Clio buys Learned Hand to build AI tools for judges
What's the deal? Clio has acquired Learned HandDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a startup that builds artificial intelligence tools for judges, Business Insider has learned. Terms were not disclosed. The deal pushes Clio, last valued at $5 billion, deeper into the judiciary and beyond its core base of small and midsize law firms and corporate legal teams.
What does Learned Hand do? The software helps judges get up to speed on cases. Users upload court filings, extract key facts, and see how each side's arguments connect to the record. It can also draft memos, orders, and opinions, with citations linked back to their sources.
Why now? State trial court judges are already buried under heavy caseloads, said Jack Newton, Clio's founder and chief executive, who expects AI to add to the pressure. More people are using chatbots to research the law and represent themselves. Pro se cases in federal court rose from a long-term average of 11% to 16.8% in 2025, according to a recent paper from two doctoral students at the University of Southern California and MIT.
How it came together: Founder Shlomo Klapper had raised about $5 million for Learned Hand and was in talks for another round, including with Clio's corporate venture arm. Newton said he had just received a memo recommending an investment when Pablo Arredondo, a recent Clio hire, asked whether the two companies should think bigger.
The hire: Earlier this month, Clio hired Bridget Mary McCormack, a former chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and most recently CEO of the American Arbitration Association, to help lead the expansion. Klapper previously worked at Palantir, then joined litigation firm Quinn EmanuelDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → after law school.
What's the endgame? The acquisition advances Clio's push to become a one-stop shop for legal work. It started with back-office software for solo practitioners, then bought vLex — a challenger to LexisNexisDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and WestlawDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — for $1 billion last year. The judiciary could also become Clio's route into large law firms.
If judges use Clio's tools and data, Newton said, the company would sit inside the infrastructure lawyers use daily. That could give it an edge over Harvey and Legora, which are raising heavily to expand.
The signal: While rivals fight for Big Law's business, Clio is targeting a corner of the market the upstarts have barely touched. "We are building judiciary-grade AI," Newton said. "There's no higher bar than the bar judges demand."
Read more: Business Insider
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