Howard Finkelstein,Broward Public Defender

In more than 20 years practicing law, Andrea Cox, a partner with Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr in Miami, has not taken a deposition by video conference absent a court order.

But that's about to change — a sign that attorneys are adjusting to growing concern about the virus.

For Cox it might mean working at a disadvantage.

"It is harder to take a deposition if you are not in front of the witness," she said.

For starters, video makes it is difficult to read the witness, a skill Cox has honed over the course of her career.

But these and other changes are coming for litigators, with the quickening spread of COVID-19, which has infected over 800 people in the United States and resulted in at least 27 deaths, according to a New York Times aggregation of official federal, state and local tallies. Among those deaths, two have been reported in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency.

The virus is affecting the schedules of litigators across the country. And organizers are canceling industry meetings and conferences, due to travel restrictions grounded upon fears of spreading the new virus among attendees. This includes the Spring Meeting 2020 of the American Bar Association Business Law Section, which was canceled on Monday.

Courts are also taking action. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, for instance, took steps in response to the spread of the virus. It announced visitor restrictions to all courthouses from people who traveled to Italy, Iran, South Korea and China within the last 14 days. Its notice also denies entry to anyone who had come into close contact with people who had returned from the countries in the previous two weeks.

The impact can be tough on litigators. Adding to the confusion: There is no clear guideline or consistency among policies dealing with the coronavirus across federal and state courts.

Broward Public defender Howard Finkelstein finds it frustrating that there is no clear guidance from the local court system. But he said that could change if the virus begins to appear in jail or prison inmates. The ripple effect would spill into other areas of law when inmate populations come into contact with guards, public defenders, judges and other people in the court system.

Finkelstein worries that in such a scenario, concerns for public safety would likely mandate that prisoners remain quarantined—a requirement that might violate the constitutional rights of some.

But for Finkelstein, some of the real impact is happening right now. For example, his scheduled event Wednesday to speak with around 700 students and the public has been canceled.

The Student Awareness Day program by Miami Dade Public Schools at Florida International University focuses on anti-bullying and also has Holocaust survivors tell their compelling stories to the attendees. The cancellation, announced in an email to board members, acknowledged that it is the "elderly that are most vulnerable."

"What makes it really sad is there are only a few more years left of the program because the survivors are almost gone," Finkelstein said. "Canceling is the right thing, but it is a sad thing."