- Check to see whether the court has an accessible docket and check Bloomberg Law. Be aware that availability of dockets, search functionality, accessibility, and cost of filings varies greatly by court. Dockets and filings in federal courts, for example, are generally accessible through PACER, while obtaining documents filed in many state courts may still require a human being physically visiting the court. See below for specific guidance on federal and state court dockets.
- If there is a opinion in the case on Westlaw, check the "Filings" tab for documents. Usually there is not, but likelihood increases if it is an older, famous case.
- If the case, filing, or opinion is discussed in the news, aggressively Google to see if any journalists or newspapers have posted it online (which they should always do, but rarely do in practice).
- As a last resort, send a polite, preferably flattering, email to attorneys involved in the case and ask for a copy of the filing or opinion. Success varies.
U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court website is here recently updated here. Also check out Bloomberg Law dockets, Westlaw (in particular U.S. Supreme Court Brief, Petitions & Joint Appendices and U.S. Supreme Court Oral Arguments), Lexis (put U.S. Supreme Court Briefs in big box), Gale's U.S. Supreme Court Records & Briefs, 1832 - 1978 (CUNY subscription), and SCOTUSblog. For more in-depth guidance see Georgetown's U.S. Supreme Court Research Guide.
U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal & District Courts
The primary source for these federal court dockets is Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) Despite the fact that this is the official federal government site for court dockets, using it requires an account through which you will be charged $0.10 a page for access. In order to learn how to navigate PACER, however, there is a free training site and some weird training videos.
While you are in law school, however, you can access all of the content of PACER for free through Bloomberg Law. You can also track specific dockets. For non-law school users, Bloomberg charges PACER-like fees.
Hacking PACER with RECAP
A private initiative called RECAP The Law is trying to ameliorate the access problems created by the costs of PACER access through a free extension for FireFox and Chrome browsers. The basic idea behind RECAP (PACER spelled backwards) is that when someone accesses records through PACER while using the RECAP extension a copy of any records downloaded are simultaneously uploaded to a free archive. The next researcher to visit the same docket on PACER will be able to download that document from the RECAP archive rather than pay PACER (see video here). Thus, in theory, if everyone were using RECAP, researchers would collectively only have to pay once for each filing.
A NOTE ON IMMIGRATION & SOCIAL SECURITY ACT CASES
If you work on certain immigration and social security cases and are looking up a docket you may at some point find, annoyingly that some filings are not electronically available online even though they are publicly available if you actually go to the courthouse. Why? The answer is Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 (c) which reads:
Limitations on Remote Access to Electronic Files: Social Security Appeals and Immigration Cases. Unless the court orders otherwise, in an action for benefits under the Social Security Act, and in an action or proceeding relating to an order of removal, to relief from removal, or to immigration benefits or detention, access to an electronic file is authorized as follows: (1) the parties and their attorneys may have remote electronic access to any part of the case file, including the administrative record; (2) any other person may have electronic access to the full record at the courthouse, but may have remote electronic access only to (A) the docket maintained by the court; and (B) an opinion, order, judgment, or other disposition of the court, but not any other part of the case file or the administrative record.
Here is a law review article all about it that argues that the rule does not properly balance the need for public access to court filings.
NEW YORK STATE DOCKETS
The N.Y. Court of Appeals has a system called Court-PASS that provides "free access to Court of Appeals materials for cases pending on or filed after January 1, 2013." This includes briefs of the parties and transcripts (and often videos) of oral arguments.
The New York Unified Court System has E-Courts, includes WebCivil Local, WebCivil Supreme, WebFamily, WebHousing, and WebCrims.
See also Bloomberg Law Dockets, Westlaw (esp. New York State & Federal Dockets and New York Briefs), and Lexis (Dockets New York Supreme Court). For historical records & briefs check LLMC Digital, CUNY's microform collection, the N.Y. City Bar Association Library, or the N.Y. Law Institute.