Resources for Law School Clinics

For research related to litigation, you will often need to review the history of a particular case in order to see the documents filed and to see the outcome of the case (both for federal courts and state courts). This case history, known as a docket, is available using the tools below.

Remember that, if you are filing legal documents yourself, you will need to make sure that you review applicable local rules, in addition to federal and state rules of procedure. Judges may also have rules regarding how different motions must be presented or how many days' notice is required for a motion hearing.

PACER

Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) is the federal government's public access service for obtaining case and docket information online from federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. You can search PACER to locate dockets, as well as the underlying pleadings and other filings in federal cases.

Bloomberg Law

There is a charge for each docket and filing accessed via PACER, and the search interface is not user-friendly. Law School users should instead use the Litigation Intelligence Center on Bloomberg Law, as it is simple to use and allows you to search some local and state dockets and a few foreign and international dockets, in addition to federal court dockets accessible via PACER. Bloomberg Law's docket search also allows you to access the underlying court filings.

Docket Coverage

Click "Docket Coverage" to see the jurisdictions and time periods where you can search dockets on Bloomberg Law.

Updating Dockets

When you are accessing an individual docket via Bloomberg Law, it is best practice to click the "Update Docket" link in the upper right corner of the screen to ensure that the case history is up to date.

Lexis and Westlaw

Lexis and Westlaw both have docket search functions, but they provide only limited access to the underlying filings.

Research Tip: Federal dockets tend to be much easier to find than state dockets, and even if you find the state docket, you might not be able to get the actual underlying filings. If the resources provided do not give you the information you need, then try the court's website or contact the clerk's office.