Founding Partner Harry Nelson was interviewed on Fox News concerning the backlog of trial cases due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
From the interview:
“Coronavirus has thrown our judicial system for a loop. Court clerks, lawyers and jurors are freaking out yet no one seems to have the power to order and manage a closure,” Harry Nelson, managing partner of Los Angeles-based healthcare law firm Nelson Hardiman, told Fox News on Friday.
The co-author of “From ObamaCare to TrumpCare: Why You Should Care” said courts throughout the country “should have been closed a few days ago” and, that with so many moving pieces in the bureaucratic chain of command, there is no designated decision-maker to levy the verdict of closing the courts.
“Shutting down the courts is complicated because the courts are so decentralized,” he explained. “Each judge is typically sovereign [in] his or her own courtroom, with limited oversight. So there’s no one with their finger on the trigger to make a quick decision.”
Nelson said many folks involved in regular court proceedings, regardless of the type of manner, see themselves as “sitting ducks” who potentially are risking exposure to the virus due to the non-closure of our offices and courthouses.
“We are moving into uncharted territory with COVID-19,” he said. “From high-profile cases like Lori Loughlin’s to the everyday criminal, civil, family court matters, this is a new world. Lawyers, court clerks, jurors see themselves as sitting ducks until we close down the courts.”
Nelson predicts that a court closure could prove detrimental for everyone involved, but for the “Fuller House” alum, a potential delay in the trial could work in her favor.
The backlash from closing the courts is going to be terrible,” he said. “People may take liberties because they can’t be held accountable by the other side racing into court. There is going to backlog for a long time to come.”
“COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on our judicial system,” added Nelson.
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