Riverside Superior Court is testing an AI clerk. It won't say whether plaintiffs are told.
CalMatters: Riverside County Superior Court signed a $10,000 agreement in February with Learned Hand, a startup whose product drafts orders and research memos for judges using language models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google. Seven civil and probate attorneys have access. Riverside CEO Jason Galkin described the pilot to CalMatters reporters Cayla Mihalovich and Khari Johnson as "kicking the tires" and said the tool isn't being used to draft tentative rulings. Los Angeles County Superior Court signed a roughly $314,000 contract for the same product, with a roadmap that includes the criminal, family, and probate divisions.
Disclosure policies at both courts only require notice to parties if a motion or order is written entirely by AI — partial use doesn't trigger disclosure. Both courts declined to tell CalMatters whether plaintiffs in pilot cases are aware the tool has touched their files. An LA Superior Court spokesperson said testing happens on motions already decided, separate from live cases; the contract itself permits live-case testing.
Emails obtained through public records show Learned Hand CEO Shlomo Klapper pitched Riverside executives on expanding the pilot quickly once they had earned their stripes, asking Riverside chief operating officer Sarah Hodgson to assemble a list of motions that generated the most pain — including Racial Justice Act petitions. Hodgson responded with discovery and attorney-fee motions; for criminal cases she suggested the company focus on items with the largest paper records, citing death penalty habeas petitions and parole revocation.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told CalMatters the criminal-side stakes are categorically different from civil. Two anonymous LA judges, speaking under judicial conduct rules, said they would not use the tool to evaluate Racial Justice Act petitions, and a deputy public defender said such use would approach an ethical line. Both LA Superior Court Executive Officer David Slayton and Klapper denied any current plans to use the tool for Racial Justice Act work; a court spokesperson confirmed the contract permits it.