By Megan Garvey and Makenna Sievertson/LAist
Originally published July 22, 2024
L.A. County’s courts are slated to reopen Tuesday after a cyberattack shut down the nation’s largest trial system — despite work all weekend to fix the damage.
Court officials announced late Monday afternoon that all 36 courthouses will be back in business thanks to the “tireless work of court staff and security experts.”
However, some court functions are still limited, and people are being warned to expect delays.
What’s working and what’s not
Courthouses: The 36 courthouses are open for business 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Court staff will be available to answer questions.
Court proceedings: If you’re scheduled to be in court Tuesday, July 23, it “will proceed in some fashion. If you were supposed to appear Friday, July 19, or Monday, July 22, you will receive notice of a continuance date in the future from the Court.”
Remote appearances:
- Court officials said remote appearances would be unavailable Tuesday for the Civil, Family law, Probate and Traffic law departments and instructed people to appear in person. If you don’t appear in person, you’ll be given a new date.
- WebEx, which is used for Criminal, Mental Health and Juvenile departments, will be available.
Electronic recording: If a courtroom uses this system for capturing the court record, it should be available for use.
Jury duty: Check your summons! If you have jury duty this week (July 22 – July 26) and are in group numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 87 or 97 you were required to report at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, July 23, to the courthouse on your summons. If you don’t see your number, you were not required to report.
The jury portal should be working again Tuesday, court officials said.
Restraining orders: You can file Temporary Restraining Orders in person at any Family Law Clerk’s Office throughout Los Angeles County.
Electronic filing: Only for “initiating documents.” All other documents “remain unavailable at this time.”
Call centers: Available during normal business hours. See the list.
Self-Help centers: Open Tuesday. These centers help people self-representing in court. Find them here.
Court’s website: Some pages www.lacourt.org are available now. Court officials say others should work again “as the remainder of the Court’s systems are brought back online.”
The backstory
The attack, which was discovered early Friday morning, forced the shutdown of nearly all network systems — from the jury portal to the court’s website.
In a statement issued late Sunday, Presiding Judge Samantha Jessner called the attack “unprecedented.”
How bad is it?
According to the order issued Sunday on the closure: “Every electronic platform containing court data was rendered inaccessible as was any device that was connected to the internet, including the Court’s telephone systems.”
Where things stand
Court officials initially thought the Friday outage was due to a widespread global tech outage that hobbled travel, hotels, hospitals and other businesses.
Later on Friday, court officials said they’d determined a ransomware attack was to blame. In a statement, court officials said: “The attack began in the early morning hours of Friday, July 19. The attack is believed to be unrelated to the CrowdStrike issue currently creating disruptions to technology worldwide.”
Sunday evening, Jessner said they needed more time to contain damage, protect the court’s integrity and ensure confidentiality. That means all 36 courthouses remain closed for business Monday.
“While the Court continues to move swiftly towards a restoration and recovery phase, many critical systems remain offline as of Sunday evening,” she wrote. “One additional day will enable the Court’s team of experts to focus exclusively on bringing our systems back online so that the Court can resume operations as expeditiously, smoothly and safely as possible.”
What or who caused it?
No word yet from authorities. Friday’s statement on the attack said court officials were “working diligently with authorities to investigate the breach and to mitigate its impact.” They said they’d “share more information as it becomes available.”
Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are investigating the breach, along with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.
Ripple effects
L.A. County sheriff’s officials said anyone already sentenced and scheduled for release Monday would still be released from jail. Evictions or move out orders were suspended.
Monday will be considered a “court holiday,” according to the closure order, which effectively extends all deadlines by a day.
Court officials said in a statement on Friday there’s “no evidence of court user’s data being compromised.”
This report is reprinted with permission from Southern California Public Radio. © 2024 Southern California Public Radio. All rights reserved.
