New LA probate court broadcast feature to simplify remote hearings

Attorneys say a new courtroom broadcast feature set to roll out this month in Los Angeles County probate courts will be a welcome change from the current system, particularly in a specialty that often involves overlapping court hearings in separate departments.

The program, set to begin June 16, will allow litigants and attorneys to monitor multiple hearings through a centralized online viewing pane without the need to enter the remote hearing, according to a news release.

"Working in unison with LACC's existing My Checked-in Hearings feature, which enables users to check in to multiple hearings at the same time and view all checked-in hearings in one place, Courtroom Broadcasts will allow court users to monitor other hearings occurring in a courtroom and join the hearing accordingly when it is about to begin," Monday's news release read.

Probate attorney Bradley T. Weeks of Charlton Weeks LLP in Palmdale said the program would simplify the management of multiple hearings.

"It's common for attorneys to have to appear in two departments at the same time, and this will avoid us having to bounce in and out between departments electronically, so we can see what's happening in both departments at the same time," he said in a phone interview Tuesday "I think it will save the attorneys and the court staff and the court time and avoid delays."

Weeks, who said he appears often in probate court in the court's North District, said he hopes the program is implemented in that district as well as all civil cases in the county.

Matthew D. Kanin, of counsel at Greenspoon Marder LLP in Los Angeles, welcomed the ability to monitor multiple hearings at a time.

"Imagine if you're trying to check in in three different courtrooms when the clerk is taking roll in all three courtrooms at the same time," he said in a phone call Tuesday. "You're either checking, or you have no idea what's going on, and you're just kind of trusting the hands of fate that the court doesn't think you've failed to appear, or that you've blown off the clerk, or that you've blown off the hearing. So, for those who've become dependent on this ability to appear remotely, having that ability to monitor a courtroom that you're not actively in, that's a good thing."

Kanin further predicted that the program would lead to an uptick in efficiency for probate attorneys litigating in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

"It's probably going to improve our efficiency by double digit percentage points, but not 100%," he said. "It's like 10-20% smoother, and honestly, 10-20% smoother would be a good thing now."

Stephen P. Ajalat of Ajalat & Ajalat LLP also said the program would be an improvement over the current system.

"Any simplified platform for multiple hearings would be welcomed," Ajalat said in an email on Tuesday. "A centralized viewing pane sounds like a better option than opening or switching to different pages under the current platform."

Ajalat did express concern over whether audio feeds from different departments will be separately mutable to avoid overlapping sound - a problem he said currently exists when trying to monitor feeds in multiple browser pages.

"While it is usually manageable to appear at multiple hearings by requesting 'priority' or 'second call' in order to stagger the appearances, checking in for roll call is more difficult when departments typically start their calendars at the same time," he said. "Participants do need to enter the remote hearing at least for roll call and that timing can be harder to juggle.  Hopefully the new platform will be a meaningful improvement.  We shall see."

In an email on Tuesday, Superior Court Chief Communications and External Affairs Officer Rob Oftring said, "The Superior Court of Los Angeles County is committed to leveraging technology and supporting remote appearances through the Court's LACourtConnect platform, with a special focus on ease of use for attorneys and litigants. The Courtroom Broadcast feature, which was previously available in LACC 2.0, was requested by attorneys for the new LACC platform and allows litigants and attorneys who have multiple hearings scheduled on the same day to easily monitor the docket of each courtroom so they know when their matter is about to be called."