Courts Catch Up: September 2026 Industry Roundup
A UK justice minister says courts cannot be left in the analogue age, the federal judiciary reports progress on AI policy and case management, and California's legal aid community turns to guaranteeing every litigant the right to a record.
Alicia Moffatt
· 4 min read
This edition, courts and governments on both sides of the Atlantic delivered the same message: modernization has to reach every courtroom and every litigant, not just the best-resourced ones. A UK minister warns against courts stuck in the past, the federal judiciary reports progress on AI policy and its case management system, and California's legal aid community turns to guaranteeing every litigant the right to a record.
The three to read first
Legal Futures
Courts cannot be left behind in AI rush, says minister
The UK's minister for courts and legal services, Sarah Sackman, told a City of London Law Society conference that the government will not accept a two-tier system in which top law firms race ahead on AI while courts remain "stuck in the analogue age." She pointed to the Ministry of Justice already adopting AI transcription and case summarization tools for judges, and asked whether AI can widen access to justice by steering people toward the right resources and human legal advice. The government plans to launch a broader legal services strategy at a summit in December. It is a clear statement from a justice ministry that court modernization belongs on the access-to-justice agenda.
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
Judiciary Cites Progress on Case Management, Property Authority, and AI
The Judicial Conference of the United States heard updates on three priorities: modernizing the judiciary's case management technology, gaining authority over mission-essential court properties, and setting policy on AI use. At the press briefing that followed, Ninth Circuit Judge Sidney Thomas, who chairs the judiciary's AI task force, said final guidance could come as soon as the end of this year, and that AI's most significant role may be in court operations rather than in chambers, according to Bloomberg Law. Interim guidance already keeps AI out of core functions such as deciding cases. The new case management system, prompted in part by security concerns, is slated to cover all new district court cases by the end of next year.
Daily Journal
California closes a gap that let life-altering court errors go uncorrected
Kate Marr, executive director of Community Legal Aid SoCal, writes about what the California Supreme Court's August ruling means in practice. Her organization helped represent the Family Violence Appellate Project in the case, so this is a view from inside the effort. She traces how the reporter shortage left more than 3 million hearings without any record since the state began tracking in 2023. She credits the court with recognizing that, for litigants who could not pay, the real choice was electronic recording or no record at all, and she is equally clear that certified court reporters remain essential. Her closing point is the one courts will live with: the ruling says what courts must do, not how, and implementation will decide whether it holds.
More from this edition
JD Journal
The Tenth Circuit has proposed a rule requiring anyone who uses generative AI on a filing to certify that a person verified its citations, quotations, and legal analysis. The proposal does not ban AI; comments are due October 18, and the rule would take effect January 1, 2027.
ABA Journal
Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal warned that a rising volume of suspected AI-generated filings can overwhelm courts, after a petition leveled accusations against a trial judge that the official record did not support. The attorney has denied using AI to draft the filings.
Why we publish this
TRX serves the court community, and part of that service is helping you stay oriented as courts decide who gets an official record and how that record gets made. We read widely, rank by relevance and source authority, and pass along what is worth your attention. This roundup is curated and published when enough worthwhile stories accumulate. If you have a story we should consider for the next edition, send it our way.
