New Database: Docket Alarm

A court case involves more than just the final opinion. Many documents are created during active cases that are useful for research, including briefs, trial transcripts, jury instructions, and more. These can be found in the court docket.

The materials in a docket can reveal what arguments persuaded the court and contextualize factual issues that aren’t often reviewed in detail in published court opinions. They also provide examples of how practicing attorneys formatted and presented specific documents to courts, which is a great way to double-check your own work.

The law library has recently gained access to Docket Alarm, a specialized resource focused on providing individual docket access as well as collecting massive amounts of data from court dockets and turning it actionable analytics. This data could help you predict the length of time a case will take, the chance of success of a particular type of motion, and much more.

Some of the core features of the database include:

• Track Cases: find and track cases
• New Case Alerts: create alerts for relevant new suits based on your preferences
• Decision Digests: create alerts of new decisions in courts that you work in
• Analytics: legal analytics data
• Business Development: tools for finding new cases and potential clients

For more details on Docket Alarm’s features and how to use them, check out the Docket Alarm Quick Start Guide or Docket Alarm’s YouTube channel.

The law library can provide access to Docket Alarm to law students on an individual basis. Reach out to the law library (lawlibref@unc.edu) if you’re interested!