Court Docket Materials

While their content is not exhaustive, Westlaw and Lexis+ do provide access to some local docket materials. For Westlaw, you can click on "Content types," then "Dockets" to view the various search options, such as by specific state. (Please note that Colorado and North Carolina dockets must be searched for separately using links at the bottom of the Dockets page.) For Lexis+, click on "Legal Research," then "Content," then "Dockets (CourtLink)" to get to the search menu, which includes filters that are specific to local courts.

Fastcase is another legal research database that provides access to local docket materials. On the database's home page, click on "Jurisdictions" to the right of the search bar to select which jurisdictions you want materials from and which types of materials you want to search for. Clicking on the circle next to "Briefs, Pleadings, and Orders" will search all categories of docket materials available on Fastcase, or you can expand the menu to search for certain types of materials.

For local docket materials, your other search options include visiting the court's website, performing a Google search to see if someone has made the document available online (journalist, etc.), or contacting the court directly. For additional research assistance, please contact the Cornell Library reference staff.

To find out when new docket materials have been filed with a local court, you may be able to sign up for alerts. If a legal research database has docket materials for the relevant court, use the database's alert service to receive updates.