Technology for Remote and Hybrid Hearings: Lessons From NCSC’s Court Innovation Lab

The Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) have long underscored the need for technological innovation in the court system, especially the need for courts to “leverage technology to ensure litigant access to procedural and legal information and court services, and to make appearances possible and safe via remote and virtual means when practicable.”¹

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the modernization of the court system as judges and court staff adapted to a remote environment and worked to keep dockets moving while adhering to health and safety protocols. While many expected that a post-pandemic world would include a full return to the status quo, the significant benefits of some adaptations — particularly those that improved efficiency and access to justice — have led to lasting changes in the legal landscape. Even when a return to fully in-person operations may have been possible, CCJ and COSCA urged members, especially in high-volume courts, “to continue pandemic-initiated reforms that have increased participation, efficiency, and engagement in high-volume dockets, so that all court users . . . are able to meaningfully engage in the justice system and are treated with dignity.”²

In recognition of these benefits, CCJ and COSCA urged the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to engage in “rigorous evaluation” of court innovation efforts and work toward best practices and guidelines for technological implementations.³ This brief provides high-level updates on the Court Innovation Lab, one of NCSC’s recent initiatives in support of this mandate.

In 2022, in response to COVID-era developments and identified areas of need within the courts, NCSC partnered with technology companies and pilot court organizations to improve upon the hybrid hearings practices that courts had established during the pandemic. After implementing a variety of new solutions tailored to the needs of each pilot site and analyzing the resulting practices, the Hybrid Hearings Improvement Initiative found that “[c]hallenges related to funding; technology; facilities; staffing; and processes, procedures, and policies play an integral role in the adoption of the technology.”⁴ To continue exploring these challenges and facilitating the adoption of solutions, NCSC created the Court Innovation Lab in Arlington, Va.

The Court Innovation Lab showcases and tests new technologies for courtrooms, meeting spaces, community access points, and shared workplaces. It evaluates these technologies for court-specific use, and the lessons learned may be helpful for any court organizations working to modernize or retrofit existing spaces or build entirely new facilities.

Since launching the Court Innovation Lab in early 2025, NCSC staff have collaborated with court technologists, judges, technology vendors (some of whom were also involved in the original Hybrid Hearings Improvement Initiative), industry experts, and thought leaders. These groups have helped test the technology currently in the lab, highlighted areas of potential further development, and offered insights into additional challenges that this initiative may be able to address.

Through the Innovation Lab, court representatives can share the most pressing issues that they face in their operations — from glitches in remote participation and difficult document-sharing systems to audio concerns in acoustically challenging courtrooms. By collaborating with NCSC, court feedback can be shared directly with organizations developing solutions to these issues, allowing for increased utility and enhanced performance in further iterations.

Better remote and hybrid hearings operations can greatly improve access to justice, and the advances in courtroom technology that the Innovation Lab highlights have shown promise in their ability to promote equal access within the justice system.

Visitors have responded most strongly to technologies that focus on making participants feel equally present, seen, and heard in meetings and court proceedings — regardless of where they may be physically. Examples of these include:

• 360-degree cameras that run on AI algorithms with the ability to track eyesight and ensure participants are being captured head-on at all times, allowing remote participants to feel as though they’re sitting at the table rather than watching the meeting from afar
• Table microphones with built-in speakers that allow equal amplification of all voices in a room, ensuring that those who might be nervous or naturally quiet can be heard and have their statements accurately recorded
• A private, enclosed pod meant to serve as a public access point, allowing those who may not be able to travel to a court or join a proceeding from home (due to issues like network access or childcare) to join a meeting virtually in a secure and reliable space

This initiative shows benefits for the most important stakeholders: the courts themselves. In a recent webinar hosted by NCSC, Televic Court Solutions noted that “before [meeting] with NCSC, [the company’s] products were not purpose-built for the courts.”⁵ The Innovation Lab community, through its feedback to solutions providers, is helping tailor technology tools to better meet the specific needs of the courts — just as the initiative intends.

For more information or to schedule a visit to the Court Innovation Lab, visit https://www.ncsc.org/our-centers-projects/court-innovation-lab. For resources on the Hybrid Hearings Improvement Initiative and NCSC’s technology work, visit https://www.ncsc.org/resources-courts/hybrid-hearings-improvement-initiative.

GRACE HAVILAND is a manager at the National Center for State Courts and serves as the primary coordinator for the Court Innovation Lab in Arlington, Va.

1. Conf. of Chief Justs. and Conf. of State Ct. Adm’rs, Resolution 3: In Support of Clear Policies for Virtual and Remote Hearings Post-Pandemic, 2 (2022), https://perma.cc/9H7K-EYGS (last visited Apr. 29, 2025)..
2. Conf. of Chief Justs. and Conf. of State Ct. Adm’rs, Resolution 1: Encouraging State Courts to Adopt Innovative Practices in High-Volume Dockets, 2 (2022), https://perma.cc/R7SS-2VPB (last visited Apr. 29, 2025)..
3. Conf. of Chief Justs. and Conf. of State Ct. Adm’rs, supra note 1, at 2..
4. Nat’l Ctr. for State Cts., Hybrid Hearings Improvement Initiative, 4 (2024) https://perma.cc/7U93-PGJG (last visited Apr. 29, 2025)..
5. Court Innovation Lab, Court Innovation Lab Product Spotlight Series: Televic Court Solutions – Courtroom Audio Solutions for Any Budget, Nat’l Ctr. for State Crts., (Mar. 20, 2025), https://vimeo.com/1068122338?share=copy..