SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – While high prices and inflated bids have become the norm in the Bay Area real estate market, eyebrows rise when a house in San Francisco sold for $ 1 million more.

It’s a newly renovated 2,400 square foot home with 4 bedrooms, a two car garage, and incredible views. The house is in a quiet area of ​​San Francisco near Mt. Davidson, west of Twin Peaks.

CONTINUE READING: Newson will present the budget for 2022; COVID, Law Enforcement, Road Improvement Among the Top Positions

The interior of a house in San Francisco near Mount Davidson that grossed more than $ 1 million. (Lunghi Media Group)

Real estate agents Richard Woo and Holly Phan listed the house for just under $ 2.5 million. Three days later, they would put the sale at $ 3.5 million.

“We were all very surprised because they weren’t just over – they were way over,” said Woo.

“We expected more, a little more, but we weren’t expecting a million dollars,” Phan said.

In current market conditions, it is quite typical for homes in the Bay Area to be sold at or slightly above list price.

A house that sold $ 1 million in San Francisco. (CBS)

CONTINUE READING: Fans gather at the Victorian “Full House” in San Francisco to mourn Bob Saget

“It was one of the wildest markets in history last year,” said Patrick Carlisle, Compass chief market analyst. “We saw some very spectacular overbids, not just in town but across the Bay Area.”

The housing stock available is still incredibly low across the Bay Area. This creates more competition among buyers, which can drive up sales prices.

“While a slew of new entries have hit the market, they’re being caught faster than ever – perhaps at the fastest rate in history,” Carlisle told KPIX 5. “Virtually every segment in the Bay Area has gone insane. ”

In San Francisco in particular, there has been a huge surge in home sales, according to Carlisle.

“Of course, it involves some people leaving. But the other side of it is that there are still many people who are very eager to live in the city, to own a home in the city, and are willing to pay higher prices than they have ever paid before ” , he said. “Sooner or later, upcycles end. What history has taught us, however, is that it is extremely difficult to predict when upward cycles will end. “

Potential buyers should all have their ducks in a row, according to Woo.

As for sellers?

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“It’s a seller’s market,” said Woo. “Of course the timing is important, the location is important. But the most important thing is to properly prepare the house. “

The post ‘We Didn’t Count on A Million {Dollars} Extra’ – San Francisco House’s Astronomical Overbid Stuns Brokers – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Chris Coduto-USA TODAY Sports

Al and Zain discuss what to expect from the San Francisco 49ers rookie Trey Lance if he has to start the rest of the season.

Plus:

• Remembering John Madden
• Bizarre four days for the 49ers
• The Jimmy Garoppolo situation
• The separation between Jimmy and the team
• The playoff picture

You can listen to the latest “No Huddle Podcast” episode above from our dedicated podcast page on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Breaker, Overcast, Pocket Casts or RadioPublic. Nobody is perfect. Found a bug in this article?
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More San Francisco 49ers News

No Huddle Podcast: Can the 49ers Avoid disappointment to keep their playoff hopes alive?

Zain and Brian discuss the San Francisco 49ers’ big win against the Cincinnati Bengals and give an outlook on the upcoming duel against the Atlanta Falcons. Plus: Jimmy Garoppolo in Crunch Time Nick Bosa is better than ever George Kittle in focus again Deebo Samuel the Swiss Army Knife Avoiding disappointment vs. Falcons O-line play You can listen to the latest “No Huddle Podcast” episode above, of ours

No Huddle Podcast: The 49ers get hot at the right time

Al and Zain discuss the San Francisco 49ers getting hot just in time for their playoff push. Plus: 49ers, carried by their blue-chip core Jimmy Garoppolo just has to be a cog in the machine The effects of the playoff scenarios of George Kittle and Nick Bosa Office problems The problem with the analysis Also: Al makes a bold NFC West forecast and goes all-in with the 49ers. You can check out the latest “No Huddle.”

