The Justice Catalyst | April 2026

Lord Chancellor sets out AI vision for the courts

February 24, 2026

Deputy Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor David Lammy announced a sweeping AI agenda for England and Wales. The plan is anchored by J-AI, an AI listing assistant for the criminal courts that will help judges flag cases needing action, estimate hearing time, and identify opportunities to list additional cases; according to Legal Futures, the tool is based on technology used by the National Health Service to speed up processes and cut waiting times. Microsoft Copilot is already being used by Ministry of Justice staff and is being expanded across courts and tribunals for hearing transcription, document anonymization, and judgment summarization. Legal Futures reports £12 million in additional funding for the Ministry’s Justice AI Unit and £4.5 million over three years for LawtechUK, alongside plans for a Justice AI academy and fellowship program (the Justice AI Fellowship for senior AI specialists and the Justice AI Academy internship program for top graduates, both first set out in the July 2025 AI Action Plan for Justice).

Sources: Deputy Prime Minister Sets Out Vision for the Justice System, GOV.UK, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/deputy-prime-minister-sets-out-vision-for-the-justice-system; Lammy Backs LawtechUK for Next Three Years as He Sets Out AI Vision, Legal Futures, https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/lammy-backs-lawtechuk-for-next-three-years-as-he-sets-out-ai-vision.

UK immigration tribunal judges trained to use Microsoft Copilot

Training materials first reported by The Observer show UK immigration tribunal judges have been trained to use a restricted version of Microsoft Copilot to draft skeleton rulings, generate case outlines, summarize evidence bundles, and check decisions. The asylum appeals backlog has nearly doubled to 104,400 cases.

Source: Justice Chatbot Lends a Hand to Draft Judgments on Immigration, The Observer, https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/justice-chatbot-lends-a-hand-to-draft-judgments-on-immigration.

LA Superior Court launches Learned Hand pilot

March 18, 2026

The largest trial court in the United States launched an AI pilot to support judges with case research and document review.

Source: Los Angeles Courts Pilot AI Tool to Help Judges Draft Rulings, Governing, https://www.governing.com/artificial-intelligence/los-angeles-courts-pilot-ai-tool-to-help-judges-draft-rulings.

Lady Justice Initiative and Justice Tech Association release Women Building the Future of Justice Dashboard

March 2026

Lady Justice Initiative and Justice Tech Association released the Women Building the Future of Justice Dashboard, a first-of-its-kind resource profiling 181 women leaders across 30 countries who are building justice technology, leading legal aid innovation, advancing ecosystem support, and driving AI transformation in the public sector. The dashboard highlights leaders working in the areas of law that affect people’s lives most directly: divorce, gender-based violence, employment discrimination, immigration, and trusts and estates. The launch coincided with the 70th UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Source: Women Building the Future of Justice Dashboard, Lady Justice Initiative, https://www.ladyjusticeinitiative.org/dashboard/.

Council on Criminal Justice releases AI assessment framework

March 2026

The Council’s National Task Force on Artificial Intelligence published a framework to help law enforcement, courts, and corrections agencies evaluate AI tools. The framework spans uses from facial recognition and automated report writing to case scheduling and violence prediction.

Source: National Task Force Releases New Framework to Help Criminal Justice Agencies Assess AI Tools, Council on Criminal Justice, https://counciloncj.org/national-task-force-releases-new-framework-to-help-criminal-justice-agencies-assess-ai-tools/.

Georgetown’s Evidence for Justice Lab launches Justice and AI Tracker

January 2026

The Evidence for Justice Lab at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy released the Justice and AI Tracker (JAI-T), an interactive web tool documenting where and how AI technologies are piloted, tested, or implemented across United States law enforcement, courts, and corrections. The first release covers the 100 largest United States cities. Lab researchers identified five recurring AI use cases in policing: facial recognition, gun detection, automatic license plate readers, body camera footage review, and non-emergency dispatch assistance.

Sources: New ‘Justice AI Tracker’ Watches How Police, Courts Are Using AI, StateScoop, https://statescoop.com/justice-ai-tracker-police-courts-corrections-ai/; Justice and AI Tracker (JAI-T), Evidence for Justice Lab, Georgetown University, https://www.jai-t.com/.

