Resources for Litigators: Dockets & Court Filings

A service of the nonprofit Free Law Project that provides a searchable database of dockets and court documents retrieved from PACER. Does not include ALL PACER documents but is worth a search as it provides free access (even to those that were originally PDFs that have now been converted to searchable text).

Federal cases only. Search by party name, judge, type of lawsuit and by circuit or state. Can limit by date--database goes back to 2004.

Note: federal links take you to PACER which requires you to set up a paid account. State links vary but most will take you to docket databases provided by the individual courts themselves.

Search by: court, keyword, docket number, one or more parties, judge, case name, attorney or firm and by date.

Includes: federal Third Circuit and district courts (coverage from 1989) and PA Supreme Court, Commonwealth Court, and Superior Court (2008 to present). County courts include: Allegheny (from 2014 to present); Berks (from 2008); Bucks (from 1986); Centre (2013 - 4/2017); Dauphin (from 2008); Delaware (from 2008); Lackawanna (from 2008); Lancaster (from 2006); Luzerne (from 2008); Montgomery (from 1988); Philadelphia (from 2010); Washington (from 2014) and Westmoreland (2008).

From the PA Courts site. Search for Supreme, Superior or Commonwealth Court cases by docket number or court name. Displays full docket but not access to underlying case documents.

Search by docket number, party or organization name, parcel number (property), complaint number or other search options.

Search by docket or citation number, date filed, party or organization name, parcel number, police complaint number etc and then limit by county.

Search by party name or by docket number. Click on "Public User" button on the right--no login is required.

Extensive coverage from 1998 to present, some dockets from 1900-1998. Filter by date, practice area, attorney, keyword, judge, litigation area, litigants, case type or case status.

Includes dockets from the Third Circuit, PA District Courts and Bankruptcy Court as well as from the state supreme and appellate courts. Includes limited access to Common Pleas dockets from Allegheny, Bucks, Delaware, Lancaster (archive only), Philadelphia and Westmoreland counties

State and Federal coverage. Academic plan is somewhat restricted.

Covers Superior Court, Court of Common Pleas and Justice of the Peace Court. Does NOT include Chancery Court. Search by name or case ID.

Can search civil, criminal, tax, judgement liens, municipal cases as well as attorney and judge disciplinary cases.

Search by: court, keyword, docket number, one or more parties, judge, case name, attorney or firm and by date. Not exhaustive: covers US Federal and most state dockets; some international dockets as well. Federal dockets from 1989 to present while state docket coverage varies by court.

Requires account—anyone can get one, cost is 10 cents per page viewed, billed quarterly. If your research charges for the quarter are less than $15, then the fee is waived. NOTE: students have access to PACER documents through Bloomberg Law while in school and should use Bloomberg Law for docket research instead.

Covers 2001 to present

Older dockets have been scanned in by the National Archives and are browseable by date. Not all dockets are included - some still only available in print at the National Archives

Use the "Advanced" search link to search by participant name, docket number, filing date, attorney or keyword. Coverage begins with: Supreme Court (2000), US Courts of Appeals (1997), Federal District Courts (2000), Bankruptcy Courts (1997) and Tax Court and other specialized federal courts (2000).

Provides dockets for Supreme Court, US Courts of Appeals, Federal District Courts, Bankruptcy Courts, Tax Court and other specialized federal courts

Select United States Courts then Bankruptcy. 1994 to present and a few records from 1923 - 1994. Filter by Circuit, date, attorney, law firm, judge and case status.

Limit to United States then select court. Extensive coverage from 2001 to present; some coverage from 1932 - 2001. Civil and criminal cases. Filter by Circuit, judge, party, attorney, law firm, practice area, case status or date.

Select United States and the US Supreme Court. Extensive coverage from 2003 to present; some dockets from 1953 - 2003. Filter by date, practice area, attorney, litigants or case status.

Select United States then look for court by name: Tax Court, International Trade Court, US Court of Claims and Judicial

Search by Type of Document (Motions, Pleadings, Jury Instructions, Exhibits, Interrogatories), by jurisdiction or by Topic/Practice Area.

Search federal and state dockets by: court, keyword, docket number, one or more parties, judge, case name, attorney or firm and by date. Federal coverage from 1989 and state coverage varies. Academic plan gives you access to some court filings associated with the federal dockets but most state court filings/documents are outside of the school's subscription.

Search federal and state dockets by: court, keyword, docket number, one or more parties, judge, case name, attorney or firm and by date. Federal coverage from 1989 and state coverage varies.

State and Federal coverage. Academic plan is somewhat restricted.

Requires separate subscription. Nationwide coverage, mostly access to complaints—website offers ever-changing free complaints for cases that are profiled in that day’s online edition. Select complaints available for immediate download—others can be ordered for around $35-$40 plus per page copying costs. Can set up “alerts” so emailed every time a new suit is filed involving a particular company, filed by a certain law firm, or involves a specific topic of interest

Fee for each use ($7 or less for each search). Not the official court’s homepage—court contracts with private publisher (Lexis) to provide docket information to the public.

Subscription docket service for Indiana Courts