MA Courts Will Soon Reopen for Business… In Phases of Course
As Massachusetts begins its slow recovery, courthouses will physically reopen to the public on July 13, 2020, for specific expanded purposes. The first phase of additional in-person proceedings will include persons who are present for certain in-person court proceedings, conducting in-person business with a clerk’s, register’s, or recorder’s office, meeting with a probation officer or probation staff person, or conducting business at other offices that are open to the public and housed in the courthouse. Each Trial Court Department is to adopt guidelines regarding which matters shall have priority and how they will limit the number of persons within the courthouse. Also, each Trial Court Department shall determine which in-person proceedings will be further expanded in a second phase beginning on August 10, 2020. As part of this Emergency Order, all jury trials, in both criminal and civil cases, are continued to a date no earlier than September 8, 2020. Further, because of the increased reliance during the pandemic on cell phones and other personal electronic devices, beginning on July 13, 2020, cell phones and other PEDs shall not be banned from any courthouse.
Read the full updated order here.
If you have any questions on the impact to your pending or anticipated litigation, please feel free to contact Bernkopf Goodman LLP and Jason Manekas at [email protected] or 617-790-3308.