US federal judges discuss AI and the courts at IAPP Global Summit 2026

US federal judges James Boasberg and Allison Burroughs spoke at the IAPP Global Summit in Washington, DC on how AI, surveillance, and emerging technologies are intersecting with the courts and the legal system.

Source: US Federal Judges Discuss the Intersection of Emerging Technology, AI with the Legal System, IAPP, https://iapp.org/news/a/us-federal-judges-discuss-the-intersection-of-emerging-technology-ai-with-the-legal-system.

Judicial AI Consortium reaches 200 sitting judges since January launch

April 24, 2026

The Judicial AI Consortium, a judges-only forum launched in January 2026 by Judge Scott Schlegel of the Louisiana Fifth Circuit, U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell of the District of Colorado, and Judge Xavier Rodriguez of the Western District of Texas, has grown to roughly 200 sitting judges as of March. The consortium gives judges a closed space to compare notes on drafting with AI, legal research, case management, ethics, and the evidentiary implications of deepfakes.

Source: Lars Daniel, 200 Judges Have Signed Up to Learn AI: The Other 31,500 Should Too, Forbes (Apr. 24, 2026), https://www.forbes.com/sites/larsdaniel/2026/04/24/200-judges-have-signed-up-to-learn-ai-the-other-31500-should-too/.

Libby Leffler, Founder and CEO, First

Libby Leffler, founder and CEO of First, was named to Inc.’s 2026 Female Founders 500. First’s online prenuptial agreement platform serves a generation of women approaching marriage with assets, equity, and complex financial profiles to protect.

Source: 2026 Female Founders 500, Inc., https://www.inc.com/female-founders/2026.

Leah Del Percio and Tara Faquir, Co-Founders, Trustate

Leah Del Percio and Tara Faquir, co-founders of Trustate, were named to Inc.’s 2026 Female Founders 500. Trustate’s all-in-one platform for trusts and estates professionals supports more than 1,000 law firms and financial institutions, having facilitated the creation of over 250,000 legal documents.

Source: 2026 Female Founders 500, Inc., https://www.inc.com/female-founders/2026.

Hannah Hembree Bell, Founder, Hembree Bell Law

Hannah Hembree Bell, founder of Hembree Bell Law and creator of My Confident Divorce, was named to Inc.’s 2026 Female Founders 500. My Confident Divorce is a national education platform helping women prepare for divorce with clarity and strategy.

Source: 2026 Female Founders 500, Inc., https://www.inc.com/female-founders/2026.

Aliza Shatzman, Founder and President, The Legal Accountability Project

Aliza Shatzman, founder and president of The Legal Accountability Project, was named one of eight 2026 ABA Legal Rebels by the ABA Journal and the ABA Center for Innovation. The recognition honors her work on judicial transparency and accountability through LAP’s Centralized Clerkships Database, the largest independent repository of clerkship reviews in the United States.

Source: Judging Judges, ABA Journal, Legal Rebels, https://www.abajournal.com/legalrebels/article/judging-judges.

Neema Magimba, Co-Founder and CEO, Sheria Kiganjani

Neema Magimba, advocate and co-founder and CEO of Sheria Kiganjani, received a 2026 Women in Management Africa Award. Sheria Kiganjani (“Law On Your Palm”) is Tanzania’s first legal tech platform, connecting low and middle-income Tanzanians to legal services through mobile apps, web, SMS, and interactive voice response. The team is currently developing Wakili Msomi, a Swahili and English AI legal assistant designed to deliver legal guidance in urban centers and rural villages alike.

Source: WIMA Awards Honorary Accolades to 30 Women Who Excelled in Various Professional Fields, Daily News (Tanzania), https://dailynews.co.tz/wima-awards-honorary-accolades-to-30-women-who-excelled-in-various-professional-fields/.

Katherine Alteneder Mills

Katherine Alteneder Mills received the 2026 LIT Impact Award at Suffolk University Law School’s LITCon, recognizing leaders who bridge innovation and impact in legal services access.

Source: Stewards of Dignity, Suffolk University (Apr. 21, 2026), https://www.suffolk.edu/news-features/news/2026/04/21/21/31/litcon-2026.

