LibGuides: Dockets, Briefs, and Court Filings Research: U.S. Courts of Appeals

Intro: Federal Courts of Appeals Records

Dockets and court filings are largely available for the U.S. Courts of Appeals (1-11, DC, and the Federal Circuit) since the early 2000s, when the federal docketing system PACER was widely implemented. Due to PACER charges, we recommend the following sources when performing this type of research at BC Law. We also have specialized resources for older cases.

Current Dockets & Filings

Bloomberg Law: U.S. Courts of Appeals, U.S. District Courts, and Specialty Courts
Preferred BC Law source for federal dockets. Use Courts dropdown menu or start typing court name to select court(s) of interest. You can search by docket number or keywords. Narrow by fields like parties or judge and by filters like date, nature of suit, or case status. Be sure to update your docket sheet. See Bloomberg box below for more tips.
CourtLink (via Lexis)
BC Law's access to CourtLink includes good access to federal dockets and underlying filings, but no ability to update on demand or to track the docket.
Westlaw Filings Tab (Sample Case)
Example: Glick v. Cunniffe, 655 F.3d 78 (1st Cir. 2011). If there's a decision in your case, pull up the case on Westlaw by citation, and make use of the Filings tab to find briefs, motions, pleadings, and links to docket sheets.
Lexis Filings Tab (Sample Case)
Example: Glik v. Cunniffe, 655 F.3d 78 (1st Cir. 2011). If there's a decision in your case, pull up the case on Lexis+ by citation, and click the Filings tab along the top. Then filter to briefs, pleadings, and motions, or to dockets.

Briefs & Oral Arguments

Making of Modern Law: Landmark Records and Briefs of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, 1891-1980
Covers 1891-1980. Briefs from appellants, appellees, and supporters (amicus briefs), with their respective replies, as well as appendices, memoranda, petitions, plaintiff statements, transcripts, and more from the various circuits of the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Documents have been pulled from multiple collections, including the National Archives and the Library of Congress.
Westlaw: U.S. Courts of Appeals Briefs
Selected coverage varies by court. See information "i" icon for more detail. 1st circuit coverage begins in 1990.
Lexis: U.S. Courts of Appeals Briefs
Coverage varies by court; specific coverage info isn't provided by Lexis.
National Archives: Guide to Federal Records
Many of these records will be available in the Making of Modern law database linked above. For those that haven't been digitized, a visit to or copy request from the court or National Archives (depending on how old) may be required.
Stephen R. Klein, "A Guide to Locating and Obtaining Older Federal Court Records"
Guidance from a practitioner on accessing older federal case files.
First Circuit Oral Arguments
Search by docket number or case name. Similar sites are available for other circuits.

Bloomberg Law Tips

Bloomberg Law is generally BC Law's preferred platform for federal dockets. It pulls data from PACER (see below), and charges are generally included with our subscription fee.

To login:

Search your BC email account for a message with Bloomberg Law credentials—an account should have been set up for you when you first started here.
If you can't find your login information, try to reset your password.
If it doesn't appear that you have an active account, contact lawresearchhelp@bc.edu, or you can register yourself with your BC email address for an account.

Once you are in:

Coverage: Varies by jurisdiction; under the Litigation tab, you'll see an option for "Docket Coverage" to get specific coverage information.
Searching: Use the Advanced Docket Search feature to structure a search based on what you know about a specific case or the types of cases that need to find.
Updating: If you're looking for current information, be sure to click "Update" to update the docket sheet. You can accept the collection fee - each BC Law user has a generous individual limit. You'll be notified if you're getting close to your limit.
Filings: If a filing is immediately available, it will say "View." Click to open. If it says "Request," you can request the document. You can accept the collection fee—each BC Law user has a generous individual limit (you'll be notified if you're getting close to your limit). If the document is not available electronically, you'll get a message saying that a courier is necessary. This has to be approved and requested by a reference librarian.
Tracking: To track the ongoing litigation in a particular case, click the "Track Docket" link at the top of the docket sheet to sign up for email alerts.

Help:

Training materials from Bloomberg Law
Reach out to the Teaching & Research Librarians at lawresearchhelp@bc.edu

PACER, Justia & RECAP

The federal docketing website PACER (an acronym for Public Access to Court Electronic Records) provides public access to case and docket information for the U.S. District and Bankruptcy courts and the U.S. Courts of Appeals. There's no fee to register for an account, but there are search fees and fees per page to access the court records. Therefore, we do not distribute the password. If you are unable to find what you need through Bloomberg Law or other listed resources, please consult a reference librarian, who can check PACER for you.

Note: Free sites like Justia pull information from PACER and provide some material free of charge. Another is the RECAP Archive, created by the the Free Law Project, a searchable collection of millions of PACER documents and dockets contributed by those who have already paid the fees to access this public information. Coverage is spotty but helpful.