Legal proceedings around the country have looked very different amid widespread social distancing and stay-at-home mandates during COVID-19. The Illinois Supreme Court, for instance, held oral arguments over Zoom for the first time ever. Miami-Dade traffic court returned over Zoom after a two-month hiatus. Court system interpreters in Wisconsin have found Zoom’s simultaneous interpretation capabilities extremely helpful for remote proceedings.
Law firms have also had to pivot to serve their clients and fulfill their legal obligations. Florida’s largest law firm, Cole, Scott & Kissane (CSK), transitioned into more of a virtual law firm as it recently standardized on Zoom’s video-first unified communications platform. CSK uses Zoom daily for pre-depositions, depositions, mediations, and other legal proceedings.
CSK was also the first law firm in the state to participate in a virtual trial by jury over Zoom. Additionally, the firm, with 500 attorneys in 13 offices, said it avoided COVID-related layoffs and pay cuts because of Zoom.
“Zoom has been an essential part of keeping our business running,” said Jason Thomas, Chief Information Officer for CSK. “We needed to quickly pivot and change the way we work, and Zoom fit our need for an intuitive and secure solution that our attorneys could start using right away.”