ECON 394LI Law and Economics
Federal dockets
PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) provides access to case documents for all levels of federal and state courts. Although these records are public, you must have a login and password, and the system charges 10 cents per page retrieved, including search results and per-page of documents (accumulated fees of less than $30 per quarter are waived). UMass does not currently have an institutional account for access, so each person must register individually.
Registration is not immediate; you have to wait for a confirmation that arrives by snail mail, and then you can start looking for documents.
An alternative to PACER is RECAP (Court Listener), which is free and does not require an account. Court Listener is not as comprehensive as PACER but its coverage of recent cases is very good.
- DocketBird This link opens in a new windowDocketBird is a repository of federal court cases, dockets, and documents. Link goes to page with UMass Amherst account login information.DocketBird has decided to make its services 100% free for law school libraries, university libraries, and public libraries. If you do not have a NetID and want to use this resource, please contact Lisa Di Valentino (ldivalentino@umass.edu).
State dockets
There is not a centralized location (that we subscribe to) for finding dockets and filings for state cases. You can sometimes find this information at the state court website, for example at the Massachusetts Appellate Court website.
- Last Updated: Feb 10, 2025 12:48 PM
- URL: https://guides.library.umass.edu/ECON394LI
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