CourtListener Scraper
US court opinions, dockets, and case law as structured JSON
What it does
Search US federal and state court opinions, dockets, and case law from CourtListener. Returns case name, court, judge, date, citations, and direct URLs. No API key required. Pay only per record returned.
Built in
- ✓ Federal and state court opinions and dockets
- ✓ Case name, court, judge, and citation data
- ✓ Full-text search across millions of decisions
- ✓ Direct links to source documents
- ✓ Zero charge on empty searches
Guides & tutorials
CourtListener API: How to Search US Court Records and Case Law Programmatically
CourtListener exposes 10M+ court opinions and dockets via a free REST API. Here is how to query it, what the rate limits actually are, and when a scraper is faster.
PACER vs CourtListener: Accessing US Court Records Without Paying $0.10 Per Page
PACER charges $0.10 per page for federal court documents. CourtListener is free for opinions and some dockets. Here is what each covers, what they do not, and when to use both.
Building a Legal & Regulatory Intelligence Pipeline with Court Records, Federal Rules, and Contract Data
Track case law, new federal regulations, and government contract awards automatically. A step-by-step guide to wiring three public-data scrapers into a
Common questions
What is CourtListener? +
CourtListener is a free legal research platform run by the Free Law Project. It contains 10 million+ court opinions, dockets, and oral argument recordings from federal and state courts going back to 1754.
Is CourtListener free to use? +
Yes. CourtListener is a nonprofit platform with a free REST API. An API key is required for more than 1,000 requests per day, and registration is free.
How is CourtListener different from PACER? +
PACER is the official federal court system and charges $0.10 per page. CourtListener provides free access to opinions and some docket data. PACER filing documents (PDFs of motions, briefs) are still paywalled.
What courts are covered? +
All 13 US federal circuit courts, the Supreme Court, all 94 federal district courts, and a growing number of state appellate courts. Coverage depth varies by court.
What data model does CourtListener use? +
Three main entities: Docket (a case with all its filings), Cluster (a group of related opinions from the same case), and Opinion (a single written decision). Each opinion links back to its docket.
Try it on Apify.
Free tier on Apify with 100 results included. No credit card required.