Orders to rescind many precautions adopted during the pandemic have raised hopes among some lawyers that New Jersey's federal and state courts will get back to their full capacity for trials and hearings.

The news that most COVID-19 precautions were being retired from courts is a major step in the return to normalcy, coming after two years of sometimes contentious precautions and revised procedures. Courthouses have been holding a limited number of trials and proceedings in order to ensure jurors are safe and to prevent crowding in courthouses. But withdrawing requirements for masking and vaccinations were made possible by recently updated guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Glenn Grant, New Jersey's administrative director of the courts.

Michael Epstein of The Epstein Law Firm. Courtesy photo