Bloomberg Law allows you the best options for searching federal case docket information and some state court dockets. This will be useful for you to scan legal arguments for ideas for papers as well as to find background information for your arguments. This is the only database that allows you to efficiently search across jurisdictions to find filings. Bloomberg Law requires a password and you must register using your Ubalt.edu email address. Generally speaking, coverage begins in 2005. Dockets are derived from Pacer, the official federal court docket system and directly from state courts.
Pacer is the Public Access to Court Electronic Records and is the official docket system for the federal court system. Pacer may have additional material than what is found in commercial systems. You must search by court or region and it is most useful to have the docket number or the name of a party or an attorney. Librarians perform Pacer searches for University of Baltimore students. Contact the reference librarians at lawlibref@ubalt.edu for assistance.
Court dockets may also be useful in identifying important and timely legal issues that you can use as a basis for your paper. Once you have a general idea of what you are interested in, and the jurisdiction that you want to base your research in, go to a docket source and search for recent and relevant filings. Docket information can also be used to augment your research.
Westlaw allows docket searches similar to what is available on Pacer and other systems. Not all documents are available, however. Use the Docket link from the Browse page to access these documents. WestlawNext docket information is available for federal courts and selected state courts. Access to Westlaw is limited to current University of Baltimore law students.
Supreme Court of the United States
Searching the Supreme Court docket will allow you access to the docket sheet. Coverage begins in 2000. Merit briefs may be available from the American Bar Association beginning with the 2003-2004 term.
This blog is joint effort by Tom Goldstein, Supreme Court advocate and Bloomberg Law. It covers docket information for Supreme Court cases beginning in 2007. Besides docket information, merit briefs and argument transcripts are also available, as is extensive commentary on the Court.
This is a free resource by a company that describes their mission as advan(ing)e the availability of legal resources for the benefit of society. The website also includes case law, statutes, regulations, articles and summaries of opinions. Docket coverage may not be complete.
Lexis Advance has federal and state docket information. The best way to search for them is to "Browse Sources: and then search "dockets" in the left side "Search Sources" filter. You will find the docket at a tab at the top of the opinion. There are also some state courts included in the docket coverage for Lexis Advance. Access to Lexis Advance is available to current University of Baltimore law students.