How to Obtain a Legal Document From Court
If you work as an attorney or a reporter in the United States, you will at some point in your career be asked to obtain a legal document from a courthouse. Here are some tips on how to do this.
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Instructions
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Search for your document on sites such as Courtlink, PACER or individual websites maintained by courts across the United States. Such searches, even if they are unsuccessful, may cost money. The websites will usually alert you to this ahead of time. You can search using the names of the parties involved, the filing dates or, if you have obtained it previously, by case number. This is the easiest way to find court documents.
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Download any documents that show up in your searches. Downloading them may incur fees as well.
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Send a runner, or court-appointed staff member, to obtain the documents you want if they are unavailable online. This almost always costs money. It also takes longer--sometimes weeks. You may opt to retrieve paper documents yourself from the courthouse to save time.
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Call up the county clerk of the court that is handling the case in question and ask to obtain the documents you want. They will often refuse. However, most documents are public record. Be persuasive but polite, and remind them of this. They may concede, or they may have you submit your request to obtain public records in writing. Ask them if it's possible to do this by fax--it is faster. Follow up on such requests by phone.
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Ask parties in question or their attorneys if they can give you copies of court documents. If the person or company is the plaintiff, they will be more likely to agree to do this.
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Tips & Warnings
Cultivate sources at county clerks' offices and at courthouses so that it will be easier to obtain court records in the future. It's harder to refuse access to someone you know. Give them your business card so they will be able to recognize your name and affiliation.
