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Sharon Nelson Quoted In ABA Article

March 4, 2021

Sensei’s Sharon Nelson was recently quoted in an ABA article entitled “Judge John Tran spearheaded adoption of tech to facilitate remote hearings and helped train lawyers” by Stephanie Francis Ward.

Excerpt:

If you need a judge who can be counted on to research all courtroom technology offerings that can help proceedings continue during the COVID-19 pandemic, look no further than John Tran of the Fairfax County Circuit Court in Virginia.

After the Virginia Supreme Court issued an order June 22 stating that remote proceedings should be used to conduct as much business as possible, Tran offered webinars to help lawyers with the Fairfax Bar Association get up to speed with Webex, the platform the court uses for remote proceedings.

“When Webex has a news release, he’s all over that. He’s already had a private demo. He is one of a small number of exceptionally tech-savvy judges,” says Sharon Nelson, a Fairfax attorney and co-founder and president of the digital forensics firm Sensei Enterprises.

Courts can devote a significant amount of time to finding technology for remote hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the action is useless if lawyers can’t or won’t use it, Tran says.

“At first, I didn’t think too many people would be wanting to do it; time is money for lawyers,” adds Tran, 61. However, the webinars got a big turnout. “The people who wanted to participate, I could look at their names and see they are regular courthouse lawyers who were there every day.”

Some Fairfax County litigators may prefer in-person hearings to remote appearances, but they appreciate the technology because it allows them to keep billing rather than have all work postponed due to COVID-19, Nelson says.

She describes Tran, whom she’s known for some time, as someone who is patient with lawyers and litigants and offers help without sounding condescending. “He loves things that make the courtroom work better. Some of the judges are not as familiar with technology. Some pick it up really well, but they don’t love it. He loves it,” Nelson says.

https://www.abajournal.com/legalrebels/article/judge-john-tran-spearheaded-adoption-of-tech-to-facilitate-remote-hearings-and-helped-train-lawyersRead the entire article here.