Online Hearings

If you are observing a court proceeding hosted as a Zoom Meeting (this is the platform generally used in Family Court proceedings), please be aware of the following:

• You may be asked to identify yourself. It is best to identify yourself on the zoom screen by your first and last name followed by observer (or witness if you are a witness). Observers and witnesses must show appropriate decorum and comply with the same court rules that would be in place if the hearing were held in open court. Observers may be asked to keep their devices muted, to leave their camera on, to confirm no other observers or witnesses are present who have not been identified, and to ask other questions the court or parties may have relevant to any request for partial or full closure of the proceedings. Observers must refrain from engaging in behavior disruptive to the proceeding while in the virtual courtroom including but not limited to eating, driving, moving around, talking (even if the device is on mute), lying in bed or in a state of partial or inappropriate dress, smoking or consuming alcohol. Observers are also prohibited from recording the proceedings in any way. Disruptive behavior may result in an observer being removed from the proceeding.

• The Court and/or parties may invoke the rule of exclusion or address requests for partial or full closure of proceedings. In addition, some proceedings may include confidential communications (such as a side bar / bench conference) that observers and/or witness by zoom are not privy to. This may result in witnesses being moved in and out of the proceedings to waiting rooms while a bench conference, settlement discussions, or other such proceedings occur. If this occurs observers will be allowed to rejoin the proceeding when the public session resumes.

• Please be on time for any proceeding you wish to observe. If you join a proceeding after a Zoom Meeting has commenced, the court and staff may not be immediately aware of your presence in the waiting room. Letting observers or others into a Zoom Meeting after the proceeding has begun is disruptive and delays proceedings. As a result, observers who join proceedings held by Zoom Meeting late – after the proceeding has already commenced – will generally not be allowed into the proceeding.

• Please review and comply with the Rules on Virtual Advocacy (external pdf)