I have seen so many Zoom participants, including lawyers, show up in terrible lighting. Treat the process with the respect it deserves. You might not be in Court, but what is happening on the screen matters to your future. Will you be at home, at an office, in a public space? If at all possible, do NOT call in from your car or your bed, and choose a place where you will tend to sit up straight and appear to be paying close and respectful attention to the proceedings. Plan where you’ll be located for your Zoom hearing. Where are you going to be when you Zoom in for your hearing? It makes sense to think about this beforehand. That you have chosen a suitable environment to be in during your hearing (more on this below). That you have the access details (usually a link or a meeting ID+password) you will need for the hearing. That any virtual backgrounds or profile pictures that may show up in the hearing if your video stops or another glitch occurs are court-appropriate. That you know how to operate the software, including how to dial in, use the mute function, stop and start your video, enable and disable virtual backgrounds, call back in or communicate with your attorney if you get disconnected, etc. Again for the people in the back: annoying the judge is a completely unnecessary way to hurt your case. Annoying the judge is a completely unnecessary way to hurt your case. Participating in a Zoom hearing with a phone in your hand will cause the video to be shaky and will annoy the judge. That you have a way to stabilize your device, such as a tripod or mount. That the internet connection you will be using to participate is stable and fast enough to support videoconferencing. Zoom updates have been common recently due to the sudden uptick in users on the platform. That the device you intend to use works with the platform the court is hosting the call on, and that you have downloaded any necessary software or updates to run the platform smoothly. You should make sure, well in advance of the hearing, of the following: What impression does your environment give? Can the other person see and hear you clearly? Do you appear attentive and seem like you take yourself and the other person seriously? You should practice, either with your lawyer or a friend who will be honest with you about your presentation. Still, you should not use it for the first time to dial into a court hearing. The Zoom platform is fairly user-friendly and intuitive. In a later post, I will share guidelines for behavior during a video hearing. This post is about getting ready for a video hearing. However, many of the concepts covered in this post apply to all videoconferencing platforms.) (Note: I’m going to refer to Zoom hearings because they’re the most common in the courts where I practice. In this post, I share what I’ve been learning as I participate in these hearings. Whether it’s by Zoom, WebEx, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams, Skype, or some other platform, courts across Tennessee are using videoconferencing services to keep the wheels of justice turning.
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