote appearances for routine matters are highly encouraged to avoid congestion at the courthouse and to leave space for trials.
• For remote appearances, video is preferred over audio-only phone appearances.
• In-person hearings are at the judges’ discretion.
• Video appearances for trials or non-routine matters should be taken up with the judge presiding over the case.
• Due to the success of video appearances, the Nevada Supreme Court is looking at the issue statewide and has put together a committee that will that will come up with a statewide rule for witnesses appearing remotely by video.
• A strong preference was expressed for remote meetings until at least the end of the year.

Trials will be full days

“We have to address the backlog.  It’s time to get up and going,” said Judge Bell. “We want to get everybody in, finish a case, and move onto the next trial. Anticipate that you will be working all day when in trial.”

Judge Alf emphasized how hard the chief judge has worked to ensure you can get your day in court.  Chief Judge Bell credited “an Incredible administrative team and an incredible executive committee.”

Depositions will be conducted on Wednesdays; and may be conducted by alternate means. If parties have a dispute, the Discovery Commissioner will address potential issues.

“I encourage people to be professional, cooperative and understanding. Be sensitive to other people’s level of concern, because it may not be the same as yours,” said Judge Bell. “Civil trials at the RJC must go forward. We have more space because Municipal Court just moved and gave us more room for jury selection.” Judge Bell commended those who have worked to keep things moving while many courts have been paralyzed by the pandemic. “I think our whole group has been really successful at getting things to move forward. We’ve done more than 25 trials including: six or seven civil trials, 20 criminal trials and many short trials. We continue to make efforts to have trials go forward, while some courts have not been able to accomplish anything.”

Proposed protocol for electronic exhibits

Attorney Alexandra McLeod and District Court Clerk’s Office division administrator Anntoinette Naumec-Miller provided an overview of the proposed protocol for electronic exhibits. One point that was made repeatedly: the more advance notice of electronic exhibits you give, the better.

Prior to trial, the parties need to determine how many electronic exhibits they plan to submit. A range of numbers will be assigned for each party to name electronic exhibits. It is preferable to overestimate the number of exhibits so that the range of numbers covers all the exhibits. Proposed electronic exhibits must be submitted in portable document format (.PDF).

Regarding storage of electronic exhibits, the proposed Order states:

The party offering the proposed electronic exhibits shall provide the clerk with two identical sets of the proposed electronic exhibits on separate electronic storage devices. In the event of a jury trial, an additional blank electronic storage device will be required to copy all of the admitted electronic exhibits onto for use by the jury (see paragraph 12). The clerk will maintain one of the electronic storage devices as a master without modification.

The drives have to be validated by IT. First submissions usually do not pass validation. Submitted drives may require two to three instances of validation. That’s why the more time the parties allow the better. It is recommended that electronic exhibits should be submitted at least one week in advance.

View the entire Proposed Order Regarding Electronic Exhibits for Trial:

The next Civil Bench-Bar Meeting is June 8 at noon

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