TOPEKA—The Kansas Court of Appeals heard its first oral arguments by videoconference when a three-judge panel convened May 17 in a conference room in the Kansas Judicial Center in Topeka to hear attorneys in Liberal and Johnson, both in southwest Kansas, assert their legal points via Skype.
The attorneys represented parties in a Morton County District Court civil case brought by Abner and Janiese Delay against Great Plains Custom Application Inc. and Bailey Flying Service Inc.
"We were really pleased with how well the videoconference worked for the court and for the two attorneys appearing before us," said Thomas Malone, chief judge of the Court of Appeals and the presiding judge for the hearing. "The process and technology hold great promise for conducting more hearings by videoconference."
A good deal of thought and preparation preceded the oral argument by videoconference. The Kansas Court of Appeals Videoconferencing Committee previously developed a pilot project to use videoconferencing in lieu of personal appearances for some appellate court cases under specific circumstances. The committee reviewed available technology, its use by Kansas government agencies, and related procedural issues.
The May 17 oral argument was made possible because the attorneys agreed to appear by videoconference, which is consistent with a guidance from the Blue Ribbon Commission that was discussed in the Recommendations for Videoconferencing in Kansas Courts.
"We would never require a party to appear by video if he or she really wants to appear in person," Malone said, "but many attorneys will recognize they are able to effectively represent their clients by video while also saving time and money otherwise spent traveling to and from an in-person hearing."
Malone said the next steps are to conduct more videoconference hearings to gain experience and explore options for conducting the videoconferences in the Court of Appeals courtroom in the Kansas Judicial Center.
"Even hearings conducted by videoconference are open to the public, so we need to provide a more expansive venue than our conference room," Malone said.
Conducting some appellate-level oral arguments by videoconference was a recommendation of the Blue Ribbon Commission, which convened in 2010 to identify ways court operations could be improved and modernized.