The 49ers rookie Trey Lance “has a chance” to compete against the Texans, says Kyle Shanahan

San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance could make his second start of the season against the Houston Texans on Sunday. It all depends heavily on the status of starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s thumb. On Monday, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced that Garoppolo had suffered a sprained right thumb. The quarterback didn’t train on Monday and the 49ers will re-evaluate him before training on Wednesday. Understandably, Shanahan didn’t give too many details about the injury, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter says it could be “a more significant one.”

Laken Tomlinson on 49ers rookie Trey Lance: “A lot of guys are looking forward to him”

The San Francisco 49ers could push forward, with rookie Trey Lance leading the offense on track and possibly into the playoffs. It all depends on Jimmy Garoppolo’s thumb. While head coach Kyle Shanahan downplayed the injury, calling it a sprained thumb, NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter painted a more serious picture. Rapoport reported that the 49ers quarterback sustained a torn ligament and a broken bone in his right thumb. Schefter says Garoppolo sustained a rupture and fracture of the UCL. While Shanahan is probably trying to keep her coming

The post No Huddle Podcast: What to anticipate from 49ers rookie Trey Lance shifting ahead appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

As mentioned earlier, Moscow-born chef Anya El-Wattar, a former Greens cook, will be opening a new Russian restaurant in Noe Valley with Birch & Rye. Now we have some juicy updates: She’s announced she’s working with chef Evan Eisen, who’s from Jean-Georges and Public in New York and Aqua and Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco – as well as Amiran Tskhvaradze, the former chef at the Georgian restaurant Bevri in Palo Alto, who is still on board as a sous chef.

Regardless of this, the menu with soaking khachapuri cheese boats, the iconic Georgian dish, as well as “elevated versions” of potato salad, borscht, stroganoff and other “modern Russian” specialties with fermentation and using the wood-burning oven, according to a rep. Brunch sounds particularly nutritious with rye waffles with sour cherries and hazelnuts as well as a hearty roasted buckwheat husk with Nameko mushrooms and a jam egg.

In addition, Interval’s Jennifer Colliau will advise on beverages at Long Now, infuse vodka with everything from flowers to horseradish, and pour a range of rare vodkas. The wine list is Californian, French and Georgian. Architects II is renovating the former Mahila room in Castro and 24th and seems to have toned down the bright yellows and reds, so Birch & Rye is a bit quieter with neutral colors, warm wood elements and blue banquets and pillows. As it always seems to be, the opening has been postponed – Birch & Rye is now planning to open in early 2022. Stay tuned for the full reveal.

Birch & Rye

Birch & Rye

Architects II

Popular Filipino-Japanese pop-up is now full service

In early fall, popular Filipino-Japanese pop-up Ox + Tiger started teasing a new semi-permanent location, and although it has been open for a few months, they are finally ready for full service. They take up residence in the former Silog room in the Tenderloin and do six izakaya-style courses for only 10 seats. There are only two seats a night and they are only open on weekends. It’s a big departure from the takeaway they’ve served for most of the pandemic, switching to a full-fledged experience of yakitori-style fish balls on skewers, seafood doria, and other riffs and mashups of calming Japanese and Filipino dishes. Make a reservation if you can.

The San Jose factory will produce 30,000 tamales this season

It’s also officially tamales season, and Mercury News is on a tour of the Tamale Factory, a San Jose institution for 25 years where owner Claudia Lopez and her women’s team plan to fold more than 30,000 tamales for the holiday season. [Mercury News]

Impossible Foods gets caught in the ghost delivery

Impossible Foods from Redwood City has announced a new “restaurant brand”, according to Restaurant Business, which is of course silicone-like for a ghost delivery kitchen. Eight states including California now have various nefarious delivery apps available to order a plant-based burger or fake chicken nuggets.

Chef Jose Andres is the new face of the laboratory chicken

Chef Jose Andres is the new face of the laboratory chicken in the fake meat news too. He joins the board of directors of Good Meat, based in San Francisco, and has promised to put the cell-raised chicken on the menu at one of his restaurants. It’s a partnership reminiscent of Dominique Crenn and Upside Chicken, Traci Des Jardins and Impossible Foods, as well as other star chefs who have done deals with big, venture-backed brands.

