{
  "id": 10910888,
  "title": "Clio just made an acquisition to deepen its push into the courts",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/clio-just-made-an-acquisition-to-deepen-its-push-into-the-courts",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-30T09:30:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/clio-buys-learned-hand-legal-ai-for-courts-judges-2026-9"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Shlomo Klapper sold his startup, Learned Hand, to Clio for an undisclosed amount. Clio, a legal tech company, purchased Learned Hand, a firm that develops AI tools for judges and law clerks. This purchase positions Clio, which already provides AI solutions to law firms and legal departments, closer to another clientele. Judges face substantial caseloads, and AI is generating more business and legal work. While competitors like Harvey and Legora vie for big law clients, Clio is quietly targeting a market that these startups have largely ignored: the courts. Valued at $5 billion, Clio acquired Learned Hand, a company building AI tools for judges. The deal remains undisclosed. Prior to founding Learned Hand, Klapper held a role at Palantir and later pursued law school, joining Quinn Emanuel as an associate. This acquisition intensifies Clio's push into the judiciary and broadens its scope beyond its existing customer base of small and midsize law firms and corporate legal teams. Judges currently struggle with overwhelming caseloads, and Jack Newton, Clio's founder and CEO, anticipates that artificial intelligence will intensify this pressure. The use of chatbots for legal research and self-representation outside the courtroom has increased, with the number of pro se cases in federal court climbing from an average of 11% to 16.8% in 2025. Meanwhile, proponents argue that AI will spur economic growth, resulting in more contracts, disputes, and tasks for the courts. Clio's CEO led the acquisition of vLex, a competitor to LexisNexis and Westlaw, for $1 billion. Learned Hand's software enables judges to quickly comprehend case facts by uploading court documents, extracting key details, and visualizing legal arguments. It can also draft memos, orders, and opinions, linking citations to their sources. The startup had been in discussions to raise additional funding. Clio's CEO noted that he received a memo suggesting an investment after meeting with the Learned Hand team. Recently, Clio also hired Bridget Mary McCormack, a former chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and CEO of the American Arbitration Association, to aid in the company's expansion. This acquisition is part of Clio's strategy to become an all-encompassing solution for legal operations. While initially focusing on software for solo practitioners and small firms to manage back-office tasks, Clio has since expanded into various aspects of the legal system. Last year, Clio acquired vLex, a competitor to LexisNexis and Westlaw, for $1 billion, enhancing its platform with a substantial legal resource. The goal is to incorporate Learned Hand into Clio's platform, granting the company access to the judiciary and potential partnerships with large law firms. If judges adopt Clio's tools and data, Newton believes the company would be embedded within the infrastructure lawyers interact with daily, providing a competitive edge in a market where Harvey and Legora are rapidly expanding.",
  "summary": "Clio has bought Learned Hand, a startup building AI tools for judges and law clerks.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}