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

Patrons

Conference Patrons

Bronze

Biamp

TheRecordXchange®

Holistic AI

Silver

Gold

Loom Analytics

Registration Details – Standard

Remote Attendance: $200 
In-Person Attendance: $250

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

*if you have a complimentary registration code, please register using the standard registration button.

Standard Registration

Registration Details – Court Affiliates

Join our Court Affiliates program and receive free registration!

  • Courts: Courts around the world may sign up as Court Affiliates ($200 annual fee for the entire court) and receive FREE unlimited conference registrants (remote or in-person).
    • Court Affiliates who send five or more 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/with a court or who have retired from working at/with 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, 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 free conference registrants.

Sign up for the Court Affiliates
Learn more about the Court Affiliates
Agenda
AI & Courts Conference AgendaDownload

*agenda subject to change

Panelist Bios

Richard K. Herrmann has practiced various forms of complex litigation for more than 40 years. He chaired the Delaware Supreme Court Commission of Continuing Legal Education. During the last 10 years of chairing the CLE Commission, Richard was responsible for chairing the annual Supreme Court’s Pre-admission Conference with a faculty of more than 80 Delaware judges and lawyers. During his tenure as Chair of the CLE Commission, he has automated the Administration of the Commission and redrafted the Commission Rules. Richard also served as Co-Chair of the Delaware Supreme Court Commission on Law and Technology and has currently been appointed as Emeritus to the Commission. He also taught various technology and law related courses for more than 30 years and was Director of the Center of Law Practice Technology at Delaware Law School. He has previously chaired the Delaware State Bar Association’s Law and Technology Section and has co-chaired the Federal District Court’s technology committee. He has been on the drafting committee for the Delaware District Court’s eDiscovery Default Standards, the Superior Court’s eDiscovery Rules and the Supreme Court’s Permanent Rules Committee. Richard has served as Special Discovery Master and eDiscovery Mediator in the Delaware Superior Court, the United States District Court and the United States Bankruptcy Court.

In 1983 Richard began to lecture nationally for IBM relating to law firm technology. In 1989, as a member of the Superior Court Complex Litigation Task Force, he developed the concept of electronic filing and electronic briefs. He has assisted in the negotiation of contracts for the Delaware Supreme Court and the Delaware Superior Court relating to electronic filing and the automation of the Arms of Court. In 1995 he developed the Virtual Docket operated by Parcels, extending electronic access to Delaware Court filings in the Court of Chancery and the Supreme Court, ultimately paving the way for Lexis File and Serve in those Courts. He also designed the Superior Court’s eCourtroom, once housed at One Rodney Square, and negotiated the contract for that courtroom’s technology.

Richard has assisted in the development of technology related rules for the Delaware Supreme and Superior Courts and was retained in 1998 by the Maryland Court of Appeals to assist in the drafting of its Model Rule on Computer Generated Evidence and acted as the Court’s Academic in Residence in that regard. In 1999, he was appointed to the American Arbitration Association’s Millennium Task Force, assisting in drafting rules relating to aspects of technology arbitration.

Richard began teaching technology related courses at Delaware Law School in 1993 and later at William and Mary Law School and the National Judicial College. In 2011, Delaware Law School Appointed him as Visiting Professor and Director of the Center for Law Practice Technology. He is the co-author of the book The Millennium Lawyer 2001 and continues to publish as a columnist for the Delaware State Bar Association’s Journal, and the American Inns of Court Bencher magazines. He is currently collaborating with others on the novel “The Private Journal of The Honorable Raymond Milstead and His AI Confidante, Alethia”.

Richard has been the recipient of several awards, including the Delaware Supreme Court’s Andrew. D. Christie Pro Bono Publico Award, The Daniel L. Herrmann Professional Conduct Award, The Delaware State Bar Association’ President’s Award, The Delaware Superior Court’s Amicus Curiae Award, The Delaware Family Court Service Award and Holland Inn of Court Honorary Membership Award

Richard is on the Executive Committee of the Richard K. Herrmann Technology Inn of Court and the Virtual AI Inn of Court. He serves in a volunteer capacity as Associate Director of Research for the Center of Legal and Court Technology at Willliam & Mary Law School. He consults with Wilmington University on Emerging and Innovative Technologies.

Bio is available at: https://www.ncsc.org/people/elizabeth-t-clement

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. 

Matt Wright is a 23-year employee of the Federal Judiciary. A Courtroom Technology Specialist for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, he leads a team of specialists with over 90 years of combined Courtroom Technology and infrastructure-related project experience.

Dave Benton is the Director of Information Technology for the Louisiana Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court. Dave began his career with the clerk’s office in 2003 as Programmer/Analyst and developed multiple custom applications including JeffNet (the Clerk of Court’s online records portal). In 2011, the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) presented Dave the Excellence in Government award for technology and innovation. David has been a key resource for implementing e-filing, e-recording, e-signing, and e-notifications to the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court and its constituents. Dave strives to make all the clerk’s applications simple and dependable for the court and the public. 

Nicolas Vermeys, LL. D. (Université de Montréal), LL. M. (Université de Montréal), CISSP, is the Director of the Centre de recherche en droit public (CRDP), the Associate Director of the Cyberjustice Laboratory, and a Professor at the Université de Montréal’s Faculté de droit. He is also a visiting professor of law at both William & Mary (USA) and the University of Fortaleza (Brazil).

Mr. Vermeys is a member of the Quebec Bar, as well as a certified information system security professional (CISSP) as recognized by (ISC)2, and is the author of numerous publications relating to the impact of technology on the law, including Droit codifié et nouvelles technologies : le Code civil (Yvon Blais, 2015), and Responsabilité civile et sécurité informationnelle (Yvon Blais, 2010).

Mr. Vermeys’ research focuses on legal issues pertaining to artificial intelligence, information security, developments in the field of cyberjustice, and other questions relating to the impact of technological innovations on the law. He is often invited to speak on these topics by the media, and regularly lectures for judges, lawyers, professional orders, and government organizations, in Canada and abroad.

Bio is available at: https://www.ncsc.org/people/jannet-okazaki

Mona Datt is the CEO of Loom Analytics, bringing 20+ years of experience in justice, law firm, and insurance operations to the challenge of protecting and modernizing the court record. She founded Loom Analytics on the conviction that the integrity of the court record depends not just on how evidence is captured, but on how it is transcribed, searched, verified, and redacted – and that AI, applied thoughtfully, can strengthen every one of those steps without displacing the human judgment courts depend on.

At this conference, Mona will speak to the importance of the court record as the foundation of a trustworthy justice system and what it means to bring AI into evidence workflows responsibly. Her end-to-end platform supports audio, video, and text evidence, combining intelligent automation with human oversight to deliver accuracy, auditability, and defensibility at every stage of the process.

Having partnered with hundreds of courts and justice agencies, Mona is a recognized voice on human-centric AI adoption – helping institutions move from manual, error-prone processes to modern workflows that augment practitioner expertise rather than replace it.