In August 2005, the Federal Judicial Center, at the request of and with assistance from the Subcommittee on Automation of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System, held a program at which bankruptcy judges discussed the use of distance participation technology to conduct bankruptcy proceedings. At the request of the Committee, the Center prepared this report to summarize the discussions at that program.

A subsequent guide was published: Remote Participation in Bankruptcy Court Proceedings (2017).

Prepared for the Court Administration and Case Management Committee of the Judicial Conference, this study shows there may be more advantages to remote public access to electronic criminal case documents than disadvantages or potential harm and that the majority of federal judges in the study favor access.

This publication is the result of a joint project between the Federal Judicial Center and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. It describes the substantive and procedural considerations that may arise when lawyers bring electronic equipment to the courtroom or use court-provided equipment for displaying or playing evidentiary exhibits or illustrative aids during trial. It draws upon the expertise of judges who work in courtrooms equipped with technology, law professors who teach trial advocacy and evidence, and practitioners who have trial experience using technology in civil and criminal cases. It collects practical experience and expert judgments, but does not purport to test these observations empirically or analyze case law. Although various forms of courtroom technology have been around since the 1970s, and model courtrooms equipped with technology began appearing in law schools in 1990, little scientific research has been done in the field and relatively little case law exists.

This guide is part of a larger Federal Judicial Center project examining the impact of technology on the adversary process. The central objective of the guide is to make it easier for judges and parties to benefit from courtroom technology without unduly complicating the pretrial and trial processes and without tilting the playing field. It comes with a CD-ROM that contains the entire text of the book for easy searching, reference, or excerpting, and includes examples of the kinds of exhibits that may raise objections as to transitions, animations, color, sound, and special effects.

Should digital audio recording technology be an approved method for taking the offical record of federal courts proceedings? This report, prepared at the request of the Court Administration and Case Management Committee of the Judicial Conference, summarizes findings from a study of digital audio recording technology as it was used to take the record of court proceedings in six district and six bankruptcy courts. The study was designed to do four things: (1) provide an assessment of the technology by those who use it in court; (2) provide an assessment of the technology by transcriptionists; (3) compare costs, functionality, and benefits of digital and analog recording systems; and (4) collect information to assist the Administrative Office in preparing technical specifications to guide future purchases of equipment.