| In SDNY Pharma Patent Trial
Will Have Virtual Witnesses Chief Judge Says
Zoomless Platform
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 20 – How will civil
trials be conducted, as the
U.S. re-opens in the wake of
so many COVID-19 deaths?
On May 20 U.S.
District Court for the South
District of New York Chief
Judge Colleen McMahon held a
pre-trial conference in the
patent case Ferring v.
Serenity Pharma.
The day
before in a half hour Q&A
with Inner City Press Chief
Judge McMahon previewed some
of how trials might go, here.
On May 21 she
said she is leaning toward
virtual testimony.
She said there may be
plexi-glass around the witness
box -- but that while she will
be in her courtroom, skittish
witnesses can testify
remotely.
Some of the counsel responding
seemed to not grasp there is a
new world ahead.
Their
discussion turned to whether
there is a benefit to having
the cross examining lawyer in
the courtroom, if the witness
is remote.
A lawyer said Zoom is not used
in the court - they are using
the platform but what is
running on the computers is a
litigation program with Zoom
underneath.
Another lawyer says "They
follow the Department of
Defense rules on use of Zoom."
Based on Zoom's ownership?
Inner City Press will continue
to follow this.
This case is
Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.
et al v. Serenity
Pharmaceuticals, LLC et al.,
17-cv-9922 (McMahon)
On May 19,
Chief Judge McMahon said SDNY
staff will be bought back into
the building. They will have
wear masks, and gloves if they
interact with the public.
Inner City Press asked about
criminal defendants being
asked if they would consent to
a non-jury trial by a single
judge, as for example accused
Sarah Lawrence College "sex
cultist" Larry Ray as been
offered by SDNY District Judge
Lewis J. Liman.
Chief
Judge McMahon pointed out that
in the Federal system, not
only the defendant but also
the U.S. Attorney's Office
would have to consent. Would
they?
In
the interim, much work has
been done by SDNY and
certainly other judges, some
in their courtrooms or
chambers and some not. Judge
McMahon, who spoke from her
chamber and comes to the
courthouse every day, said it
is entirely up to each judge
and much productive work can
be done in telephone
conferences.
In fact,
she said, even after
re-opening more civil case
conferences may continue to be
by phone. Inner City Press
acknowledged that one up-side,
as a journalist cover the
courts, to the current virtual
set-up is the ability to cover
more than a single case at
once.
Judge McMahon noted that given
greater spacing and physical
distancing in the courtroom
when re-opened, there will
still be call in numbers and
Inner City Press might
continue to find it productive
to sometime cover the case
this way.
Inner City Press raised one
kerfufel of this set up, that
in some civil cases despite
the call-in number being
public and the Press
identifying itself when asked,
if only by AT&T, some
counsel forget that it is
public and begin to discuss
settlement numbers. Then they
get angry what was said in a
public call is reported.
Judge
McMahon indicated that she
could see how that could
happen, that perhaps judges
should be more attuned when
what is being said veers into
settlement figures. A bit more
on Patreon, here.
The
next step will be some
physical plans, and the more
SDNY court staff coming back
in. Inner City Press will be
here - watch this site.
***
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