We will continue to pass along pertinent information related to the coronavirus crisis as we receive it.
Please click here to view a memo from Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island John J. McConnell, Jr. with information for a Zoom meeting for federal court practitioners.
Please click here for Executive Order No. 2020-12 entitled ‘COVID-19 Pandemic Response-Continuity of Operations’ issued by the Rhode Island Supreme Court. The order addresses the gradual continuity of court services and operations that had been curtailed as the pandemic spread in Rhode Island. Highlights include:
-
An extension of emergency measures until June 1.
-
Grand jury proceedings may begin starting May 18.
-
Criminal trials scheduled to begin after March 16 may begin no earlier than August 1.
-
Civil jury trials may start no earlier than August 1.
-
In-person bench trials may begin June 1.
-
The courts will slowly increase the number of in-person hearings in the courthouses, based on newly calculated hallway and courtroom capacities derived from social distancing standards.
-
The McGrath Judicial Complex (Washington County) and the Murray Judicial Complex (Newport County) will remain closed until September 8.
-
Evictions may be filed starting on June 1. The District Court will determine the appropriate protocol and orders for resuming evictions. A District Court work group has been developing protocols over the past several weeks, with a number of stakeholders taking part.
-
The courts will continue to make technological accommodations to make more remote hearings accessible to litigants and the public.
-
Procedures for gaining limited access to courthouses, including the news media.
-
The chief judges of the lower courts are authorized to issue administrative orders for specific matters within their jurisdictions, using as guidance the Chief Justice’s executive order.
Please click here for RI District Court COVID-19 Emergency Measures Phase I – Protocol for Civil Matters.
Please click here for RI Family Court Administrative Order 2020-04 (for continuation of 2020-02).
And remember to check out our great lineup of programming for our 2020 Annual Meeting virtual series. Each program in the series is only $35, and if you sign up for three or more at once using the bundle link, you get $5 off of each program.