AI Clerks Reach the Bench: May 2026 Industry Roundup
California courts are quietly piloting an AI 'clerk' that drafts orders and research memos for judges, and the public may never know when it touches a case. Our read on that story and the AI-and-the-law coverage worth your time this edition.
Alicia Moffatt
· 3 min read
The headline this edition is an AI tool sitting much closer to the bench than most courtroom AI to date. Two of California's largest courts are testing a system that drafts orders and research memos for judges, and the questions it raises about transparency and scope sit squarely in the work TheRecordXchange® follows. Below are the stories worth your time, ranked by relevance to the courts we serve and by the authority of the source.
The story that matters most
CalMatters
California judges are testing a new AI clerk, and you won't know if it's looking at your case
Los Angeles and Riverside county courts are piloting "Learned Hand," an AI clerk that uses models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google to draft orders and research memos for judges. CalMatters reports the tool is used mostly in civil matters today, but contract documents map a path into criminal, family, and probate divisions, and litigants are not told when it touches their case. The chair of the courts' own technology advisory committee said she was unaware the tool could expand beyond civil work, and the vendor has not published its bias and accuracy testing. For anyone weighing how AI should touch the official record, this is the most important read this edition.
More from this edition
Legal Reader
As AI absorbs more of the first-pass legal work, firms are rethinking the billable hour and how clients pay for output rather than time.
Global Legal Post
Experts weigh in on a major AI provider's push deeper into legal tooling and what broader, more capable assistants could mean for practitioners.
Heise
A European vantage point on how court systems abroad are adopting AI, a useful reminder that the questions facing US courts are playing out worldwide.
Why we publish this
TRX serves the court community, and part of that service is helping you stay oriented as AI reshapes the record. We read widely, rank by relevance and source authority, and pass along what is worth your attention. This roundup is curated and published roughly every two weeks. If you have a story we should consider for the next edition, send it our way.