Exploring the Lived Experiences of Legal Professionals During COVID-19: Joint Views of Lawyers and Judges in Trinidad and Tobago

The justice system in Trinidad and Tobago did not stop functioning but only paused temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic, as crimes continued to be committed, reported, investigated, and persons charged. While there is available research on the COVID-19 experiences of legal professionals in the Global North, similar scholarship in the Global South is comparatively sparse. Considering this sparseness, the current study gathered data from 25 ( N = 25) legal professionals in Trinidad and Tobago via semistructured interviews and analysed it using the phenomenological approach. The findings indicate benefits, challenges, impacts on family and professional lives, and strategies to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the lives of legal professionals in Trinidad and Tobago. Three themes emerged from the study (judicial reform/technological advances, work-life balance, and income reduction), and these are discussed. These findings are particularly relevant for policy makers and judicial executives on the island who are desirous of implementing judicial reforms postpandemic.