Update: December 15, 2021 3:11 p.m .: This story has been updated to include Chef Amiran Tskhvaradze joining the Birch & Rye team.

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The post What to Anticipate When Fashionable Russian Restaurant Birch & Rye Opens in San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

The Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals are not only 12-1 together this NFL season, but also 12-1 against the spread!

Arizona has been a big crowd favorite for the past two weeks, despite heavy cracks at WynnBET Sportsbook, and in both weeks the Cardinals covered the San Francisco 49ers and the Cleveland Browns on the street.

Meanwhile, in Week 6 of overtime against the New England Patriots, the Cowboys found a remarkable way to top the number. Though it only took Dak Prescott one field goal to win (and push Cowboys -3), Dak Prescott found a streaky CeeDee Lamb who gave the Patriots +3 and +3.5 backers one of their worst bad beats of the season .

All time bad beat for sports betting in this Cowboys / Pats game. Everyone (except me) and their dog were with the cowboys.

Shame. I really feel with the books.

– Iain MacMillan (@IainMacBets) October 17, 2021

With Dallas already a public team and continuing to cover the Cardinals, should bettors expect this trend to continue?

We asked WynnBET Senior Trader Grant Tucker whether or not we should expect more inflated betting lines for both teams:

“Yeah, it really seems that these teams just can’t stop covering the spread (DAL 6-0, ARI 5-1 ATS),” he said. “At some point, as a bookmaker, you need to see what number you can start buying back the underdog. A great example is in the Arizona-Houston game this week. This is a game we opened at Arizona -17.” , and we are now at -19.5. If we keep sneaking towards the key number 20, I would expect the pros to then support the Texans on the pluses at the inflated number. Dallas has a goodbye this week.

Bet $ 1 and win $ 100 if either team scores. PROMO CODE: REQUIRED. dark. Exclusive offer

The Cardinals should have no problem beating 1-5 Houston Texans at home today, but can they cover an inflated number? Arizona is currently at -19.5, which is approaching the start of the action on Sunday.

The post Bettors Ought to Count on Extra Inflated Traces for Cowboys, Cardinals Shifting Ahead appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

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California already has a historic year for wildfires.

So far, 1.66 million hectares have been burned – an area five times the size of the city of Los Angeles. Almost no part of the state is untouched. From the Santa Cruz Mountains to Riverside County, the slopes of Mount Hamilton to the Napa Valley and the northern Sierra, 15,800 Florida and New Jersey firefighters are fighting two dozen major fires, many of which were triggered by rare thunderstorms two weeks ago.

And although the fire brigade is finally gaining the upper hand with many, fire experts have a clear message: This year is particularly dry and the worst could still come.

“We’re approaching the peak of the fire season,” said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for Cal Fire, the state’s main fire service.

There are at least two more months, and possibly three more, during which the risk of huge new fires will continue to increase, before the autumn rains hit. And 2020 has seen the second most acres burned in a year in modern history, after just 2018 when 1.97 million hectares were burned.

“It’s so important that we get public help,” said Berlant. “We have been incredibly busy the past two weeks. These were fires kindled by Mother Nature. We need people who can reduce the risk of man-made fires. “

An analysis of the precipitation patterns in autumn over the past ten years speaks for itself.

Using San Francisco as a proxy for Northern California, the first significant rain shower of half an inch or more in seven of the last 10 years did not occur until after November 15. That’s 11 weeks now. In the other three years it came on October 16 at the earliest. That’s another seven weeks.

“We hold our breath, so to speak, until we just get into the rainy season,” said Jan Null, a meteorologist at Golden Gate Weather Services in Half Moon Bay, who combed through the data.

“Just because current events are slowly subsiding doesn’t mean we won’t see more fires,” he said. “We are heading for what is usually the most dangerous part of the fire season.”

