In the United States, the sidebar is an area in a courtroom near the judge's bench where lawyers may be called to speak with the judge so that the

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England du ...

cannot hear the conversation or they may speak off the record. Lawyers make a formal request by stating, "May I approach the bench?" or, simply, "May I approach?" to initiate a sidebar conference. If it is granted, then opposing counsel must be allowed to come forward and participate in the conversation. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, several courts implemented a "wireless sidebar" where instead of having to physically approach the judge, the participants would use a wireless system to communicate with the judge without the jury hearing. This was notably used during the case of '' State v. Chauvin''.

References

Legal procedure {{law-term-stub