Court Dockets, Records, & Rules

Source: Black's Law Dictionary, 12th ed. by Bryan A. Garner (Editor))

After a case is filed, the court assigns it a docket number, which is the court's case number or tracking number. The docket lists the judge, parties, and the attorneys of record, along with a summary of each document filed in the case, the date when it was filed, and the court case number assigned to the document.

A docket number may be composed of a number or letter indicating the court, a two-digit number to identify the year, the case type (either CV/cv for civil cases or CR/cr for criminal cases), a four- or five-digit case number, and the judge’s initials. For example, 1:21-cv-5678-MW is the docket number for the 5,678th civil case filed in the year 2021 and assigned to court number 1 and the Honorable Martha Washington.

Court records may include the case file containing the docket sheet and all documents filed in the case, as well as other documents generated during the proceedings, including, for example, trial transcripts and instructions to juries. The online availability of court dockets and records depends on the jurisdiction. Some have free online docket systems; others require a subscription to their docket system.

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Federal Courts

Broad coverage of federal court dockets and filings, including those of the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts. Users can ensure a docket is current by noting the "Current As Of" date, on the right side of the docket. If it is not up to date, click "Update Docket" (green rectangle), wait a minute, and then refresh the page. To determine what dockets and documents are available in Bloomberg Law, as well as the dates covered, go to the "Litigation" drop-down and select "Docket Coverage." To determine how much of an individual academic user's annual $1,500 docket charges cap remains (which resets each year on July 1), go to the "Account" drop-down after logging in and select "My Dockets Billing."

Users can search Bloomberg Law’s dockets collection (choosing to search either "Dockets & Documents" or "Dockets Only"); request an update of a current docket sheet (click "Update Docket"); view and download documents that already have been obtained by Bloomberg Law (click "View"); request a document from a docket that has not already been obtained by Bloomberg Law (click "Request"); and create Alerts for cases to receive emails when there is an update to the docket (click "Track Docket" to set up). "Bloomberg Law's proprietary Docket Key docket filing classification system is a unique and innovative system that identifies and classifies entries on a docket sheet. Docket Key makes locating underlying filings easy, quick, and precise by targeting 20 categories, including motions, briefs, orders, and more." See Bloomberg's Dockets Overview for more information.

Coverage of federal court dockets, including those of the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts.

Users can can search CourtLink's dockets collection (choosing to search either Dockets, Court Documents, or Dockets & Documents); request an update of a current docket sheet; view and download documents that already have been obtained by CourtLink; and create Alerts for cases to receive updates when new documents arrive. See Lexis's CourtLink Support Resources for more information.

Coverage of federal court dockets, including the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and U.S. District and Bankruptcy Courts.

"The RECAP Archive is a searchable collection of millions of PACER documents and dockets. PACER is the government-run system where nearly every legal document is filed from federal cases. The archive also includes every free PACER opinion."

"RECAP [PACER spelled backwards] is an online archive and free extension for Firefox and Chrome. If you use PACER, install RECAP. Once installed, every docket or PDF you purchase on PACER will be added to the RECAP Archive. Anything somebody else has added to the archive will be available to you for free — right in PACER itself."

"The Supreme Court’s docket system contains information about cases, both pending and decided, that have been filed at the Court. The docket provided here contains complete information regarding the status of cases filed since the beginning of the 2001 Term. Users can search for the docket in a particular case by using a Supreme Court docket number, a case name, or other words or numbers included on a docket report."

"Court Records at the National Archives cover more than 200 years of court proceedings at the federal level. The earliest court records in our holdings date to approximately 1790. . . . Generally, federal court records less than 15 years old are still in the possession of individual courts and are not held by the National Archives. To obtain access to those records, researchers must contact the appropriate federal court" (see Federal Court Finder).

The retention and disposition of judiciary records are controlled by records disposition schedules (RDSs) jointly established by the Judicial Conference and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Included in the Guide to Judiciary Policy, the schedules govern most judiciary records, including those that federal courts create and maintain in electronic or paper case files.