CBA Record July-August 2021

Chicago Bar Foundation Report

Building a More Perfect Justice System: Lessons from the Pandemic By Bob Glaves, CBF Executive Director A s we emerge from the pandemic and start to return to a semblance of normal in all parts of our lives, should stay, what should go, what should be added, and how it should all be mixed together to build a more perfect justice system.

impressive how quickly the courts turned to using Zoom and other technologies to conduct court hearings and other court business. We all have learned that most of the court’s functions in fact can be per- formed remotely with the right leadership and the right systems in place. Remote Access is Critical for Access to Justice Remote access to the courts has proven to be a crucial feature in making the system more accessible to the public. People do not have to take off a full day of work to appear in court or do routine court busi- ness. For those who have challenges in getting to a courthouse (e.g., people with certain disabilities, detained individuals), it can be a lifeline. We also have seen firsthand how criti- cal remote access is for lawyers to be able to connect with and serve people in need more efficiently, accessibly, and affordably. Removing unnecessary travel for lawyers to serve people in harder-to-reach areas makes it possible for pro bono and legal aid lawyers to serve more people more efficiently, particularly for limited scope services. It also makes it possible for lawyers in private practice to provide those services more affordably to people who otherwise too often find themselves priced out of the market. The new Cook County Legal Aid for Housing and Debt program is a great example of the promise of remote access, providing services to scores of people with

for our courts and legal profession, the conversations about how to reopen are happening in earnest. As much as the pan- demic exposed the flaws and limitations of the justice system when it hit, there have been some impressive adaptations since then. We now have a unique moment in time to shape a much better future for the courts, our profession, and access to justice. Many ivory tower types talk as if we should just make the whole justice system virtual going forward. At the same time, we also have plenty of Luddites among the bench and bar who see the pandemic as just a temporary interruption of several hundred years of a one-size-fits-all system that works just fine for them, despite clear evidence that those “old ways” were not working for the majority of the public or a growing share of our profession. A new hybrid approach is actually the right path as we get back to having a choice about physical presence in the courts. This pandemic experience should accelerate a clear-eyed view of when it should be a default to handle legal matters remotely, when it should be a user choice, and when it needs to be in person. And we should take steps now to ensure the system is more resilient so that a future virus or other disaster can never again bring most of the court process to a halt. The following framework is geared toward guiding the decisions on what

In the Old Days In delivering the keynote address for the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism’s “The Future is Now” conference in May of 2019, Justice Mary Jane Theis talked about the urgency of rethinking the way we deliver justice. The number of cases being filed in the courts already dropped significantly at the same time that more people than ever were coming to court without lawyers, and the courts and our larger legal profession were behind the times in using technology and process improvement to make the system more accessible and deliver services more efficiently and affordably. Recognizing these trends and the need for change, in 2019 the Illinois Supreme Court adopted a new strategic agenda for the Illinois Judicial Branch developed by the Illinois Judicial Conference. The agenda is a comprehensive blueprint for achieving the Supreme Court’s vision of a justice system that is “trusted and open to all by being fair, innovative, diverse, and responsive to changing needs.” One of many specific strategies identi- fied in the plan that suddenly became front and center when the pandemic hit is to “promote and enhance remote access to court services, court and case informa- tion, and court appearances.” And it was

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