If you do a lot of research on electronic records in federal, state, and local jurisdictions, you know how long it can take to access the many courts around the country. Unless you are already familiar with the online accessibility of a particular court, finding fast, reliable, and inclusive new case data can be a challenge.
While some investigators collect dozens of bookmarks or rely on their intranet for most courts they access, a more efficient method is a portal, a single site that maintains links to all available courts. A docket portal functions as a pathway for investigators to quickly access case dockets in all available jurisdictions. However, as an alternative to accessing cases through a portal, investigators can also use vendor databases to locate case file information. These sites collect data from many jurisdictions, provide a single user interface, uniform dossiers, and advanced search functionality.
So, which one provides better results to locate and obtain court records, portals or databases? It often depends on your exact goal, your deadline, your budget, and your skills as an investigator. As with most online research, accessing multiple sources is often required to get the best results. An excellent starting point is Legal Files Online [http://www.LegalDockets.com]
Availability of court case information
Almost all federal district courts now use the federal judiciary’s CM/ECF system, which is easily accessible with a PACER account. This system provides public access to each court’s records database and includes document images and electronic filing. There are currently more than 27 million civil, criminal, and bankruptcy cases in CM/ECF, and you will soon have access to the federal appellate courts. In addition, investigators can also access a nationwide case listing database through the PACER US Case/Match Index. While these databases are inexpensive, easy to use, and improve slightly with each new version, from the point of view of an expert researcher, its search capabilities are limited.
The availability and scope of state, county, and local court records and online case summary information varies widely. Each jurisdiction has its own rules and restrictions that determine what will be considered public or private and how your data may be used. For example, some courts allow the public to access their data, but do not allow commercial providers to aggregate and resell it. In addition, since so many different state courts use different docket formats and methods to produce case data, it can be difficult and time consuming for commercial docket data aggregators to add jurisdictions to their collections. With this in mind, a good case portal is likely to contain access to more courts than a commercial database provider. However, state courts may require the creation of individual accounts to access your files, which may initially slow down your investigative efforts.
Updated case data
Since a portal simply links directly to each court’s publicly accessible website, the frequency with which case information is updated depends on each court’s procedures. For example, data from the federal district CM/ECF courts is active. After a court clerk or attorney makes an entry in the file, it appears almost instantly online. But many state, county, and local courts caution that their web files should not go online and are not updated daily. It’s important to investigate how often a court’s case data is updated if you check their site regularly to monitor case activity.
When searching case files using a database, it is important to know the depth and breadth of the data collection you are looking for. If a database is incomplete or has not been updated correctly, you will not get accurate results. Sometimes locating a file that has not been updated in many months can be helpful, other times it is not. Often these services allow you to search their internal database to locate a case and then allow you to access an updated file immediately from the court’s database. However, if a court only updates its data weekly and you are using a commercial database to check a file daily, you are wasting your money.
File content and format
Federal district court records are generally simple, uniform, and relatively easy to interpret. These files continue to become more uniform each day thanks to CM/ECF’s electronic case filing procedures. However, state court records can be difficult to read. In addition, the information they contain and how it is presented varies significantly. Some contain only very basic case information or a list of filing fees paid. Some contain movement information, disposition, employee entries, and document images. Each court is different, and interpreting your version of a “record” may be difficult depending on your experience with that jurisdiction and your familiarity with court records in general. While the appearance, content, and format of state court records often differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, there are exceptions. Some states use a uniform statewide case information database, and some court databases have identical user interfaces because their case management systems were created by the same software developers.
Commercial databases collect case information and present case files in a somewhat uniform format and add additional information and embedded links. For example, they can add value to their files by consolidating information, adding helpful narrative, links to law firm information, case citations, and investigator-assisted document retrieval services.
Prices
While there are only a few good case information portals on the web, you generally get what you pay for (or don’t pay for). Free public records portals are generally updated less frequently than paid sites, contain broken or outdated links, will not be comprehensive, and will display distracting advertisements. Paid portals generally offer more detailed information and a professional appearance, charge cheap monthly or annual subscription fees, and provide better results for serious researchers.
Commercial databases try to provide the best user interface and include useful services that public court records databases do not offer. Additional added value of these databases can be seen in features such as their ability to provide full-text case file search, automated case monitoring for new and existing cases, and custom case data reporting.
What to look for in a good portal
-Very Focused-
While the ability to look up your neighbor’s dog tag license may be helpful to some, you don’t want to waste time searching through an overly inclusive list of public records database links. If you have to rank too many useless links, the value of the portal drops significantly.
-Good links-
If you find that court links often break, redirect you, or only direct you to court home pages, you are wasting valuable research time. New publicly available court case databases are constantly available online. If a portal does not routinely add new links to its collection, it is not complete.
-Cost-
A good portal will definitely save you time and money when searching for case information. Small businesses use portals to meet their research needs cheaply, without the pressure of negotiating large, expensive contracts with mega-legal services firms. Medium and large companies use portals to get the fastest direct access to case files, allowing them to more efficiently bill their time to their clients.
What to look for in a good supplier database
-Fast search results and current files that are easily updated-
Since you are paying a premium price, your search results should be provided quickly and the case information should be helpful. If the data you receive is too often outdated or cannot be easily updated, look for a better database.
-Excellent user interface-
One of the main reasons for using a provider database is to save time and avoid the aggravation of knowing the access requirements and idiosyncrasies of each court. The user interface of a commercial database should be clean, intuitive, and should speed up your research, not slow it down.
-Advanced search capabilities, case tracking and other value-added services-
A good database will allow you to search your files using the full text or any combination of fields such as plaintiff, defendant, judge, filing date, law firm, etc. Case tracking must be flexible, reliable and it must be clear what exactly was updated in a file and when the update occurred. If a database is embedded with links to other related information, these links should be useful and functional. If the assistance of an investigator for document recovery is offered, the price and quality should meet or exceed your expectations. Also, the ability to search multiple court jurisdictions simultaneously can be helpful.
conclusion
To locate complete dossiers online in all available jurisdictions, investigators must have convenient access to both quality portals and databases for best results. When used together, portals and databases often complement each other and together provide the most comprehensive research results. The service that produces the best results for you generally depends on your specific needs and the tasks you have to perform. For example, to locate basic information on recent cases quickly and cheaply, a portal is probably a better option than a database. But performing full-text and other advanced metadata searches requires the use of a more expensive commercial database. The key is learning which database and record portal providers are best for your specific purposes, how to properly maintain your accounts and relationships with your providers, and how to make the most of your strengths and abilities.