BOULDER CREEK, CA – AUGUST 19: Volunteer firefighters for the Boulder Creek Fire District view the direction of the fire before dispatching to fight the fire at the CZU August Lightning Complex on August 19, 2020 in Boulder Creek, California ( Dai News Group Sugano / Bay Area)

The past explains the future.

Eight of the ten deadliest fires of all time in California occurred in October or November, from the Camp Fire that killed 85 people in the city of Paradise in 2018, to the Wine Country Fires in Napa and Sonoma Counties in 2017 to Oakland Hills Fire in 1991.

Similarly, seven of the ten most devastating fires in California history, as measured by the number of houses burned, occurred in October or November.

Experts say that there are two main reasons: lack of rain and strong, dry wind.

Unlike most other states, it almost never rains in California in the summer. As part of California’s Mediterranean climate, most rainfall ends in April each year and, apart from a few light splashes, doesn’t really start again until November. This means that by October it was almost six months without rain.

Grass, bushes and trees are therefore usually the driest of the year in October.

Records show that most of California’s worst fire seasons, ranked by acres burned, come after a drier than normal winter. Why? In wet winters, there is more snow in the Sierra Nevada. The longer it lasts into summer, the less space there is to burn. And more rain means more moisture in the vegetation.

Unfortunately this year was a dry winter.

On April 1, the national snowpack in the Sierra was only 54% of its historical average. Last year it was 161%, and California ended up with a sub-par fire year with only 259,148 acres burned nationwide.

The same goes for rains. As of October 1, San Francisco received only 50% of historical average rainfall, San Jose 49%, Oakland 42%, and Sacramento 53%. In contrast, Los Angeles and San Diego had normal rainfall years and received 101% and 133% of their historical averages, respectively.

Simply put, conditions in Northern California are drier than normal, which has contributed to the explosive spread of the CZU, SCU, and LNU fires this month.

Craig Clements, director of the Fire Weather Research Laboratory at San Jose State University, called the thunderstorms in mid-August, which caused 12,000 lightning strikes and started around 700 new fires, a rare occurrence. California haven’t seen anything like it since 2008. People shouldn’t read too much into it as a predictor for the rest of the year, he said. Instead, they should look at the broader rainfall patterns, combined with a heat wave that much of the state suffered just before the fires, and daily measurements like overnight humidity.

“It’s crazy that we had so many ignitions at the same time,” said Clements. “For many it is apocalyptic. But it was a weather event. Let’s hope that this was the big event of the year. “

Huge amounts of dead bush, trees, and other vegetation, some killed during the state’s five-year drought and others piled up from decades of firefighting, are making the fires hotter and bigger.

Clements and his students regularly test the amount of water in chamois, a common flowering shrub, to determine the moisture content of the fuel.

In Quail Hollow Ranch County Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Ben Lomond, they found a moisture content of 67% on August 16. It was there in the middle of September last year. In other words, bushes and other vegetation in the Santa Cruz Mountains that are still burning are as dry now as they were a month later last year.

“We’re seeing fuel moisture levels that match our drought years,” he said. “Because we probably won’t get any rain for the next few weeks, these fuels will continue to be dry. And they are already critical. “

Climate change also plays a role. The world’s 10 hottest years, dating back to 1880 when modern temperature records began, have all occurred since 1998, according to NASA and NOAA, the parent agency of the National Weather Service. Hotter weather dries out vegetation earlier in the year, resulting in a longer fire season.

Add to this the strong “Santa Ana” winds in Southern California and “Diablo” winds in Northern California, which blow hot inland air over the state, increase the risk of fire and typically peak in October.

FAIRFIELD, CA – AUGUST 19: A Cal Fire Tanker drops fire retardant fabrics on a hill behind homes in the Rolling Hills neighborhood of Fairfield, California on Wednesday, August 19, 2020. Residents were ordered when the LNU Lightning Complex wildfire threatened the neighborhood. (Anda Chu / Bay Area News Group)

“We have a big fire season ahead of us. We call it the year of fire, ”said Robert Baird, director of fire and aviation management for the Pacific Southwest for the US Forest Service in Vallejo. “People shouldn’t let their vigilance down.”

