Courts should embrace remote proceedings to improve access to justice in rural communities because participants don't have to drive hours to a courthouse, take time off work or arrange child care, according to a virtual panel hosted by the National Center for State Courts.

Chief Judge Donna Mowrer of New Mexico's Ninth Judicial District Court said during the panel discussion Wednesday that before the COVID-19 pandemic forced courts to hold hearings remotely, she would allow urban attorneys to appear by telephone for status conferences to save them from having to drive to the courthouse.

Other industries, like the medical profession, which has been using telemedicine for decades, have done a better job at using technology to meet the needs of rural communities, according to Judge Mowrer.

Judge Mowrer noted that the pandemic had given courts an opportunity to meet attorneys, victims and defendants where they are rather than having them all come to courthouses.

"It's time that the judiciary really embraces [remote proceedings]," said Judge Mowrer, adding, "It's sad that it took the pandemic for it to happen for us."

The panel discussed a number of issues around access to justice for rural communities, including lack of attorneys and distance from courthouses, and how remote court proceedings can solve those issues.

The other panelists were Mark Palmer, chief counsel of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism; Kathryn Genthon, a senior court research analyst at the National Center for State Courts; and Grace Spulak, a senior court management consultant at the courts center.

Palmer noted that in Illinois, over the last four years, nearly 8,000 new attorneys have been admitted to practice law in the state and 7,100 of those went to practice law in Chicago or the surrounding suburbs.

As a result, over the last four years, 72 of the 102 counties in Illinois have five or fewer new lawyers and 33 counties have zero new lawyers, Palmer said.

Judge Mowrer added that New Mexico has a similar problem, in that it has counties with no attorneys and some counties with attorneys who can handle only public cases.

Another problem for rural communities is that their attorneys are older and retiring, while younger lawyers are not moving to rural areas to replace the retirees, leaving a justice gap, Judge Mowrer said.

"Remote proceedings and the ability to do more things remotely has opened up the rural communities to have attorneys from the urban areas appear remotely," she said.

It can also be easier for victims to attend a telephone or video hearing when they don't have to be in the same courtroom with their perpetrator or abusive spouse, according to Judge Mowrer.

"It's given a sense of peace to some litigants, and it's been freeing for some of them to come to court through a Zoom or a Google Meet hearing," Judge Mowrer said.

--Editing by Karin Roberts.