OCTLA pushing forward

We can’t be together, but we can still share our knowledge through live webinars

2020 June

The world, including the Southern California legal community, continues to deal with the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Traditionally, the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association (OCTLA) has been an event-based organization. We have met our mission of superior education and promotion of civil justice through our monthly MCLE Dinner Programs, and our annual events including our Columbus Day Golf Tournament and the Top Gun Awards Gala.

Given the current restrictions on large gatherings and social distancing guidelines, and the courthouse protocols, for the time being OCTLA is focused on information-sharing with our members. OCTLA leadership has made it a top priority during the court closures and the State of Emergency to ensure that our members are kept up to date and provided timely information pertaining to the local courts.

On April 23, 2020, the Orange County Superior Court Supervising Judge Kirk Nakamura was very kind to provide a “State of the Court” presentation through OCTLA’s online platform. Judge Nakamura provided details regarding the reopening of the courts, and provided specific information pertaining to the civil panel and trial dates. The “State of the Court” was very well received, and in the spirit of openly sharing information, OCTLA has posted the entire video for viewing by the general public. If you are interested in viewing the “State of the Court” it can be found at octla.org at the bottom of the page under “What’s Happening at OCTLA.”

We had our first MCLE Live Webinar with speakers Robert Simon (Simon Law) and KW Court Reporters, who gave a tutorial and answered questions regarding every aspect of moving forward with remote depositions. It was a fun-filled and timely educational program. Thereafter, Greg Bentley and Matthew Clark of Bentley & More gave our members a presentation on Coronavirus and Business Interruption Insurance.

Our intention moving forward this year is that we will continue to offer multiple webinar-based MCLE programs each month and we will continue to provide information to our members as quickly as it comes into the organization.

We are hopeful that some sense of normalcy will resume and that OCTLA will be able to move forward with our annual Columbus Day Golf Tournament in October and our Top Gun Awards Gala in November.

We are looking forward to a time very soon with more stability and friendly faces.

I wish you and your families safety and health.