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CourtListener (Court Records)

API keycourtlistener

CourtListener (Free Law Project) U.S. opinions, RECAP/PACER dockets, judges, bankruptcy-party signals, and judicial financial disclosures. A free CourtListener API token is required; default authenticated limits are 5/minute, 50/hour, and 125/day. RECAP coverage is not a complete PACER substitute.

court-recordsbankruptcyrecappacerlitigationdue-diligence
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Provenance

PublisherCourtListener and the RECAP Archive
Sourcehttps://www.courtlistener.com/
API basehttps://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4
Docshttps://www.courtlistener.com/help/api/rest/

Freshness & coverage

FreshnessLive
GeographicUnited States
Temporal… → present — Court-record coverage varies by court and record type; RECAP availability begins when a document is contributed.
AuthenticationCredentials required (API key)

Caveats

  • ⚠ RECAP is a contributed archive and is not a complete PACER substitute.
  • ⚠ Bankruptcy name hits require identity verification.

Methods (7)

  • searchOpinions

    read

    Search judicial opinions / case law (unified search, type=o)

    FreshnessLive (source-level)
    Input schema
    {
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "q": {
      "type": "string",
      "examples": [
        "methane emissions"
      ]
    },
    "cursor": {
      "type": "string"
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false
}

    q required; cursor comes from prior next URL; returns count, next, and results.

  • searchDockets

    read

    Search RECAP/PACER federal court dockets (unified search, type=r)

    FreshnessLive (source-level)
    Input schema
    {
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "q": {
      "type": "string",
      "examples": [
        "Chevron"
      ]
    },
    "cursor": {
      "type": "string"
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false
}

    Args: q (required), cursor?. Returns { source, count, next, results }

  • searchBankruptcyDockets

    read

    Screen bankruptcy dockets by party, court, and filing date

    Required paramspartyName
    Entitiesbusiness, bankruptcy-docket
    Paginationcursor (cursorField: cursor)
    FreshnessLive
    Input schema
    {
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "partyName": {
      "type": "string",
      "examples": [
        "Example Energy LLC"
      ],
      "minLength": 1,
      "maxLength": 200
    },
    "courtIds": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string",
        "minLength": 2,
        "maxLength": 20,
        "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9]+$"
      },
      "maxItems": 50
    },
    "dateFiledAfter": {
      "type": "string",
      "pattern": "^\\d{4}-\\d{2}-\\d{2}$"
    },
    "cursor": {
      "type": "string",
      "maxLength": 2048
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false,
  "required": [
    "partyName"
  ]
}
    Output schema
    {
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "source": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "count": {
      "type": "integer"
    },
    "next": {
      "type": [
        "string",
        "null"
      ]
    },
    "results": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "additionalProperties": true
      }
    },
    "screeningStatus": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "potential_match",
        "no_potential_match"
      ]
    },
    "query": {
      "type": "object",
      "additionalProperties": true
    },
    "caveats": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "string"
      }
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "source",
    "count",
    "next",
    "results",
    "screeningStatus",
    "query",
    "caveats"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": true
}
    • ⚠ A name hit is not proof that the audited entity filed bankruptcy.
    • ⚠ RECAP is not a complete substitute for PACER.

    Name hits are potential matches; RECAP is not complete PACER.

  • searchJudges

    read

    Search judges / people (unified search, type=p)

    FreshnessLive (source-level)
    Input schema
    {
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "q": {
      "type": "string",
      "examples": [
        "Gorsuch"
      ]
    },
    "cursor": {
      "type": "string"
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false
}

    Args: q (required), cursor?. Returns { source, count, next, results }

  • listCourts

    read

    List courts (3,300+) with jurisdiction, dates, and identifiers

    FreshnessLive (source-level)
    Input schema
    {
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "cursor": {
      "type": "string"
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false
}

    Args: cursor?. Returns { source, count, next, results }

  • listFinancialDisclosures

    read

    List judicial financial disclosures (PDF filepaths + parsed sections)

    FreshnessLive (source-level)
    Input schema
    {
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "cursor": {
      "type": "string"
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false
}

    Args: cursor?. Returns { source, count, next, results }

  • getServiceInfo

    read

    Describe token auth, rate limits, cursor paging, coverage, and caveats

    FreshnessLive (source-level)
    Input schema
    {
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {},
  "additionalProperties": false
}