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Co-Founder and CEO, Promise

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, co-founder and CEO of Promise, was named to the inaugural Forbes Self-Made 250 at #247. Promise builds AI-first infrastructure for government agencies and utilities, supporting programs that have reached more than five million households across more than twenty states with auditable benefits delivery, zero-interest repayment, and income verification.

Source: Forbes Self-Made 250, Forbes (2026), https://www.forbes.com/self-made-250/.

Clementine Jacoby, Co-Founder and CEO, Recidiviz

Clementine Jacoby, co-founder and CEO of Recidiviz, saw her organization named to Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies of 2026. The recognition centers on a tablet app that puts personalized sentence and rehabilitation information directly in the hands of incarcerated people. More than half of people in United States prisons do not know basic information about their own sentences, including their release dates; nearly 40,000 people have already used the app to learn what rehabilitative programs and employment opportunities they can pursue to earn time off.

Source: The Most Innovative Nonprofits of 2026, Fast Company, https://www.fastcompany.com/91497282/not-for-profit-most-innovative-companies-2026.

Amicable co-founder Kate Daly publishes guide to divorce without the drama

March 26, 2026

Kate Daly, co-founder of Amicable (UK), released her first book, “amicable divorce: Your Practical Guide to Divorce Without the Drama,” published by Profile Books and Souvenir Press. The book draws on Amicable’s work helping thousands of UK couples separate without engaging two opposing solicitors, and on Daly’s role in the campaign that brought no-fault divorce to England and Wales in 2022. Amicable, which Daly co-founded with Pip Wilson, is a B Corp-certified separation service that pairs technology with relationship counselling and family law expertise.

Source: Kate Daly, amicable divorce: Your Practical Guide to Divorce Without the Drama, Profile Books, https://profilebooks.com/work/amicable-divorce/.

Trustate scales to all 51 U.S. jurisdictions, plans mid-2026 product release

January 2026

Trustate, founded by Leah Del Percio and Tara Faquir, now serves nearly 1,000 law firms and financial institutions across all 51 U.S. jurisdictions. The Tampa-based platform automates trusts and estates work, including locating assets, managing workflows, and drafting estate documents, and reports saving customers approximately 400 hours per client.

Source: How Trustate Uses Automation to Cut Estate Work for Firms, Tampa Bay Business & Wealth (Jan. 5, 2026), https://tbbwmag.com/2026/01/05/trustate-legal-automation-estate-work/.

AI in Global Majority Judicial Systems

Stimson Center, 2026

Forty-four percent of judges report using AI tools. Only nine percent have institutional guidelines. The report examines AI deployment across the Global South, including Brazil’s SIGMA system and Shenzhen Court’s integration of large language models into judicial reasoning. The Shenzhen integration is the first known instance of LLM use in formal judicial decision-making.

Source: AI in Global Majority Judicial Systems, Stimson Center (2026), https://www.stimson.org/2026/ai-in-global-majority-judicial-systems/.

A Practitioner’s Guide to AI in Courts

National Center for State Courts, 2026

Operational guidance for court administrators and judges. Provides a structured framework for pre-deployment assessment, vendor accountability, and ongoing monitoring of AI tools.

Source: Guidance for Implementing AI in Courts, National Center for State Courts (2026), https://www.ncsc.org/resources-courts/guidance-implementing-ai-courts.

New York Courts Advisory Committee on AI: Inaugural Report

New York State Courts, January 2026

New York’s first formal institutional guidance on judicial AI. Establishes principles, use-case categories, and governance expectations for one of the country’s largest and most influential state court systems.

Source: Advisory Committee on Artificial Intelligence and the Courts, 2025 Annual Report, New York State Unified Court System, https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/publications/pdfs/AI%20Annual%20Report%202025.pdf.

Measure for Measure: A People-Centered Approach to Tailoring Justice

Victoria Law Foundation, April 2026

Foundational research mapping 66 people-centered justice initiatives from 31 organizations across Victoria, Australia, surfacing the common elements that underpin success. Develops an exploratory People-Centered Justice Model that informs how the justice sector designs, measures, and understands its work, and a benchmark for what accountability to affected communities actually requires.

