DOCKET RESEARCH

&

PACER

By Dittakavi Rao

What is a docket & docket sheet?

A docket is a list of every case before a court.

A docket sheet is the record in which a court

clerk notes a case's number, the names of the

parties involved, and all the proceedings and

filings in a case.

Official Court Websites

U.S. Supreme Court

(www.supremecourt.gov)

Pennsylvania Appellate Courts

(www.pacourts.us)

Allegheny County Court Records

(https://dcr.alleghenycounty.us)

Pennsylvania Appellate Courts

Go to official court website

Pennsylvania Courts – www.pacourts.us

Click on ‘Docket Sheets’ on top right

Select the court

Get the docket number by calling CLERK of the court

Allegheny County Court Records

Go to Allegheny County Department of Court

Records – https://dcr.alleghenycounty.us

Select, criminal/civil and click on search

Enter Case

ID

WESTLAWNEXT

Coverage

No full text

LEXIS ADVANCE

No Text for

documents

No Text

BLOOMBERG LAW

No text to the

documents

PACER

(PUBLIC ACCESS TO COURT ELECTRONIC

RECORDS)

Most of federal court records

before 1999 are available

only in print. They are

stored either at courthouses

or at FRC.

PACER (Public Access to Court

Electronic Records)

The PACER System offers electronic access to case dockets to

retrieve information such as:

A listing of all parties and participants including judges, attorneys,

and trustees

A compilation of case related information such as cause of action,

case number, nature of suit, and dollar demand

A chronology of dates of case events entered in the case record

A claims registry

PACER – CONTD…

A listing of new cases each day

Appellate court opinions

Judgments or case status

Types of documents filed for certain cases

Many courts offer imaged copies of documents PACER

obtains docket information from the courts that

participates in CM/ECF system

CM/ECF (Case Management/Electronic

Case Filing)FEATURES & BENEFITS

CM/ECF allows courts to accept filings and provides access to filed

documents online. CM/ECF gives access to case files by multiple parties,

and offers expanded search and reporting capabilities

Ability to file documents/pleadings electronically with the court

Automatic email notices of case activity for parties in a case

No delays or added expenses associated with mail or courier services

Instant access that allows easier case tracking

Less physical storage space and document processing times

Secure and reliable

Immediately updated and available court dockets

The CM/ECF system for bankruptcy courts began

implementation nationally in early 2001.

The district court CM/ECF system began to roll out

nationally in May 2002.

Implementation of the CM/ECF system for

appellate courts began in 2005.

Over 41 million cases and 500 million documents

are on CM/ECF systems and more than 700,000

attorneys across the country are filing documents

electronically.

Court Information

Click on Court Information in the top bar menu to get a pop-up window of

courts listed

with the court abbreviations used by the PACER Case Locator, earliest case

date and most recent case date.

This list also tells you which courts are or are not on the PACER Case

Locator.

Currently, only one court is not on the PACER Case Locator, the U.S. Court

of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

You can click on the court link to go directly to that court’s web site.

United States Supreme Court is not part of PACER

Court Information – Federal Courts in

Pennsylvania

Third Circuit – Starting from 5/30/1974

PA. Eastern District – Starting from 6/21/1970

PA. Middle District – Starting from 3/1/1964

PA. Western District – Starting from 1/2/1950

Case Locator

The PACER Case Locator is a national index for the U.S. District Courts, U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, and U.S. Courts of Appeals. You can reach the PACER Case Locator from the PACER Find a Case page.

Subsets of data are collected from the courts and transferred to the PACER Case Locator.

The index serves as a locator index for the federal judiciary’s Electronic Public Access services. A nationwide search will determine the location of a case for a party that is involved in federal litigation.

You can access detailed information on cases found while searching the PACER case locator

Search Options

The PACER Case Locator allows you to search nationwide by

case number,

party name,

complete or last four digits of a social security number,

case filing dates, and much more.

The search criteria vary with court type, depending on the relevancy of

the search

information. For example, only Bankruptcy lets you search for a social

security number,

and only Appellate and Civil cases include searches by nature of suit.

Full text

Fee

No registration fee

$0.10 per page – View, Print or Download

No charge if usage is under $15 in a quarter

$2.40 charge for a audio file of court hearings

You will not be charged more than $3 when you access documents or case-

specific reports that are more than 30 pages. However, the 30-page cap

does not apply to name search results, lists of cases, or transcripts (when

available online).

In forma pauperis status does not automatically entitle you to free access

to PACER. Users must petition the court separately to request free access

to PACER.

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

COURT EXPRESS (Westlaw)

Court Wire (Westlaw)

COURT LINK (LexisNexis)

DocketFish (www.docketfish.com)

Pacerpro (www.pacerpro.com)