Remote appearances went from emergency measure to permanent fixture in California civil courts. Code of Civil Procedure section 367.75 lets parties appear remotely in most civil matters unless the court finds a specific reason to require in-person attendance. In practice, every county implements it a little differently.
What can be heard remotely
As a rule, anything that does not involve live testimony or a jury:
- Case management and status conferences
- Law and motion, including demurrers and discovery motions
- Ex parte applications in most departments
- Settlement conferences, at the judge's discretion
Evidentiary hearings, trials and matters where the court needs to assess credibility usually require in-person attendance, or at minimum a specific order permitting remote testimony.
Platforms by county
There is no single statewide platform.
| County | Primary platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | LACourtConnect | Per-appearance fee; book the day before |
| San Francisco | Zoom | Department-specific links on the court site |
| San Diego | Microsoft Teams / Zoom | Varies by division |
| Orange | Zoom | Civil departments list links on tentative ruling pages |
| Sacramento | Zoom | Remote appearance request may be required |
Always check the department's page the morning of the hearing. Links and policies change without notice.
Etiquette that judges actually care about
Judges have been doing this for years now and their patience for basic mistakes is gone.
Before the hearing
- Log in 10 minutes early with your display name as
Last, First – Party – Case no. - Test audio on the same device you will use. A phone propped on a desk is fine. A laptop with a fan is not.
- Have the tentative ruling open.
During the hearing
- Stay muted until the case is called.
- Camera on, unless the department says otherwise. Appearing by audio only when video was available reads as unprepared.
- When you speak, start with your name and who you represent, every time.
- Do not talk over the court. Latency makes this worse than in person.
After the hearing
- Confirm the next date before you drop off.
- If you are an appearance attorney, send the report within the hour. Firms planning their calendar need the continuance date, not a summary tomorrow.
When to insist on in-person anyway
Remote is cheaper and faster, but some situations still reward being in the room:
- A judge who is known to issue rulings from the bench and will take questions
- Settlement conferences where the other side will be present
- Any hearing where the client's presence helps and the client can attend
For everything else, remote coverage lets a firm get a hearing handled for less, and lets an appearance attorney cover three departments before lunch. If you need a hearing covered remotely, post it on AppearancesNow and mark it remote; the fee is discounted automatically.