And new research commissioned by the Law Society of NSW shows that the vast majority of solicitors hope that many of the changes to legal practice and the justice system will remain a permanent part of their working lives. Less than a quarter of the nearly 1500 NSW solicitors who took the survey during the state's second major lockdown last year said the COVID-related changes - which has concentrated on a dependence on the virtual court in lieu of in-person appearances - have had a negative impact overall.

The research did show the changes had presented challenges to legal practitioners as they manage their practice, interact with colleagues and manage client relationships.

However, few have called for an urgent reinstatement of the pre-COVID status as the justice system navigates a pathway out of the pandemic. Newcastle criminal lawyer and Treasurer of Defence Lawyers New South Wales Drew Hamilton said while he agreed a number of the changes had been pragmatic there remained a number of fundamental issues.

"The proposed COVID-19 changes should not be seen as a quick fix to the greater systemic issue that is the under-resourcing of our Local and District Courts, specifically with regard to those awaiting trial," Mr Hamilton said. "For Practitioners that attend courtrooms on a regular basis, the importance of live, in-person advocacy cannot be emphasised enough. "As identified in the findings given the advances in technology, procedural adjournments, mentions, directions and readiness hearings can operate in the virtual space however there is no replacement for the real thing for more complex matters including sentence proceedings, defended applications, trials and disputed hearings."

Prominent Newcastle defence solicitor Mark Ramsland was surprised by the findings and said while the changes had a few benefits, he thought the vast majority of criminal lawyers would have disliked the move to online courts.

"Personally the move has deprived me of valuable time talking to clients and the opposition face-to-face, being deprived of the non-verbal but important aspects of court craft and "reading the court"," he said. "And most of all the collegiality in Newcastle, the practitioners and court staff who share in getting difficult and stressful jobs done. "I think when this pandemic is over the criminal courts should accommodate those processes that have saved time but return mostly to personal appearance based advocacy."

IN THE NEWS:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: