NOTICE TO THE BAR
Clarification of April 28, 2020 Notice to the Bar Regarding Electronic Discovery
This will serve as a clarification of the April 28, 2020 Notice to the Bar regarding electronic discovery. All discovery, both electronic and paper discovery, must be dropped off at the jail. Discovery cannot be emailed to the jail. Laptops will be provided to inmates to view electronic discovery in the order of priority as outlined in the April 28, 2020 Notice to the Bar. With this one clarification, the April 28, 2020 Notice to the Bar is in full force and effect.
Attorney Video Visitation
During the COVID-19 shutdown, effective Monday, May 4, 2020 the Bergen County Jail will temporarily implement video visitation for attorneys to visit their clients. While the jail does offer attorneys the opportunity to meet with their clients in person through a window, we recognize that during the pandemic many are uncomfortable and unwilling to do so.
Please be mindful that the jail’s resources for this endeavor are limited, and this procedure requires dedicating staff to supervise the inmate/detainee. At the present time, jail personnel are only able to accommodate one video conference at a time. In order to accommodate as many attorneys as possible, conferences will be scheduled in thirty (30) minute blocks of time.
Attorneys will make a request for dates and times beginning Monday, May 4, 2020 for a video conference through the Bergen County Jail Law Library by emailing Ms. Keisha McLean (kmclean@bcsd.us). The request should include the attorney’s preference for time slots, between 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., seven (7) days a week.
An email will be sent to the attorney approving a time slot. When the request is approved, the attorney will set up the meeting in ZOOM. The attorney will then forward a meeting invitation with the link to legalvisit@bcsd.us. The ZOOM technology allows for confidential, secure, unrecorded meetings. It is up to the meeting moderator, in this case the attorney, to implement the technology in the correct manner, implementing the security and privacy options that ZOOM offers in the way that best meets the needs of the attorney and client.
The procedure for telephone conferences remains in place. We hope this allows sufficient opportunity for attorneys to have productive meetings with their clients.