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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

JURY'S STILL OUT  –  In the July 27th edition of our Law.com Trendspotter column, we discussed how alternatives to in-person jury trials were gaining traction. At the time, along with nudging more litigants toward bench trials and traditional alternative dispute resolution methods, a number of courts were conducting experiments with virtual jury trials. Still, the vibe way back then (a month-and-a-half ago) was that most lawyers and judges were crossing their fingers that they wouldn't actually have to resort to conducting remote jury trials regularly. But now, a solid six months into the pandemic, trial-by-video-jury—at least in the civil context—is beginning to morph from experiment to expectation. And while lawyers aren't totally sold on the concept, a growing chorus of judges is making clear that it may be the only way to keep their dockets moving. In this week's Trendspotter column, we dig into why judges are increasingly pushing for virtual jury trials and why some lawyers are pushing back.

PANDEMIC PRACTICES  – As the old saying goes: don't put all your eggs in one basket, or a global pandemic could come along and give all your eggs COVID-19. The importance of having a diversified client base, a well-rounded practice focus and the flexibility to pivot in response to changing economic forces has arguably never been more clear for law firms than it is right now. But it's not enough to just have those things—you need to be smart about how you use them. As Brenda Sapino Jeffreys reports, firms of all sizes are marketing ad hoc multidisciplinary practice groups to meet rapidly evolving pandemic-related client needs, a move aimed to boost demand even as the COVID-19 economic downturn takes a toll on revenue. Houston-based Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Aughtry, for example, has launched a Paycheck Protection Program Audits and Investigations Practice. Meanwhile, Pacific Northwest firm Lane Powell launched a COVID-19 Landlord/Tenant Response Team to help property owners and tenants understand their obligations and rights. "It's really smart for firms to try to do this in response [to COVID-19 issues] so they can frankly provide better service and smarter service to their clients. The challenge is they have to be super-aggressive and very creative in getting the word out,"said Deborah McMurray, founder and CEO of Content Pilot in Dallas.

NAME BLAME GAME – We may have just discovered a new strain of pandemic-related litigation: trademark disputes over office-reopening software. McGuireWoods filed a trademark lawsuit Friday in California Northern District Court on behalf of TIBCO Software. The suit seeks a declaratory judgment that TIBCO's new GatherSmart platform, designed to help companies manage the return to the office following COVID-19, does not infringe trademark rights of the defendant, GatherSmart LLC. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. Read the full complaint and stay up to date on major litigation nationwide with Law.com's Legal Radar.

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EDITOR'S PICKS

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