Baird, whose own family was evacuated from their home near Vacaville for one night two weeks ago because of the LNU complex fire, said people across the state should remove the vegetation around their homes and have an evacuation plan and list create with objects they would take if they suddenly had to go because of an rampant fire.

“People need to look at red flag warnings as if they were tornado warnings,” he said. “They are a grueling combination of dry air, wind and heat. They can be murderers and have killed people. “

“If there is a fire on the ground,” he warned, “it will be too late to make your preparations.”

U.S. Forest Service firefighters clear debris from a steep slope as they tackle the Dolan Fire in Big Sur on Tuesday, August 25, 2020. (David Royal / Monterey Herald Correspondent)

The post What to anticipate within the coming months appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Photo: istockphoto.com

When you own a home, it seems like something always needs to be fixed or replaced. While you may have the skills to do small projects yourself, there may be some repairs or renovations that you would prefer to leave to the experts. In these cases, you may want to hire a handyman (or craftswoman) to do things like paint your bedroom, clean your gutters, or install a new kitchen tap. To help you work out a budget and see if you are getting a fair deal, read on to find out the common prices for some popular crafting services.

Typical hourly rates for a do-it-yourselfer

A craftsman is qualified to perform a variety of minor home repairs, as well as renovations and construction work. The costs depend on the market and the complexity of the order and can be calculated as a flat rate or as an hourly rate.

Typical hourly rates for craftsmen are between $ 60 and $ 70 for the self-employed and about $ 125 an hour for a craftsman who works for a company. A skilled craftsman knows how much time is normally required for a particular type of job and charges accordingly.

• A small job usually takes less than two hours and only requires simple hand tools. This could cost you anywhere from $ 75 to $ 150.
• A medium-sized job is a little more complex and likely requires power tools. It can take anywhere from two to four hours and costs between $ 150 and $ 300.
• A large job, as you can imagine, is the most laborious, lasting anywhere from four hours to a few days, and may require specialized equipment. Expect a big job to be anywhere from $ 300 to $ 1,000.

Note: if the craftsman needs to buy parts or materials for your project, they may also ask for a markup.

Average cost of common craftsman jobs

As mentioned earlier, the type of project you rent out is the biggest contributor to the total cost, regardless of whether you work with someone who works on an hourly or flat-rate basis. To help you plan your budget appropriately, here’s how some common tasks stack up, from quick, low-cost jobs to more expensive projects.

1. Heavy work of art hanging cost: $ 60 to $ 125

Hanging a heavy work of art requires a variety of hardware and screws (unless a hanger was already attached to the frame). Your handyman will also likely use a stud finder, tape measure, and level – basic tools they likely already have on hand. Expect the project to take anywhere from an hour and a half to complete, depending on the overall size and placement of the art.

Photo: istockphoto.com

2. Gutter cleaning cost: $ 100 to $ 150

Don’t feel like climbing a ladder to reach the gutters and downspouts of your home? While this is a relatively unskilled job, a typical gutter cleaning takes anywhere from 90 minutes to two and a half hours to remove leaves and debris from a gutter approximately 120 meters long. If you have a lot of trees on your property, get more bang for your buck by letting the handyman install gutter protection while they’re up there to keep the gutters clear and reduce the number of times you have to call a professional clean.

3. Cost of connecting a washer and dryer: $ 100 to $ 150

The weight of these devices is often a challenge for homeowners. Provided that the gas or electricity connection is already available, the work takes between one and two and a half hours. Expect the high end of the price range if the washer and dryer need to be relocated to the basement, water supply hoses or dryer vent pipes need to be purchased, or an outside vent hole needs to be drilled.

4. Faucet replacement cost: $ 60 to $ 150

Simply removing an old faucet and installing a new one (already purchased) can take 60 to 90 minutes. The higher estimates would apply to jobs that require additional labor to install shut-off valves or replace the P-trap.

