Resuming criminal jury trials would be “reckless and irresponsible” given the risk of transmission of the new coronavirus and the burdens on defendants’ constitutional rights, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers said in a report released Thursday.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Thursday temporarily stayed a judge’s order to begin moving 837 inmates from an Ohio prison who face greater risks if they contract COVID-19.
The legal services sector gained 3,200 jobs in May after an astounding loss of jobs the previous month. Last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the legal services sector lost 64,000 jobs, but that seasonally adjusted number has been revised.
Applicants to ABA-accredited law schools are below the number reported at this time last year, but it’s unclear whether that will translate to lower enrollment because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Human beings are hardwired for interaction. We are, by definition, touchy-feely types of people. Without supportive human interaction, we tend to go insane. Numerous studies of inmates subjected to long-term solitary confinement and prisoner-of-war isolation indicate that people who isolate themselves eventually become depressed and often turn to substance relief.
Harvard Law School will be online for the fall 2020 term because of concerns that testing and monitoring of the novel coronavirus will not be fully available by that point.
Long before social distancing, Zoom touted its capabilities for lawyers. And the platform is booming, with a reported jump from 10 million daily users at the end of 2019 to 200 million in March. But lawyers must be extra careful when using Zoom or any other videoconferencing tool.
For lawyers and the legal system, the issues presented by the novel coronavirus have been as novel as the virus itself. The reverberations will be long-lasting—in some cases, forever so. The ABA Journal talked to eight leading lawyers in their fields, including Gloria Allred and Robert Shapiro, about impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on their practice areas.
For 2019 graduates of ABA-accredited law schools, 80.6% were employed in full-time, long-term jobs that require bar passage or are categorized as JD-advantage positions, according to data released Monday.
“I am able to use my skills to help with the board, to help with meal organization, and to help with providing supplemental staffing at a time when more than ever an EMT is needed,” says lawyer Christopher Jennison, an ABA member, employment and labor counsel with the Federal Aviation Administration, and assembly clerk of the ABA’s Young Lawyers Division.
The ABA Journal wants to host and facilitate conversations among lawyers about their profession. We are now accepting thoughtful, non-promotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors.
