AI & Courts: What Capabilities Do Our Courts Want and Need?

Conference Co-Sponsors
 – National Center for State Courts
– International Institute for Justice Excellence
– Commonwealth Cyber Initiative
– University of Montreal Cyberjustice Laboratory

October 12 – 13, 2026

Remote & In-Person

Open to Court Affiliates and the public!

Key Topics

What would we like courtroom technology and AI to do for the courts? 
How might AI reshape court practices if not restricted by law? 

Co-Sponsors

National Center for
State Courts

Website

International Institute for
Justice Excellence

Website

University of Montreal
Cyberjustice Laboratory

Website

Commonwealth Cyber
Initiative

Website

Registration Details – Standard

Early Bird Deadline: July 31, 2026 

Remote Attendance 

  • Early Registration (through July 31, 2026): $200 
  • Standard Registration (after July 31, 2026): $250 

In-Person Attendance 

(The Conference will be hosted at William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, VA)
(Address: 613 S. Henry St., Williamsburg, VA, 23185)

  • Early Registration (through July 31, 2026): $250 
  • Standard Registration (after July 31, 2026): $300 
Standard Registration

Registration Details – Court Affiliates

Join our Court Affiliates program!

  • Courts: Courts around the world may sign up as Court Affiliates ($200 annual fee for the entire court) and receive TWO FREE conference registrants (remote or in-person) in addition to 15% off any additional conference registrants.
    • Court Affiliates who send five or more attendees (including the two free attendees) to the conference will receive a discount code to waive next year’s Court Affiliate fee!
  • Court Professional: Individuals (judges, lawyers, clerks, administrators, technologists, etc.) currently working at a court or who have retired from working at a court may sign up as a Court Professional ($100 annual fee) and receive FREE conference registration (remote or in-person).

If your court is interested in participating in our Court Affiliates program, or you are interested in participating as an individual Court Professional, please complete the sign up located here or contact us at clct@wm.edu or (757) 221-2494. We welcome participants from around the world.

After signing up for our Court Affiliate program, we will send you information on registering the two free conference registrants (for Courts participating) or free individual conference registration (for those participating as Court Professionals).

You can learn more about the Court Affiliates program here

Learn more about the Court Affiliates
AI & Courts Conference AgendaDownload

*agenda subject to change

Panelist Bios

Judge Scott Schlegel, an inductee into the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame, was elected to the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal in 2023 after a decade of service on the trial court. During his tenure as a district court judge, he designed and led a nationally recognized court‑modernization initiative that has been described as “one of the most advanced in the country” for delivering justice online.

Judge Schlegel serves on the American Bar Association and Louisiana State Bar Association Task Forces on the Law and Artificial Intelligence, as well as the National Center for State Courts Joint Technology Committee. He previously chaired the Louisiana Supreme Court Technology Commission and served as President of the Louisiana District Judges Association. His leadership has been recognized with numerous honors, including the National Center for State Courts’ William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence. He has also been featured on the cover of the ABA Journal and is widely regarded as a national voice on legal technology and the modernization of the justice system.

In Jefferson Parish, Judge Schlegel established the Reentry Court and Swift & Certain Probation programs to help reduce recidivism and improve community safety. He currently chairs the Integrated Criminal Justice Information System Policy Board, a statewide initiative to modernize criminal justice data and information‑sharing.

Judge Fabrício Bittencourt is a Brazilian Federal Judge and Associate Professor of Law at the State University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG), where he teaches at the Master’s and Doctoral programs in Law and supervises researchers.

He is a founding member of the International Institute for Justice Excellence (IIJE), former Secretary-General of the Brazilian National Council of Justice (CNJ), and has served as a Judicial Instructor at the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF).

Judge Bittencourt leads MindTheGap: Innovation in Law, a think tank and applied research initiative dedicated to closing the gap between legal doctrine, judicial practice, and citizen experience. Through MindTheGap and the UEPG LegalTechLab, which he coordinates, he develops research-based prototypes, translational legal products, process improvement frameworks, plain-language standards, and user-centered interventions designed to deliver measurable social impact.

Mr. Apperson is currently Chairperson of the International Institute for Justice Excellence in The Hague, Netherlands. He most recently served as Vice President for International Relations at the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) from 2010–2024. While at NCSC—an organization whose mission is to improve justice administration in the courts of the United States and courts throughout the world—he supervised eighteen offices globally. He is a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mr. Apperson co-founded the International Association for Court Administration in 2004 and served as President and CEO of the organization. He served as a Clerk of Court for U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts for the Western District of Kentucky from 1985–2010, and as an Attorney Advisor to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts from 1982–1985. While on sabbatical in 2006, he served as Chief of Court Management for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Mr. Apperson also served as president of the Federal Court Clerks Association and the National Conference of Bankruptcy Clerks. He has an honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force.

During Mr. Apperson’s time with NCSC, the United Nations, and the Federal Courts, he contributed to judicial governance transitions in several countries and supported Judicial Conference Committees of the United States Courts in various advisory positions.