5. Cost to replace caulking around a shower: $ 100 to $ 280

While the cost of materials is low, this work can be labor intensive depending on the type and condition of the seal in place. Because before a craftsman can even load a cartridge gun, he has to deal with the old, crumbling sealing lines, which often includes completely removing the old sealant, removing soap residue and mold, and preparing the surface for new sealant.

Photo: istockphoto.com

6. Drywall Repair Cost: $ 275 to $ 780

Again, the prices vary greatly depending on the extent of the damage. A minor repair or patch can be done for a flat fee, but most repairs would be done at an hourly rate of $ 60 to $ 90 an hour. This can take a few days as there is a drying time required between coats of mud, sanding, and mending. Imagine that a four-foot by eight-foot sheet of drywall, including labor, costs about $ 45.

7. Cost to paint a 12 by 12 foot room: $ 400 to $ 1,000

If you get a sticker shock at this price estimate, keep in mind that painting is a labor-intensive job (even for skilled painters) due to the significant amount of prep involved. Covering floors and furniture with cloths, cleaning walls, repairing cracks, masking windows and doors, priming, painting baseboards and other moldings, and cutting the ceiling along the ceiling all take time. Textured walls, dark colors, or decorative finishes are usually more expensive, adding an additional $ 2 to 4 per square foot.

Photo: istockphoto.com

So why hire a craftsman?

While there are many home-related projects you can probably do yourself, hiring a good handyman has the potential to save you both time and money – not to mention the hassle of a project that’s not entirely in your comfort zone lies.

For starters, instead of spending a couple of hours looking for specialists for every paint, grouting, or drywall project that is coming up, you can find an employee qualified to provide a wide variety of services with just one round of research. Even better, if you are happy with his job, he can always come back to help. Plus, in your search, you can instantly find more professionals available for repairs or even more ambitious projects. With an all-rounder, you can stick to your schedule for repairs and small renovations – you don’t have to wait months for a contractor to add you to their schedule behind larger (and perhaps more lucrative) jobs.

Not only will a skilled handyman help you keep your home in good shape, but you’ll find that paying someone else to do the work turns out to be an efficient use of your money. A handyman often has the tools needed to do the job, saving you the expense of renting power tools, and they can also offer a discounted or bundled price if you hire them on multiple projects at the same time.

The content is paid advertising that was created in collaboration with Puls. His facts and opinions are those of BobVila.com.

The post Right here’s Precisely What You Can Count on to Pay a Handyman appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

HVAC companies should expect minimum wage increases | 2021-06-03 | ACHR news

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The post HVAC Contractors Ought to Anticipate Some Impact With a Doable Minimal Wage Improve | 2021-06-03 appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

HVAC contractors should expect some effect with a possible increase in the minimum wage 2021-05-20 | ACHR News

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[author: James Drimmer]

A little over a year has passed since the COVID-19 pandemic led the legal community to look to remote depositions to fuel litigation. In the months following the first shift, I wrote two blogs about remote deposition. The first focused on the details of removed deposits and how to perform them, as well as best practices for preparation. The second looked at how things went after six months with remote access. This blog examines how remote deposition has evolved in widespread practice in relation to a “note” after a full year of widespread practice, and further anticipates how things will evolve from here, including the introduction and use of remote technology for dispositive procedures such as arbitration, arbitration and now even legal proceedings.

Predictions about remote stay technology appear accurate – Note = A.

Saying the words “new normal” when it comes to remote debris is just … well, 2020. It is no longer time to recognize that debris should now be recognized as “normal” in this way. The uniform acceptance of distant deposits was certainly the minority’s early prediction. Their opinions have been tacitly rejected by their peers on the grounds that the “distant matter” will go away as soon as we can get back to face-to-face procedures. When everyone finally realized that the delay in legal disputes could possibly take an undefined and lengthy time, many lawyers stepped in with both feet. Everyone has accepted one or more invitations from remote deposit providers in their inbox to test the options available. You tried and guess what? It worked! ”Expected problems and practical challenges regarding the handling and connectivity of exhibits have been addressed, addressed and resolved by knowledgeable vendors – and the process now seems smoother than ever. It is an exaggeration to say that at this point everyone is out of it more technological View “understands.” However, the awareness and visibility of the remote separation process has made it accessible to even the most technologically demanding people.

