Remote Court Appearances – Part 1 of 2

In this post I will be taking a look at the first of two vendors from LegalTech NYC 2013 that each enable attorneys to make court appearances by phone. Many courts have been allowing attorneys to appear telephonically, thus saving time and helping litigants to cut legal costs.

In business since 1995, CourtCall, a Los Angeles, California based company, created their turn-key court appearance system.
If a court is amenable to attorneys making appearances via telephone, Courtcall provides it with a speaker phone and any other telephonic or video equipment required by the court . Courtcall then makes all arrangements for scheduling and coordinating the phone call into the court. According to their Court Liaison, Matt Wapnick, most calls go through their “Open Court Platform.” Lawyers are required to call a phone number and, when prompted, enter an assigned pin number. Approximately 20 percent of the calls go through an “Operator Assisted” process. Either way, the caller is placed on hold and connected when his/her case is called. The best part is that there is no charge to the court for the service! Instead, the attorney pays the call-in fee and is able to schedule, continue, or cancel CourtCall appearances online on CourtCall’s web portal. Fees for remote appearances vary depending on the court. CourtCall’s rather far reaching participating court list includes the Sourthern District of New York, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of New York, Federal courts across the United States,  and state and county courts in 33 States.

Though CourtCall’s court list does not include any administrative law courts, there doesn’t appear to be a downside to this service and, under appropriate circumstances, it should help streamline calendars and reduce costs in administrative hearings as well.

For more information, CourtCall may be reached by phone at (888) 882-6878 ext. 883, or by email to mattwapnick@courtcall.com.

Next Friday, I’ll be taking a look at AppearByPhone.

No consideration of any kind has been accepted for this review. The opinions expressed herein are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of NYSALJA.