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Milwaukee County Circuit Court expects 4-year case backlog in recovery plan

By: Michaela Paukner, [email protected]//April 27, 2020//

Milwaukee County Circuit Court expects 4-year case backlog in recovery plan

By: Michaela Paukner, [email protected]//April 27, 2020//

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The Milwaukee County Circuit Court is drawing up a post-pandemic recovery plan to help the courts safely return to normal operations and work through an expected three- to four-year backlog of cases.

Milwaukee County Chief Judge Mary Triggiano and Deputy Chief Judges Carl Ashley and William Pocan discussed the court’s COVID-19 management, ongoing response and recovery planning in a town hall meeting on Wednesday organized by the Milwaukee Bar Association.

Triggiano said the court has carried out an 85% redesign and reduction of courthouse operations in two weeks’ time in March, following the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s order postponing jury trials and suspending in-person proceedings. The redesign allows for teleworking and continued court proceedings using Zoom online video conferencing. But despite the adjustments, a backlog of cases remains.

Triggiano said Milwaukee County courts, under normal circumstances, hold about 5,400 court events a week. The courts had fewer than 800 events the week of March 23, when the state Supreme Court order first went into effect.

Because of Zoom and its adoption by an increasing number of judges, Triggiano said the courts heard about 1,500 events the week of April 20 — an improvement but still far fewer cases than is normal.

She estimated it would take three to four years to clear the case backlog with a phased return — a daunting estimate that’s being considered in the courts’ recovery plans, Triggiano said.

The courts are working with public health experts and county emergency-management professionals to adopt an operational readiness and reopening plan. The experts emphasized a slow, phased approach to reopening, saying the emphasis should be on social distancing.

“We’re mindful of that because you can’t do a ton of physical distancing in our courthouse when you have jury trials and summons of juries and small claims,” Triggiano said.

The group is discussing social-distancing policies, the availability of sanitary equipment, what will constitute appropriate personal protective equipment for the public doing business in the courthouse, video conferencing and configuring work spaces for staff.

The courts are also identifying priority cases, which will be taken up first as the phased reopening begins. Triggiano said speedy trials and jury trials involving children with a need for permanency, such as cases involving the termination of parental rights, will be among those that are given priority.

Triggiano said she’s very concerned about maintaining social distancing in jury trials, and she doesn’t expect courts to begin holding jury trials until they can ensure people’s safety in the courthouse. One plan under consideration calls for moving civil trials to a different site to prevent large groups of people from forming in the courthouse.

“It’s not going to be business as usual, and it won’t be for a long time,” Ashley said. “We need your patience and support to recognize that we’re going to try to do things in a way to get us back where we were, but it’s going to take awhile.”

In the meantime, the judges encouraged attorneys to participate in Zoom hearings when possible to keep the backlog in check. Triggiano said anyone with a scheduled status conference or motion hearing should presume the proceedings will happen using Zoom.

“We’re all in this together,” Triggiano said. “None of us have all the answers, but we’re doing our best day in and day out.”

A recording of the hour-long town hall meeting is available online from the Milwaukee Bar Association.

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