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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

UNDER PRESSURE - Courtrooms across the country are being confronted by an array of questions, including whether a surge of COVID-19 cases will renew shutdowns and whether jurors and staff are willing to risk a return. But as Law.com's Greg Land and Amanda Bronstad reports, one problem is already clear: backlogs of criminal, civil and domestic cases have piled up. Now civil parties are facing even more pressure to settle. Richard Clifton, a senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, who serves as president of the Federal Judges Association, said that court backlogs are a big topic for judges and the most frequent comment is that the civil calendar "is just sitting there" because judges are spending all their time dealing with criminal caseloads. Ryan Baker, a litigator and founder of Waymaker law firm, said, "The backlog factor weighs heavily in favor of courts really advocating for private resolution because the reality is litigants are having to bear the cost of extended and protracted litigation."

NOT SO FAST – While law schools learned the benefits of remote learning courses during the pandemic, an entirely remote J.D. program isn't likely to happen anytime soon, reports Law.com's Victoria Hudgins. "I don't think we want to move to a 100% online format for legal education anytime soon, even if the ABA would allow it, but I do think we can do a lot more online," University of Akron School of Law Dean Christopher "C.J." Peters said. The American Bar Association has never accredited an online-only J.D. program. But accreditation aside, Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law Dean Daniel Filler said a purely online J.D. program would require extensive resources to develop, an endeavor not all law schools are willing to take. The movement for some remote law school classes remains alive though, and some law schools are trying to determine the appropriate courses to offer in a remote setting that don't stifle students' learning or career development.

REALITY CHECK -  A survey published by the American Bar Association found 84% of men believe their firm has succeeded in promoting women into positions of leadership, and 88% of men said gender diversity is a priority at their firms. On both questions, just 55% of women agreed. It raises the question: How do you get to a shared sense of reality? The answer, in part, requires confronting some hard truths about the profession, reports Law.com's Patrick Smith. "Men need to welcome the conversation," legal consultant Deborah Farone said. Robin Ely, at Harvard Business School, said one reason for this mismatch is what she called a salience bias. "You don't get to see a lot of women performing publicly in high-level roles," she said. "So when you do see them, it sticks in your mind more, and you are thinking that all these women are getting opportunities. But it is really just a few."

EDITOR'S PICKS

Courts Everywhere Are Masking Up and Watching Out Over Delta Variant Spread