On Tuesday April 6, 2020 at 4:30 p.m., Supreme Court of Georgia Chief Justice Harold D. Melton extended the Statewide Judicial Emergency which would have expired on April 13, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. In so doing, he extended the stay on all trials, hearings and proceedings until Wednesday, May 13, 2020, at 11:59 p.m., unless otherwise further modified or extended.

Parties may be allowed to use ZOOM and other technology to hold proceedings if they are all in agreement to do so and the presiding Judge or Judicial Panel agrees to allow it.  If the technology is used to hold a proceeding, the original waiver of having a court reporter present for all testimony is waived - the court reporter may take down the testimony from any proceeding while doing so remotely.

The judicial stay does not mean discovery may not proceed nor does it mean that Motions and other pleadings cannot be argued remotely.  The Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation is allowing parties to argue appeals using ZOOM technology.  No Georgia workers' compensation initial evidentiary hearings have been allowed to be conducted under the ZOOM technology umbrella and will be subject to the May 13 judicial stay.

The Order from the Supreme Court is attached.

If you have any questions about how this Order may affect you, please feel free to reach out to any of the attorneys in our Atlanta office at (470) 740-4101.