By: Aleeza Furman, Legal Intelligencer Litigation Reporter

January 4, 2023

Virginia McMichael, founder of Appellate Law Group, warned when these numbers will return to levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic.

Caseloads in Pennsylvania’s courts of appeals have shrunk compared to what they were before the coronavirus pandemic, according to data from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.

But appellate lawyers said the state’s appellate courts are processing cases as efficiently as ever—and even the early days of the pandemic did little to slow them down.

“The Pennsylvania appellate courts were up and running amazingly quickly during COVID,” said Maureen McBride, a partner and co-chair of Lamb McErlane’s appellate department.

McBride and others said that, while the pandemic caused slowdowns and backlogs at the trial court level, the timelines for appeals remained consistent.

“As far as I can tell the appellate courts didn’t skip a beat,” McBride added.

As of November, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s year-to-date filings were down 31% from what they were in baseline years 2017, 2018 and 2019, according to AOPC data. The Superior and Commonwealth Courts’ filings were down 23.2% and 27.1%, respectively.

The three courts are also disposing of cases at similarly decreased amounts, with the Supreme Court’s dispositions down 29.5%, the Superior Court’s dispositions down 27% and the Commonwealth Court’s dispositions down 30.1%.

While the appellate courts are currently experiencing a comparative dip in their caseload volumes, lawyers said that is less to do with how the appellate courts were affected by the pandemic and more to do with how the trial courts were affected.

“Because there were fewer trials during the pandemic, the consequence is that there are fewer appeals,” said Virginia McMichael, founder of Appellate Law Group. As a result, she said there are fewer cases to dispose of because there are fewer appeals.

But McMichael said as trial courts get back up to speed, those numbers will likely return to their pre-COVID baseline.

Meanwhile, Duane Morris partner Robert Byer likewise said the decrease is a result of trial courts’ slowdowns affecting the pipeline of cases. “The appellate courts tend to be the last to feel the effects of things,” Byer said.

He said that when the pandemic began, appellate courts quickly transitioned to remote proceedings. “The appellate lawyers were very busy, while the trial courts were slow,” he said. But later into the pandemic, he said, “There was a momentary lag in appellate cases.”

And Bryer added that his own caseload has now returned to normal and “all three courts are dealing very well with their caseload.”

Kline & Specter partner Charles Becker echoed Bryer’s sentiment.

“Generally speaking, our appellate courts are in great shape,” Becker said, “and that’s because the pandemic had very little impact on their operations.”

While trial courts struggled with obstacles, such as how to conduct trials during the height of COVID, appellate courts did not face the same sorts of challenges.

Becker said appellate work translated well into remote proceedings. He said the courts made a smooth transition into virtual work and he did not notice any increase in the length of time cases spent on appeal.

“There was not a single delay of anything,” he said. “It was an awesome performance by a lot of committed people.”

Read the article on line in Law.com here