COVID-19 – What are the Priority Cases that the Courts are Looking At?

Disclaimer:  This is a series of blogs related to the impact of COVID-19 on the court system; in particular, the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court.  This information may be outdated and it is important to look at the court’s website.  Also, different courts have different particularities.  I have gotten this from both speaking to other lawyers’ and the staff at the Probate and Family Court along with Zoom conferences and other articles along with reading the standing orders.

The emergency cases and other cases that are enumerated in the standing orders are clearly the highest priorities. Judges want to get done are the trials that have already started and are already in progress. The courts want to conclude a trial that started prior to the COVID-19 then to start a new trial.  The courts are likely to be extremely backlogged with cases so you want to use common sense including if you have a trial in progress using the time available to the best of your abilities.