BAHR
Instant digitalisation of the legal industry and the courts The coronavirus pandemic has caused a rapid acceleration in the digitalisation of the legal industry and the courts. In addition to working from home, holding digital meetings with colleagues and clients, as well as replacing onsite seminars and training sessions by webinars, oral hearings before the Supreme Court of Norway have also been conducted remotely. And on top of that, the Norwegian Parliament – the Storting – has decided that legal action may be brought by e-mail. Live streaming of oral hearing before the Supreme Court and digital appeal proceedings On 17 April, the Supreme Court did for the first time conduct an appeal hearing remotely. A number of oral hearings followed, including two cases raising important matters of principle that BAHR partners Jan B. Jansen and Tarjei Thorkildsen were involved in. For the first time ever, the Supreme Court also facilitated live streaming of oral hearings by the press on own websites. Receiving a Writ of Summons straight into the electronic mailbox On 15 June, the Storting enacted amendments to the Interim Act relating to Modifications to the Procedural Provisions in Response to the Covid-19 Outbreak, etc. These amendments supplement the previously adopted temporary amendments to procedural provisions. This statutory amendment means that judicial documents may also be served electronically by ordinary e-mail. Seminar for the judges of the Sør-Trøndelag District Court Sverre Blandhol, Doctor of Law and Professor in the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, and BAHR partner Øystein Myre Bremset held a four-hour digital seminar on «Procedural Risk – From the Perspective of the Judge» for the judges of the Sør-Trøndelag District Court. The ground covered included how judges may benefit from improving their risk appreciation, and what steps the courts may take to prevent legal disputes from becoming inordinately expensive for the parties. Stock Exchange Seminar for Directors In September, the Oslo Stock Exchange did for the first time ever hold the «Stock Exchange Seminar for Directors» digitally. No less than 115 participants all over Norway attended the seminar, which was streamed live from BAHR’s auditorium at Tjuvholmen in Oslo. The lecturers included BAHR partners Lars Knem Christie and Arne Tjaum. Digital training sessions and seminars Most of our student seminars will normally be held onsite in our own auditorium, but are currently being conducted digitally in the form of webinars. The same applies to external seminars in which BAHR lawyers are featured as lecturers. <<< 48
