PACER for federal cases

[Janet]

 

 

I'm sure most reporters working on federal cases know about the PACER filing system, but I'm posting for those who may not be familiar with it.  I use PACER to look up a case once I've been assigned a job.   Sometimes I'm provided a case number, which makes the search a lot simpler.  Other times I have the names of the parties.  I'll look them up on the internet and find the case that way.  Then I use PACER.

 

There is no fee to register.  There is a fee of $.08 per page to view/download documents.  It's well worth the price to prepare for a job.  Here is a link to PACER:

 

http://www.pacer.gov/

 

I typically run a docket report, which contains a list of all parties, appearances of counsel, documents filed, activities on the case, etc.  I then download the Complaint or Amended Complaint, if there is one.  That provides a wealth of information useful for creating a job dictionary.   If it is a patent case, the Complaint lists all of the patent numbers involved in the case.   I then go to the USPTO website and download the patents.  Here is a link to patent number searches on the USPTO website:

 

http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm

 

I then prepare a job dictionary and am well prepared for the deposition.  I, personally, prefer to do my homework upfront, provide the clients with accurate realtime/roughs, and not have to spend hours editing after the job.    

 

It's a great way to see how many parties (potential copies) there are.  The docket shows terminated parties and active parties, so you can get a pretty good feel for the case.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Thanks, Janet.  I actually had not heard of PACER before.  Great info.   I do go to the USPTO to get docs and info.  I am going to forward these links to my scopist.  Any extra information is always helpful.

[Janiece Young]

Janet, I remember you talking about this in another thread.  Thanks for posting how to do this.  It's definitely worth the price to get a word list.