A colleague recently reported on LinkedIn about the lifting of some COVID-19 restrictions. He was pleased to see some of his clients in person in his office for the first time in over a year and to give a personal presentation over lunch. What was the topic for this “face-to-face” meeting? Ironically, remote deposits! Even if we reopen our offices to do business in person, this is anything but a retreat to old methods. This is back to the future in all its glory. Based on the foregoing, we can expect the removed deposit to remain here, and those who predicted it would appear to have been entirely correct. Grade = A.

Some less obvious practical advantages and disadvantages of remote separation – Grade = B +

Some obvious advantages to remote separations are the extreme flexibility that has been added to the process for all participants, including lawyers, witnesses, and court reporters. This flexibility also leads to cost savings for everyone involved, with fewer travel-related costs. Likewise, there are equally obvious drawbacks to the process that can never really be overcome, such as assessing the credibility and conduct of a witness that lawyers benefit from personal observation. There are some interesting and less obvious subtle benefits and burdens to the process that everyone should consider, including the increased courtesy between attorneys, the unique helpful application that remote segregation provides for certain types of cases, and the handling of the new concept emerging the zoom fatigue.

In order for remote depositions to work, an increased level of cooperation is required from all parties to the proceedings. As a result, when filing a deposit remotely, it is easier for lawyers to collaborate than with a face-to-face procedure. Exhibits are often swapped out in advance, schedules worked out in advance rather than one-sided notice of debris, and attendees must work with third party witnesses to ensure they can appear. These budgetary issues are now very cooperative matters. While in the past such planning problems were often the subject of game art. Well, that kind of capricious jockeying for position has no place in this new, aged arena for the discovery of distant facts. Even during the proceedings, lawyers have to behave more collegially than ever. One of our clients recently described the level of professionalism and courtesy shown by all lawyers in his most recent multiple remote separations case. Although the case was controversial, he mentioned that all opposing lawyers were paying so much attention to each other as if there were technical difficulties or if one party lost their connection they would shut down the case immediately so that the lawyer could be reconnected and avoid it any ex parte communication with the witness.

In addition to being more courteous, remote tipping is especially helpful in certain cases that you may not expect. For example, the document-intensive case is now safer from a health point of view and less complex thanks to the use of a remote procedure. The security issue is obvious as lawyers, witnesses, and reporters don’t have to constantly pass documents back and forth to risk a possible COVID-19 infection. It also makes the process smoother because witnesses can be referenced directly to sections of documents on the screen instead of the witness looking through a hard copy. Every attorney has had the experience of handing a document to the witness during a deposit and referring it to a specific line or paragraph on a specific page. What happens? Invariably, the witness takes the document from the attorney, turns the pages, compares sections, sometimes over long periods of time, and reviews the material so that he or she is not caught off guard by the question at hand. Opposing attorneys are quick to raise objections asking for the witness to be given the opportunity to “review the entire document.” In these remote proceedings, when a subsection of a document is displayed on a screen, be it psychological or otherwise, neither the opposing attorney nor the witness argue about its authenticity or the ability to read the entire document. This is a tremendous advantage in jurisdictions where the ability to depose a witness is subject to time limits and where there is a lot of material to discuss.

One drawback to the world of remote separation is the growing authority over zoom fatigue and the tedious effects of video calls. This is not ideal in an environment where, as a lawyer, you want your witness or client to put their best foot forward and appear sharp, present and engaged. Since video calls put a special strain on our cognitive abilities, the witness and attorney must take this effect into account. A recent study published by Stanford University observed that zoom fatigue occurs because video calls make unnatural and excessive eye contact. You see yourself all the time and how you appear on camera as you speak. Their mobility is restricted and the cognitive load during video chats is much higher. All of this results in the higher level of concentration required for the Witness to communicate effectively in the deposit environment, which is already a nerve-wracking and highly unnatural experience. This challenge results in the attorney taking additional time and action to offset the effect of zoom fatigue in preparing his witnesses for testimony, and the attorney who does not take the time does so at their own risk.

