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Law360 (May 29, 2020, 4:17 PM EDT ) State courts in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, will begin to reopen to the public for nonjury trials and other proceedings as the state loosens its COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, but will still conduct as much work as possible remotely through the end of August, according to the courts' latest updated emergency plan.
President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark on Thursday issued the updated plan, which will allow members of the public back into court buildings in and around Pittsburgh as long as they wear masks and practice social distancing inside, though as many court proceedings as possible will still be conducted by videoconference at least through Aug. 31. Jury trials will still be suspended in the civil and criminal divisions.
"Whenever appropriate and feasible … court proceedings shall be conducted by advanced communication technology (ACT), primarily through Microsoft Teams," the order said. "When it is determined that conducting court proceedings through ACT is not appropriate or feasible, court hearings and proceedings shall be conducted utilizing protocols and policies relating to the use of masks or other personal protective equipment, social distancing, and other guidance."
Anyone entering a court facility must wear a mask; Allegheny County Sheriff's deputies handling security for the courts may be able to offer masks to those who arrive without one but can remove people for failing to follow the rules, the order said.
In the civil division, discovery motions, general motions and oral arguments on preliminary objections and motions for summary judgment or judgment on the pleadings will all continue to be held remotely, the order said. In-person arbitration hearings will resume in June as long as all participants wear masks and maintain distancing, though they can also be moved online if the parties agree to it.
Efforts will be made to allow social distancing within courtrooms for in-person proceedings, including designating areas of the gallery seating for media and allowing witnesses to wait to be called in from some other location, the order said. Witnesses will be allowed to testify via teleconference even for in-person proceedings; witnesses who appear in person can be allowed to temporarily remove their masks if it helps the judge to evaluate credibility.
The court will relax its prohibition on cellphone use in courtrooms so attorneys can communicate with their clients and witnesses without having to break social distancing rules.
"Due to the requirements for social distancing, an attorney may use a cellular telephone to communicate with a client or a witness while outside of the courtroom," the order said. "An attorney may use a cellular telephone to confer with a client by text messaging during a court proceeding or matter in progress; to summon witnesses waiting in another location, to the courtroom; or for such other purpose deemed appropriate by the judge or judicial officer presiding over the court proceeding."
Sidebar conferences are banned completely, the order said.
The suspension of deadlines and time calculations will end June 1; deadlines that fell during the 78-day court closure will be moved back by 78 days and time calculations that would have started running during the closure will now start when the courts reopen.
"If a 20-day time period begins running on May 27, 2020, when a complaint is served upon the defendant, the parties start counting the 20-day time period from June 2, 2020, (i.e. June 3rd is day one), and the new deadline is again June 22, 2020," the order said.
Criminal division proceedings will also be conducted remotely when possible, including pleas and nonjury trials, the order said.
Allegheny County courts had been mostly closed to the public since mid-March when Gov. Tom Wolf declared a statewide emergency due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday that its statewide judicial emergency order would end June 1, but allowed individual counties' president judges to extend their local emergency plans as they saw fit.
--Editing by Jack Karp.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
