Are Zoom trials about to become a distant memory following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's relaxed guidelines on mask wearing? Well, for some courts, yes, but don't throw away your ring light just yet. The virtual communication skills that you have spent the last year refining won't go to waste when you return to your law firm office. According to Am Law Litigation Daily reporting by Ross Todd, one Miami state court judge said aptly, "Where I think we're headed with this is not Zoom as a replacement, it's Zoom as an adjacent."

The judge's remarks were part of a National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the Online Courtroom Project recent event, where it was clear from judicial leaders who have been helping their respective courts move proceedings online that the benefits of virtual trials outweigh the rush to a complete return to the courtroom.