What is a docket?
According to the Yale Law Library,
"A docket is simply a record of the proceedings of a court case. Dockets vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in type of information recorded, the detail of the information, and availability to the public. Some jurisdictions have free online docket systems while others require subscription to a database or even visiting the court in-person.
Docket research is generally used to find information about a particular case. Dockets contain information about the judge hearing the case, parties involved, attorneys involved, the events of a case, and more.
Dockets are generally more useful for researching trials. Because trials may last many years, and involve many events the dockets are important for locating information about cases.
Examples of documents that can be identified and (sometimes) located by retrieving a trial court docket include: motions, testimony transcripts, jury instructions and worksheets, judge rulings, expert witness names, and more."
Used properly, dockets are a very useful research tool. Most trial court-level cases are not published in reporters, so searching court dockets can help you find cases similar to yours, unpublished rulings that might be useful to your arguments, or information about litigants, opposing counsel, judges, or witnesses. Dockets can also help you follow the latest developments in cases of interest that are still open.
Dockets vs. documents
A "docket" is the term for the list of case documents, not the documents themselves. The resources discussed in the next box will tell you some of the ways you can find dockets, but keep in mind that even if you can locate the docket for a particular case, it may not give you access to the documents listed on that docket.
There's no good free source for most court dockets. They are much harder to find than opinions, and it gets more difficult the lower the court level and the older the case. Some basic information might be available on free case reporting services, but they usually offer only the docket list, which is of limited use unless you can find the documents.
Print sources:
The courts themselves are pretty much the only place to get official print copies of court dockets. There are businesses that will retrieve them for you for a fee, or you can go to the courthouse and order copies. This is often the only source, print or electronic, for dockets older than a few years.
Online sources:
Fee-based Sources:
What are case documents?
Case documents are the actual papers filed in a case - the complaints, motions, briefs, rulings, etc. that are generated during the judicial process. You can often locate these documents by finding the case's docket sheet, which contains references to everything that happens in a case. See the boxes above for tips on how to locate docket sheets.
Case documents are useful for several reasons:
Case documents are sometimes available through court dockets, especially on Bloomberg Law, but a docket search will only help you if you already know the case name or you have a very specific search. If you're just trying to find all documents on particular topic or from a particular court, you're better off trying some of the options below.
Print sources:
Free online sources:
Fee-based sources: