Thursday, August 04, 2005
Trick of the Trade: Cribbing Briefs With PACER
The following tip for attorneys is featured today on Tricks of the Trade:
If you find a federal court opinion that you like (or don't like) issued within the last five or six years, use PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) and find the docket sheet for the case in question. You will then likely have access to the briefs filed by both sides that led to the opinion, allowing you to either crib their research or be forearmed with opposition research. It is like having an on-demand brief bank.
Bonus tip: If the briefs were not scanned in (and are therefore unavailable online), call the attorney who filed it -- they may be willing to email a copy to you.
Good tip. I've used PACER way to find court documents which I can then use to draft my own pleadings and briefs.
Tricks of the Trade is a fun blog by Matthew Baldwin that provides daily tips for a variety of professions.
If you find a federal court opinion that you like (or don't like) issued within the last five or six years, use PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) and find the docket sheet for the case in question. You will then likely have access to the briefs filed by both sides that led to the opinion, allowing you to either crib their research or be forearmed with opposition research. It is like having an on-demand brief bank.
Bonus tip: If the briefs were not scanned in (and are therefore unavailable online), call the attorney who filed it -- they may be willing to email a copy to you.
Good tip. I've used PACER way to find court documents which I can then use to draft my own pleadings and briefs.
Tricks of the Trade is a fun blog by Matthew Baldwin that provides daily tips for a variety of professions.
