Courtroom
While virtual legal proceedings have been around for years, it now looks like the legal community has finally adopted them as a permanent fixture. Two major trends have converged to make this possible. Firstly, intense global competition is driving law firms to search for cost efficiencies at every level. Lawyers are increasingly aware of the potentially significant cost and time efficiencies that can be achieved by holding arbitration or litigation proceedings virtually.
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Secondly, while there was already a steady increase in the use of technology across law firms, this has now dramatically accelerated due to the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Traditionally slow to embrace technological innovation, the legal profession should be proud of the way that it has responded to this crisis. Indeed, many lawyers have been surprised by how successfully the legal industry has transitioned at scale to a more digital, remote working model.
Legal proceedings around the country have looked very different amid widespread social distancing and stay-at-home mandates during COVID-19. The Illinois Supreme Court, for instance, held oral arguments over Zoom for the first time ever. Miami-Dade traffic court returned over Zoom after a two-month hiatus. Court system interpreters in Wisconsin have found Zoom’s simultaneous interpretation capabilities extremely helpful for remote proceedings.
The Best Way to Record Audio in a Courtroom Using Voice Tracker array microphones in Court for sound reinforcement as well as proceedings recording.
Getting microphone coverage in a courtroom is a challenging task. Depending on the type of proceeding, coverage may be needed not only at the Judge’s bench, Witness chair, and Attorney tables, but coverage may also be required at the Jury box for Jury polling, or at the Gallery for Voir Dire (Jury selection).
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Historically this was accomplished by using large numbers of goose neck, wireless or ugly hanging microphones, combined thru elaborate mixing systems. The automatically and electronically steered listening beam of the Voice Tracker array microphone provides an economical and easily maintainable alternative.
