The sudden shift to working from home caused by the pandemic has forced industries and law firms to adapt to new ways of conducting business.

As an intellectual property and privacy/cybersecurity litigator, I—like other federal court litigators—represent clients in cases filed throughout the United States. Litigators who are used to traveling extensively have grown accustomed to working on briefs from hotel rooms, conducting conference calls in airport lounges, and preparing for depositions on airplanes or commuter trains. The widespread adoption of personal video technology has made it easier—and, in my view, better—to conduct certain aspects of our practice that previously required planes, trains and automobiles (or phone conversations, where visual cues are absent and maintaining attention may be challenging).

Litigating remotely, through one-to-one and one-to-many personal videoconferencing, can be more cost-effective and efficient, saving lawyers the time previously spent in transit, and clients the added costs and fees associated with travel. Personal video technology can even enhance focus, concentration and efficiency, because participants face each other directly, eye-to-eye, rather than across a courtroom or conference room table.