Court coverage
Lawki shows public court records that others collect. Here is which courts it covers, and why a docket can still be incomplete.
Where the records come from
Dockets come from RECAP, a public archive of federal court records, through CourtListener (another website), a project of Free Law Project (another website). Opinions come from CourtListener too. Lawki does not collect records itself and is not run by Free Law Project, CourtListener or any court.
Coverage varies
- RECAP is built from filings that people and groups share, so a federal trial or bankruptcy docket can be missing entries. Lawki marks those dockets as possibly incomplete.
- Some documents are free to open in Lawki, because CourtListener holds a copy. Others are only on PACER, the federal courts’ own system, which charges a fee. Lawki shows an estimate and a link, and you pay PACER directly.
- New filings can take time to reach CourtListener, and sealed records are not public.
- A court that is not listed below may still have some cases, found through opinions. Before you rely on a record, check it with the court that holds the original.
Courts by type
The court-by-court list is not published on this page yet. These are the kinds of court Lawki can show, as CourtListener sorts them.
Federal appeals courts
The US Supreme Court and the federal courts of appeals.
Federal district courts
The federal trial courts. Most federal cases start here.
Federal bankruptcy courts
Federal courts for bankruptcy cases, and the bankruptcy appellate panels.
Special federal courts
Federal courts for particular subjects, such as claims against the government or trade.
State courts
State supreme, appeals and trial courts, and special state courts.
Tribal courts
Courts of tribal nations.
Territory courts
Courts of US territories.
Military courts
Courts of the armed forces.
Other courts
Committees, international bodies and any court type not listed above.
Credit
Court data comes from CourtListener (another website), a project of Free Law Project (another website). More about where the data comes from is on the data sources and credits page.