PACER - stands for Public Access to Court Electronic Records. It is an electronic public access service that allows users to obtain case and docket information from Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy courts. PACER is a service of the United States Judiciary. The PACER Service Center is operated by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. You must register and create an account to use PACER. PACER charges $0.10 per page retrieved.
If you are a law student and need to use PACER as a part of your research for a journal or class, or for a faculty-approved project, please contact a librarian. Because there is a cost associated with PACER use, the library is only authorized to run PACER searches for limited academically approved searches for law students and faculty. If you need to use PACER extensively for your project, your project is work-related, or if you are not a law student or law faculty member, you will need to set up your own PACER account.
Tutorial on searching PACER: http://www.pacer.gov/ecfcbt/ap/PACER_Report.html
Some jurisdictions provide free access to dockets through clerk or court websites. Below is a selected list of dockets available from clerk or court websites.
Searchable dockets available back to 1985. You can search by docket number, party name, attorney name, case year, case type etc.
Sabrina I. Pacifici & Margaret Berkland, LLRX Court Rules, Forms, and Dockets, http://www.llrx.com/courtrules/.
