Next Tuesday I’ll be jumping on a plane to Central America. But I won’t be on vacation. I’ll be representing my Guatemalan clients as they get deposed, remotely, by video, from Syracuse, NY. There’ll be an interpreter with us.
How did I end up in Guatemala on a case? That story made the front page of the New York Law Journal and the Syracuse Post Standard. I blogged about that here.
Technology has changed every aspect of law practice. A few decades ago, what is about to transpire would have been impossible. Your Central NY injury lawyer will be sitting next to his clients in Guatemala City while insurance defense lawyers in Syracuse New York ask them questions by video. We will see those lawyers on the screen, and they will see my clients. They will be face to face. It’s kind of like Star Trek. “Beam me up, Scotty”! The video of my clients will later be presented to the jury.
I wonder if the “courthouse of the future” will be completely digital and remote. A “virtual” courthouse. Instead of appearing physically in the Courtroom, witnesses will pop up on a large courtroom screen from whatever city or town they reside in. Lawyers, too. Perhaps brick-and-mortar “courthouses” will be totally replaced by virtual ones.
The sticking point for us lawyers is that we believe, perhaps incorrectly, that a witness’ credibility is easier to judge live. Live testimony allows for better viewing of moist foreheads, blinks, twitches, stray glances, and body shifting. Those witnesses could be just nervous, or lying.
But with the pace of technological advances, who can doubt that, within the next 100 years, we will be able to project a 3D-high-definition image of a witness that almost exactly duplicates the live person? Then what? Will I be able to try my personal injury lawsuits from my living room? How about from a vacation home in Fort Lauderdale?
Sound incredible? Too sci-fi for you? Well what do you think attorney Abraham Lincoln would have said if someone had told him that lawyers in the future would be taking live depositions from 1,000 miles away (Syracuse to Guatemala) through something called a “screen” . . . ??!!
Keep safe!
Mike Bersani
Email me at: bersani@mbk-law.com I’d love to hear from you!
Michael G. Bersani, Esq.
mbk-law.com Central and Syracuse NY Personal Injury Lawyers
Michaels Bersani Kalabanka
1-315-253-3293