Legal professionals often need to access court documents and case information, but knowing where to find them most efficiently and cost effectively isn’t always easy. Most federal court documents are available via the PACER system. Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) is an electronic public access service that allows users to obtain case and docket information from Federal Appellate, District and Bankruptcy courts. However, users must pay a fee to access PACER – much to the consternation of those who believe that government information should be free.

Wisconsin has the CCAP system, which contains civil and criminal case information and status reports compiled through the court’s Consolidated Court Automation Programs (CCAP) case management system. While you’ll find case information and dockets in CCAP, the actual documents filed in the case are not available.

Fortunately, several other services also provide access to recent court documents – some free and some fee based. The following is a run-down of services available to students, faculty and staff of the UW Law School.

So what happens if you try all these services and still can't find what you need?

Then contact a reference librarian. Our law library staff can help you track down the documents you need. In some situations, we may be able to retrieve the documents from PACER. Or, if the documents aren’t available via PACER (which frequently happens with older cases), then we can assist you in contacting the clerk of courts to obtain the documents. Note that courts generally charge a fee for document delivery.

Submitted by Bonnie Shucha on April 4, 2023

This article appears in the categories: Law Library

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