If the shutdown drags on after Friday, the nation's federal courts will run out of money. But they must stay open. So the U.S. District Court in Manhattan is dusting off an emergency plan it prepared in the event of a pandemic.

Edward Friedland, district executive for the U.S. District Court of the Southern District, said hundreds of judiciary branch employees would get their last paycheck on Feb. 8. These include law clerks, probation officers, IT staffers and even the AV staff who make courtroom presentations. "Everybody," he said.

There's one exception: judges. The Constitution requires them to be paid. 

Friedland predicts some court employees will stay home if they can't pay for childcare or need to find other work. U.S. Attorneys and staffers from the U.S. Marshals and Bureau of Prisons who also work in the courts have been going without pay since December if they're considered essential. The same is true for the other U.S. court in Brooklyn, the Eastern District.

The partial shutdown has already resulted in a slowdown in the courts, said Friedland. Most civil cases that require U.S. government attorneys (such as someone suing for their Social Security payments) don't have to proceed as scheduled, in order to conserve resources. And because of limited staffing, first court appearances for a defendant in custody have been stopping at 2:45 p.m. and are not held on Saturdays and Sundays. There have also been complaints that staffing shortages exacerbated by the shutdown have made it more difficult for attorneys to visit their clients.

Government workers can expect to get the money they're owed whenever the shutdown is over. But there's another category of court workers: contractors. Friedland said these include court interpreters, building engineers, maintenance workers and security guards. "There will be an understanding that they will be paid eventually," he said. But not until there's a new appropriation, making that the equivalent of an IOU. 

Friedland expects the budget for contractors to run out by March. And that's a huge problem. "We can't occupy a building without fire safety directors and building engineers," he said, referring to the contractors who might not feel an obligation to work.

In that worst case scenario, he said, the courts can keep running even if the Southern District's buildings at Foley Square and the one in White Plains are all closed.

"We have an old plan that we'll dust off that was put in place many years ago with the bird flu," he said. That pandemic, thankfully, never happened. But if the courts can't open, they can still conduct important business as they would in a pandemic.

"Judges would stay home, court staff would stay home, attorneys would stay home," Friedland said. "But when somebody's arrested they need to be seen for a bail hearing in a certain amount of time."

The backup plan: hearings by video. Friedland said this system is tested annually, but will get a thorough workout this week. Prosecutors and marshals accompanying defendants to hearings would all participate with a camera link, as well as the judges, lawyers and prosecutors. 

If the buildings do remain open, there might also be an impact on jurors, because they'll have to wait for payment until after an appropriation is passed. Friedland said this could deter some people from wanting to serve if they need the cash immediately after a trial. Jurors make $50 a day, or $65 a day if they're serving on a grand jury that lasts more than 45 days.

The district executive for the Eastern District, in Brooklyn, would not comment on security plans. 

Public defenders aren't exactly government workers but they depend on the Judiciary for their funding. That would stop after Jan. 25, though David Patton, Executive Director of Federal Defenders of New York, said some grants may last a bit longer.

"We're only surviving by stretching every penny," he said, adding that payments to outside vendors and case experts have been delayed. 

Private attorneys who represent indigent clients have already gone without pay since December, because they're funded through the Criminal Justice Act. Likewise, Patton said the investigators and experts they hire have also taken a hit.

And any impact on the defense bar could have repercussions.

"Any motion or application that comes before a judge that they're not able to provide an adequate defense is something a judge would have to consider," said Friedland.