A new report examines how judges and court professionals view the challenges to the judicial system, specifically around hearings, evidence, caseloads, and technology as it quickly evolves
Courts stand at a crossroads across the nation with state and county and municipal courts facing significant staffing shortages and operational inefficiencies, such as delays and continuances, according to the Staffing, Operations and Technology: A 2025 survey of State Courts from the Thomson Reuters Institute and the National Center for State Courts AI Policy Consortium for Law and Courts. At the same time, however, courts are also challenged on how to implement technologies, including generative AI (GenAI), which could potentially address many of those staffing and efficiency problems.
The report was gleaned from a survey of 443 state, county and municipal court judges and court professionals, conducted in March and April.
Shortages of skilled labor are widespread, with nearly half of survey respondents considering it having a transformational or high impact on their court’s operations. Respondents also said they expect staffing shortages to continue over the next year, particularly in court clerk and clerk staff roles. Court employees are typically working long hours yet struggling to manage their workloads, respondents said.
The report notes that efficiency continues to be a major challenge for courts. While respondents say they are handling a higher volume of caseloads with decreasing case backlogs, they are also more likely to report increases in case delays and continuances.
Technology challenges
The majority of courts have adopted many key automated tools, but technology gaps remain and budgets for additional investments may be limited, even as AI and GenAI increasingly take hold across the legal landscape, respondents said.
On one end of the technology scale, use of virtual hearings is now widespread, for example, with the vast majority of respondents (80%) saying that their court conducts or participates in virtual hearings. And a similar percentage feel that the use of virtual procedures can increase litigants’ access to justice, giving them the ability to attend hearings online without having to miss work or find childcare or caregiving assistance.
In addition, the majority of respondents (58%) said they believe that virtual hearings have improved efficiency by reducing the number of litigants that fail to appear in court, thus easing the need for rescheduling.
At the same time, courts must deal with the same transformational GenAI tidal wave that is facing the rest of the legal ecosystem. The majority of court respondents (55%) rate the rise of AI and GenAI as the most significant trend that they are facing, saying it will have a transformational or high impact on their work over the next five years.
Despite the potential for significant efficiency improvements and time savings, courts have generally been slow to adopt AI and GenAI. Currently, only 17% of respondents said their court was using GenAI. In fact, the vast majority of respondents (70%) said their court currently does not allow employees to use AI-based tools for court business. Further, just 17% said their court was planning to adopt GenAI over the next year. This means the vast majority of courts may not currently have plans or strategies to evaluate or implement GenAI-driven tools and solutions. Given what respondents see as the transformational impact of GenAI to potentially streamline their operations and improve efficiency, this raises major questions about courts’ timelines for adopting GenAI.
Generational workforce shifts
The ability of courts to incorporate GenAI into their operations also affects another major trend facing the courts, the report shows, such as the generational shifts in workforce and leadership that are taking place. As Baby Boomers and Gen Xers leave the workforce, Gen Zers are entering, and Millennials are increasingly moving into leadership positions. Respondents rated these shifts nearly as high as they did the rise of AI and GenAI as to their impact on the courts.
You can access a full copy of the Staffing, Operations and Technology: A 2025 survey of State Courts from the Thomson Reuters Institute and the National Center for State Courts AI Policy Consortium for Law and Courts here
This carries major implications around courts’ ability to adopt technology to improve efficiency. As Gen Zers increasingly move into the workforce and Millennials into leadership positions, it is significant that both groups are considered digital natives — those people who grew up after the birth of Internet — so they are very comfortable using technology and may find it easier to manage automated workflows. In addition, they are likely to transition faster and require less training as courts continue to move from manual to automated workflows.
At the same time, they may be resistant to jobs and tasks that still rely heavily on manual tasks, such as entering and managing case information and other data. A requirement to handle high levels of manual tasks could hinder talent recruitment and retention, the report notes.
In all, these factors give even more reason for courts to continue, if not accelerate, their adoption of advanced AI-driven technology.
Looking ahead
The Staffing, Operations and Technology: A 2025 survey of State Courts shows that our nation’s courts are facing an unprecedented convergence of major waves of change, especially the far-reaching impacts of both GenAI and generational shifts in workforce and leadership roles. And courts must deal with these changes while continuing to face challenges around managing staff shortages and case backlogs. Resources, including often-limited budgets, must be strategically balanced between current operations and investments in technology that could improve future operations.
Within a few years, courts will likely look and operate much differently than they do today. The question is whether courts will be able to successfully manage these changes, or, if not, continue to face growing struggles with workloads, staffing, backlogs, and delays. At the same time, judges and court professionals hope they can move their courts forward to emerge on the other side of these changes with more efficient, technology-driven operations that will facilitate faster handling of cases and result in improved access to justice for all citizens.
You can find out more about the current challenges that courts are facing here