Source: Measure for Measure: A People-Centred Approach to Tailoring Justice, Victoria Law Foundation (Apr. 2026), https://www.victorialawfoundation.org.au/research-projects/measure-for-measure.

International Access to Justice Forum 2026

Call for proposals due May 22 · Forum October 28 to 30 · Melbourne

Victoria Law Foundation and Monash University Faculty of Law invite proposals for the 2026 Forum, themed “Empirical research for access to justice: evidence for what works.” Building on prior Forums in UC Irvine, Toronto, and New York, the Melbourne convening will bring researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and justice system leaders together for three days of cross-border dialogue. Interdisciplinary, comparative, and practice-based proposals are encouraged. Deadline: May 22.

Source: Call for Proposals: International Access to Justice Forum 2026, Warren Centre for Civil Justice, Monash University, https://www.monash.edu/law/research/centres/warrencentre/news/2026/call-for-proposals-international-access-to-justice-forum-2026.

Justice Circles Peer Advisory Group Coaching Circles | Information Session

May 1, Virtual. Friday, 12:30 PM ET. A live info session on Lady Justice Initiative and Justice Tech Association Peer Advisory Group Coaching Circles for women transforming justice. Register →

High-Level Judicial Dialogue: Building People-Centered Justice Across Africa and Iberoamerica

May 6, The Hague. Side event to Justice Matters. A judicial leadership dialogue on how courts can strengthen stability and public trust through people-centered and open justice approaches. sdg16.plus

Justice Matters 2026

May 6 to 8, The Hague. In-person and livestream. HiiL’s international access-to-justice convening centers on “Justice First. Stability Follows,” with sessions on conflict prevention, people-centered justice, democratic resilience, AI, victims’ justice, and women’s justice. hiil.org

AI for Breakfast City Circles for Women in Law | National Capital Area

May 13, Arlington, VA. Hosted by Lady Justice Initiative. The Circle will bring together an intimate group of women in law related roles, including firm and in-house practitioners, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and business professionals, for practically focused discussions and learning across four pillars: leadership, skills, networks, and business opportunities. Goals: accelerate AI competency, open doors to business and leadership opportunities, structure peer discussion, and build networks among women in law and AI in the DMV. Request an invitation →

Frontline Justice EJC Pre-Conference: Community Justice Worker Convening

May 13, Charlotte, NC. Frontline Justice convenes community justice workers for “Supercharging Access to Justice from the Frontlines.” Registration open until May 4. Space limited to 100 participants. frontlinejustice.org

ABA/NLADA Equal Justice Conference

May 13 to 16, Charlotte, NC. A national gathering of legal services and pro bono advocates focused on developments and innovations in serving people with low income. nlada.org

ICAIL 2026: 21st International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law

June 8 to 12, Singapore. Singapore Management University. The flagship conference of the International Association for Artificial Intelligence and Law, hosted for the first time in Asia at the Yong Pung How School of Law. The AI and Open Government Workshop runs as a full-day pre-conference event on June 8. smu.edu.sg

SDG 16 Conference 2026

June 17, New York. UN Headquarters. Theme: “Driving Transformation and Coordinated Action for Sustainable Development.” Includes stocktaking on SDG16 progress and the 2026 Rome Civil Society Declaration on SDG16+. publicadministration.desa.un.org

UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance

July 6 to 7, Geneva. Palexpo. The inaugural UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance is convened by the UN General Assembly, facilitated by the UN Secretary-General, and supported by a joint secretariat including ITU, UNESCO, and the UN Office for Digital and Emerging Technologies. un.org

AI for Good Global Summit

July 7 to 10, Geneva. Palexpo. ITU’s AI for Good Global Summit covers AI breakthroughs, national AI strategies, standards and policy, AI testing, misinformation, quantum, infrastructure, energy, skills, and capacity building. aiforgood.itu.int

High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development

July 7 to 15, New York. UN Headquarters. The 2026 HLPF theme is “Transformative, Equitable, Innovative and Coordinated Actions for the 2030 Agenda,” with Goals 6, 7, 9, 11, and 17 under review. hlpf.un.org