AI TOOL PROFILE

CourtListener: Free Legal Research and Data Platform

CourtListener helps law firms and legal researchers access primary legal materials. It is designed for those who need to track case law or analyze raw legal data.

Pricing

The website is free to use. Access to APIs and bulk data services uses means-based pricing. Buyers should confirm current pricing on the vendor website.

At a glance

Best for
Law Firms, Legal Researchers, Journalists, Academics
Key use cases
Legal Research, Case Monitoring, Federal Filing Access, Empirical Legal Analysis
Visit courtlistenercourtlistener software interface screenshot

How AI is used

CourtListener is a free legal research website operated by the non-profit Free Law Project. It provides a searchable repository of millions of legal opinions from federal and state courts across 471 jurisdictions, as well as oral argument recordings and financial disclosures.

The tool is designed for lawyers, journalists, academics, and the general public. It helps users find cases by name, topic, or citation and includes a citator to identify subsequent opinions that have referenced a specific case.

For organizations needing to handle legal data at scale, the platform provides REST APIs, database replication, and bulk data files.

Buyers should confirm that while the website is free, access to the APIs and bulk data services involves means-based pricing to support the non-profit's operations.

Key Features

  • Case Law Search

    Search millions of legal opinions by case name, topic, or citation across hundreds of jurisdictions.

  • Case Alerts

    Supports daily, weekly, or monthly email alerts for specific search queries to track new court documents.

  • RECAP Archive

    Provides access to a collection of documents from the Federal PACER system.

  • Oral Argument Browser

    Search and listen to millions of minutes of oral argument recordings.

  • Judge and Financial Databases

    Provides a structured database of judges and financial disclosure records.

  • Developer Tools

    Offers REST APIs, webhooks, and database replication for legal data access.

Use Cases

  • Legal Research

    Searching for precedential opinions and using the citator to identify if a case has been cited in subsequent opinions.

  • Case Monitoring

    Setting up alerts to receive notifications when new case law matching a specific topic or query is published.

  • Federal Filing Access

    Browsing the RECAP Archive to find federal court documents.

  • Empirical Legal Analysis

    Using bulk data files and APIs to conduct research on legal corpora.

FAQ

Is CourtListener free to use?

The legal research website is free. However, the platform uses means-based pricing for those who require access to its REST APIs and bulk data services.

What is the RECAP Archive?

The RECAP Archive is an open collection of federal court data from the PACER system, allowing users to access documents that have been donated to the public collection.

Can I get notified when new cases are added?

Yes, users can sign up for daily, weekly, or monthly email alerts for any search query.

Source category: Legal

Source subcategory: Legal Research

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