How to solve a court backlog the pandemic exacerbated

Over the past year, courthouses across the U.S. have had to close or restrict their activities to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — with many states (and local jurisdictions) ordering the suspensions of jury trials and even inperson hearings.

The pandemic has brought new focus to efforts to modernize through technology, and Arizona’s courts play a leading role in ushering in that new era.

Despite courts pivoting to virtual hearings to keep the justice system running, the ongoing disruption has exacerbated the huge backlogs at both state and federal level — with some states reporting case pileups in the six figures.

The human impact of this can be enormous. For defendants and victims alike, many of whom are often the most vulnerable in our society, justice delayed is justice denied.

The pandemic has accelerated pressures — and backlogs — that court systems have been experiencing for years. A major cause has been their continued reliance on using paper versus digital means to share information.

The explosion in the amount of digital evidence in recent years, fueled by the increasing use of multimedia evidence such as body camera footage, has exacerbated the problem.

In Maricopa County alone, the court system produces 10,000 pieces of evidence every month, much of which is being stored for years in case of an appeal, according to Arizona court administrators.

Sharing, reviewing and storing this evidence has proven to be a major drag on the efficiency of the courts and litigants. Keeping track of multiple files for hundreds of hearings quickly gets out of control and slows down the judicial process.

This has only intensified with the pandemic and switch to virtual hearings.

Many courts have adopted coping strategies by using generic tools — such as Dropbox, email, PDFs and OneDrive — not designed for the legal profession. These tools lead to a deluge of files, leaving court staff overwhelmed, hearings being delayed or taking more time as judges and parties in the case try to negotiate how the evidence can be used.

With all this in mind, many courts have been looking at ways to introduce solutions that can organize, share and present evidence and court documents both remotely and in person.

The benefits are clear.

After introducing an evidence sharing platform, the UK Criminal Courts found that there was a 50% reduction in the number of hearings needed to conclude a case. Webb County Court-atLaw II, in Laredo, Texas, which piloted the same platform in 2020, remained operational throughout the pandemic and even managed to clear its backlog of cases.

In Arizona, the Administrative Office of the Courts established a task force two years ago, way before the pandemic, to look at the best ways to manage digital evidence and how to present it in a courtroom. Its report, completed in

December, paved the way for changes that are underway — from virtual hearings to the digitization of court processes, including the logging of evidence.

We at Thomson Reuters are proud to be working with the Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts to help eliminate backlogs, ensure continued access to justice and expedite the digital transformation of Arizona’s courts.

The pandemic has created an extra sense of urgency to what has been an ongoing effort — for the courts to more efficiently run their operations. However, this change in how the courts operate will live on forever, even after the pandemic ends.

All Arizonans — from judges, lawyers, court officials and litigants, to taxpayers and constituents — will benefit from a more efficient court system, and the continued and unimpeded access to justice this brings.

No one will be returning to the ways of the paper-dominated past.