Practitioners should weigh these subtle pros and cons when considering remote deposition. Since the news is not all good, these matters deserve a solid but incomplete note. Note = B +.

Arbitration, banking and … litigation? – Degree = TBD

It was not a problem that shortly after the widespread adoption of distant testimony, the litigants used the same technology for mediation and even trial. In recent times, entire arbitration proceedings with full testimony, the introduction of exhibits and arguments have been conducted almost every day. Remote technology has performed well in these dispositive procedures, and now cases can be advanced through arbitration rather than legal proceedings, while pandemic issues such as vaccine distribution and security measures in local courthouses take care of themselves.

However, the next piece of the puzzle to consider is how remote jurors will conduct legal proceedings. Is that even possible? There are so many points to consider: presence of jurors, attentiveness from jurors, court rules, who handles the technology and is responsible for it, etc. While virtual banking trials have already taken place because they are practically the same as arbitration, the judicial process is very much much a new concept. There have been isolated reports of virtual trials taking place in New Jersey on brief matters. Riverside County California recently enacted local court rules for conducting trials against virtual jurors displayed in its courthouse. At least one case recently settled prior to trial in San Francisco County conducted a hybrid Voir Dire in which the jury was placed in a virtual “jury box” and interviewed while the rest of the pool watched the interview. When the jury was released, others were put into the virtual “box” to complete the interview.

It is unclear how these early experiments with virtual jury processes will go. There are many concerns about the jury’s attention, divided between the court and what is going on in their immediate vicinity. Time will tell and we will surely report on it as soon as more data and practical experience on the subject is gathered and analyzed. Therefore we can only rate this problem as “to be decided”. Note = TBD.

Conclusion

The widespread success of using remote technology to conduct legal proceedings such as depositions, hearings, and now even legal proceedings is a welcome improvement in the legal landscape. All actors in the system will feel the efficiency that comes from greater flexibility in planning the lowered cost barriers that arise when lawyers are not limited to litigating in person. This in turn will give more people better access to our legal system, which can only be good. We look forward to future technological advances and their application to other procedures such as legal proceedings. The future of remote access is certainly looking bright and deserves an “A” in this sense. Grade = A..

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In March, the guests observe the exhibition “Approaching American Abstraction” at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art reopened on March 7th. A few days later, Chief Administrative Officer Noah Bartlett stood near the entrance, remembering the start of the pandemic a year ago.

“We assumed it would be six weeks,” he said. “So naive, right?”

Since then, Bartlett and key museum staff have rescheduled exhibitions, rethought budgets, and mapped “every surface people would come into contact with,” including elevator buttons now covered with self-cleaning NanoSeptic pads.

“We would like to say that we are one of the safest indoor experiences one can have. You and I can walk through this building without touching anything, ”said Bartlett.

But he also understands that recovery may be slow. The three restaurants in the museum will remain closed. The Moscone Center across the street, once one of the busiest convention venues in the country, is a vaccination center.

Prior to the pandemic, Bartlett said, up to 60% of museum goers came from outside the Bay Area, and daily admissions rarely fell below 2,000. For the reopening, the museum drew around 3,500 visitors over two days.

“The energy has changed,” said Bartlett. “We’re going to stay in a depressed state, I think, probably for a couple of years,” said Bartlett. “It really accelerated our focus on the local audience.”

Noah Bartlett, Head of Administration at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, in the “One-Way Color Tunnel”.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

On the fifth floor, the museum will shortly be opening an exhibition entitled “Contemporary Optics”. As a plumber was preparing the galleries, Bartlett stepped onto the Oculus Bridge – the showcase walkway that hangs four floors above the museum lobby – and entered the “One-Way Color Tunnel” by artist Olafur Eliasson, which sparkled like purple ice.

This, said Bartlett, is a silver lining: a visitor can now “really gain the experience of the museum insider – time alone with works of art”.

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