In June 2021, the Vermont Supreme Court established the Special Advisory Committee on Remote Hearings. The Committee was charged with making recommendations for the use of remote hearings in the post-pandemic world. In the spring of 2022, the Committee conducted a survey of Vermont attorneys to get their input on this important question. More than 400 attorneys responded to the detailed survey, and the Committee has shared its summary results with the VBA. You can see those results here.
According to the survey results, respondents overwhelmingly approved a place for remote hearings to continue in each of Vermont’s courts, but also that some proceedings should be in person most or all of the time. Between 40 and 50 percent of practitioners in Vermont’s civil, criminal, juvenile, family, probate courts said that remote hearings should continue, but selectively, depending on the nature of the proceeding. In the Judicial Bureau, 29 percent of respondents said that they should continue selectively while 35 percent said all hearings should default to remote. The Committee received many comments from practitioners in each court and has summarized those in the report.
The Committee is turning its attention now to drafting its report to the Supreme Court which will summarize the work the Committee has done over the last year and identify ongoing opportunities for Committee involvement in this important and dynamic area of Judiciary operations.
You can learn more about the Committee’s work and read it’s Charge and Designation by visiting the committee’s webpage here.