UBS’s $5 Billion Retrial, Theranos Shelved in Virus Backlog
- Virus lockdowns slow wheels of justice around the world
- Remote hearings haven’t plugged the gaps in case dockets
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Courts reopening around the globe are confronting a backlog of thousands of cases, including UBS Group AG’s $4.9 billion tax-evasion penalty, former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes’s alleged fraud and even the 2016 Brussels terrorist attacks that killed 32 people.
The volume of cases shelved as courthouses were shuttered in response to the coronavirus pandemic may take months, possibly years, to work through. Many courts are adopting measures to help clear dockets, whether simply dropping minor matters, throwing more judges at the issue, or plea-bargaining cases that might otherwise have gone to trial.