Through its ongoing partnership with the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice, the CBF helped draft the new Illinois Supreme Court Policy on Remote Court Appearances in Civil Proceedings and Supreme Court Rule 45.
The CBF has long advocated for increased remote access to the court system seeing the benefits that simple technologies can provide to litigants who have difficulty traveling or taking time off from work, legal aid and pro bono attorneys who need to cover multiple court dates, and private practitioners looking to lower the cost of legal services. While the Rule and Policy were in development before the COVID-19 pandemic, their impact is more important than ever. Together, their guidance encourage courts to adopt remote appearance policies that are inclusive and flexible enough to meet the needs of all court stakeholders, including people without lawyers, and to improve access to the courts for all. Read the Supreme Court Policy and press release.