David M. Arbogast

Moving Cases Forward In the Wake of COVID-19: Offensive Use of Summary Judgment

April 9, 2021

David M. Arbogast

Litigation Practice & Procedure, Summary Judgment & Summary Adjudication, Availability of Relief, Timing Requirements & Planning Strategies, Personal Injury

In the wake of COVID-19, civil jury trials throughout California have been continued or stayed indefinitely. Written discovery and depositions have proceeded electronically, telephonically or through the use of video conferencing. Civil jury trials, on the other hand, are heavily dependent upon the courts’ infrastructure, which was not designed to accommodate social distancing and presents a very real threat of creating a super-spreading event. Gathering a jury pool and conducting jury selection and civil jury trials in the COVID-19 world safely has halted the resolution of cases on their merits.