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Filing court documents over email. Teleconferencing. A judge presiding over a criminal case by video.

A few weeks ago, these innovations would have seemed far off to anyone familiar with Alberta’s hidebound courts system.

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But faced with a global pandemic, Alberta’s courts are modernizing at a rate that is likely unprecedented.

For lawyers — many of whom are being forced to lay off staff — the potential for a more nimble, modern court system is one of the pandemic’s few bright spots.

“The overall lesson this COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated for me is how steps and evolutions we were told for years were much too difficult and much too expensive are now trivially simple,” said Edmonton criminal lawyer Paul Moreau.

Alberta’s courts have drastically scaled back hearings to avoid spreading COVID-19. The province’s superior court, the Court of Queen’s Bench, suspended all but emergency and urgent sittings on March 15. Alberta’s much more crowded provincial court followed suit the next day.