Are you Seeking Docket Information on a Specific Case?

Mark Kloempken & Tove KlovningWashington University School of Law

in St. Louis, MO USA© May 29th 2012

Traditionally the dockets (cases files) were only available by contacting the Clerk of the Court directly; nowadays, these files are available electronically in both federal and state courts.

This is no longer your only option

1. The costly method: • Commercial vendors such as Westlaw, LexisNexis and Bloomberg offer access. •Less costly: Federal Pacer

2. The frugal researchers method: Check whether you may access this information for free via the court’s web site.Note: Sometimes you may be required to subscribe to the service before accessing it and you may have to pay a minor fee in order to access the information.

Access to cases filed in federal courts:

Public access terminals are often located in the clerk’s office of the court in which the case is filed also provide access.

Since 1999, most federal case files have been

maintained in an electronic format and been accessible through the internet service Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER).

Needing to locate historical records?

• When federal court records (case files) are eligible for permanent preservation, they are transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for storage and preservation. Records in the National Archives are available for public access from NARA.

PACER

•Pacer is a subscription service and you will need to register in order to have access to the database. •If the document is available, it will be linked in Pacer and access will be provided for a nominal fee. Pacer provides case and docket information on cases from federal district, appellate, and bankruptcy courts.

http://dockets.justia.com/ Not yet comprehensive- but may be worth checking.

Westlaw

•Westlaw, Lexis and BloombergLaw all get their documents from Pacer. These are services that you have to pay for.•In Westlaw, when you view a case, there is a link to the document at the bottom of the case.

LexisNexis•In Lexis, when you view a case, there is also a link to the docket in the upper left hand frame.

BloombergLaw – the new kid on the block

• State courts may also provide docket information online and is worth exploring for a frugal researcher.

Missouri Case.net

•Case.net is free.•Note. is no link to the documents through Case.net.•To obtain the documents you will need to call the Clerk of the Court. You will have to pay in advance and know the document number.

Summary

• Both Federal courts and state courts facilitate this information via the web. The choice is yours.