Through the law library, law students and faculty have access to CourtLink via Lexis+. CourtLink provides access to both state and federal dockets, and is searchable through keywords. It also allows for filtering by data, litigation area, case type, judge, and much more. This guide will cover retrieving dockets utilizing CourtLink via Lexis+ and as always, the law library reference team is available at reference@law-arizona.libanswers.com or at the reference desk to answer any questions on docket research and accessing CourtLink.
To access CourtLink, login to Lexis+. Next, navigate to the Content tab from the Legal Research homepage and select Dockets (CourtLink). Alternatively, you may select the Lexis+ menu in the top left corner of the screen, and then select CourtLink (Dockets).
After clicking on Courtlink, you will see the page below. Note the searchable fields. There are a few research strategies from this point. Utilizing the maximum number of fields with the information you have will narrow the scope of the search. Conducting cost-effective legal research when utilizing services like PACER demands search precision, and it is best practice when searching on CourtLink, too.
There are two drop-downs at the top of the page. From these you can search for dockets, court documents, or dockets & documents, and within where you can select all courts, or filter by a specific court.
Filter by court and utilize the docket number field, if possible. For the docket number field, keep in mind the format for the specific court.
Example: You are researching a recent federal criminal case and would like to pull some docket information. You have certain information–the docket number, the judge, the parties and even a handful of keywords, too.
"Epsilon Data Management, LLC (“Epsilon”) is charged by information with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The information alleges that from approximately July 2008 through July 2017, employees of a unit in Epsilon’s data practice sold data associated to clients engaged in fraudulent mass-mailing schemes. Epsilon has agreed to a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (“DPA”), which the court has approved, that would provide $150 million in penalties and victim compensation. The majority of the funds -- $127.5 million -- will be used for compensating victims. The Court approved deferring the criminal charges at a hearing on January 27, 2021."
Which pulls up the page below.
When you navigate to the docket, make sure to select Update Now. This will ensure you are provided with the most up-to-date docket information and documents available on CourtLink.
From here, under Proceedings, you can see all the filings for the litigation. If the document is available, you will see a blue hyperlink under Availability to retrieve it.
Selecting a document will open up another window, Confirm Selection.
From here, select Get Documents.
Hit view and a PDF of your requested document will open.
