Quick Answer: CourtListener.com is a free federal court records database run by the nonprofit Free Law Project. RECAP is a free browser extension that automatically adds PACER documents to CourtListener so everyone can access them at no cost. Together they give you searchable access to millions of federal lawsuits, class actions, government enforcement actions, and bankruptcy filings — without paying PACER’s per-page fees. For researching a financial company, search their legal name under “RECAP/PACER Documents” and filter by District Court. Install the RECAP extension so your own searches contribute to the public record.
PACER.gov is the official federal court database. It has everything. It also charges $0.10 per page, requires registration, and returns results that can cost real money to open. Most people who would benefit from federal court research never use it because the friction is too high.
CourtListener exists to fix that. The Free Law Project — a nonprofit dedicated to making legal information freely available — built CourtListener to give everyone the same access to federal court records that expensive legal research tools give to attorneys. It works because of RECAP: a browser extension that turns every PACER user into a contributor, automatically uploading documents to the public commons.
I use CourtListener as my first stop for any company I’m researching. It doesn’t always have everything — recent filings sometimes lag, and smaller cases in smaller courts may have thin coverage — but for the kind of systemic harm that matters in the debt relief space, it usually has what I need before I ever touch PACER.
RECAP turns PACER into a public library. Every document someone pulls from PACER gets added to the shelf automatically.— Steve Rhode
What CourtListener Actually Contains
CourtListener is not a summary of federal cases. It contains the actual documents — complaints, motions, judgments, consent decrees, settlement agreements — filed in federal courts across the country. The coverage comes from three sources:
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- RECAP uploads — documents pulled from PACER by users with the RECAP extension installed, automatically added to CourtListener’s public database
- Direct court feeds — the Free Law Project receives electronic feeds from many federal courts for opinions and published decisions
- Bulk data projects — historical PACER data obtained through bulk acquisition for major cases
The coverage is strongest for:
- Major consumer protection cases (FTC, CFPB enforcement actions)
- Class action lawsuits with many plaintiffs — high-profile cases attract more RECAP contributions
- FDCPA and TCPA violations — heavily litigated, heavily contributed
- Bankruptcy court filings for well-known companies
- Federal appellate court opinions — comprehensive coverage via direct feeds
- Small single-plaintiff cases in less-litigated districts may have minimal coverage
- Documents filed in the last 30-90 days may not yet be in RECAP
- Sealed documents and exhibits filed under protection orders are not available
Install RECAP First — Do It Now, Before You Search
Before you run a single search, install the RECAP extension. Here’s why the order matters: RECAP only uploads documents you personally pull from PACER. If you search CourtListener, find a case, click through to PACER for a document that isn’t in RECAP yet, and download it — RECAP adds it to the public database automatically. Every document you pull from PACER becomes free for everyone after you.
This is the actual mechanism that makes the whole system work. Hundreds of thousands of attorneys, researchers, and journalists have installed RECAP. Every document they pull goes into the commons. You benefit from everything they’ve contributed. When you contribute back, the next person benefits from you.
How to Install RECAP
- Chrome/Edge: Search “RECAP” in the Chrome Web Store, or go directly to free.law/recap — install the Free Law Project extension (not third-party copies)
- Firefox: Search “RECAP” in Firefox Add-ons, same source
- After installation: The extension runs silently in the background — no setup required. When you’re logged into PACER and download a document, it uploads automatically.
- Privacy: RECAP does not track your browsing outside of PACER. It only activates on pacer.gov domains.
You Don’t Need PACER to Use CourtListener: RECAP is for contributing documents. CourtListener’s search and reading is completely free with no account. Install RECAP if you plan to use PACER — if you’re only using CourtListener, you can start searching immediately with no registration.
The Four Ways to Search CourtListener
CourtListener has four distinct search modes. Each serves a different research purpose. Understanding which to use matters — the same company name searched in different modes returns completely different results.
1. RECAP/PACER Documents — Use This First
This searches the full text of uploaded PACER documents — the actual complaints, motions, and filings, not just case names. It is the most powerful search for consumer research because it finds mentions of a company even in cases where the company isn’t the named party.
Use this to find: cases where the company is a defendant, cases where a company officer is named, cases where a subsidiary is mentioned, and any document where the company’s name appears in court filings.
Search tip: Search both the brand name and the legal entity name. “Freedom Debt Relief” and “Freedom Financial Network” will return different results. Check state incorporation records for the exact entity name if you’re not sure.
2. Case Law — Appellate Opinions
This searches published federal court opinions — cases that went far enough to produce a written ruling. Most civil litigation settles before producing a published opinion, so this mode has lower coverage for consumer cases. It’s most useful for finding regulatory law and precedent.
Use this to find: appellate decisions on company practices, circuit court precedent on FDCPA or TCPA interpretation, and Supreme Court decisions affecting consumer rights.
3. Oral Arguments — Audio Recordings
Federal appellate courts record oral arguments. CourtListener hosts thousands of these recordings. This is primarily useful for legal professionals, but occasionally an oral argument for a major consumer protection case reveals the court’s thinking in ways a written opinion doesn’t fully capture.
4. Judges — Biographical Search
Search for federal judges by name, court, and appointment date. Useful for understanding which judge is assigned to a case you’ve found — some judges have strong records in consumer protection, others have records on the other side.
Step-by-Step: Researching a Debt Relief Company
Here is exactly how I run a company search on CourtListener. I’ll use a hypothetical debt settlement company as the example.
Step 1: Find the Legal Entity Name
Before you search, get the company’s actual registered name — not the brand name. Brand names appear in court filings sometimes, but the legal entity name (e.g., “XYZ Financial Services LLC” rather than “XYZ Debt Relief”) appears more consistently.
Check: the company’s own website footer, the BBB profile (which lists the full legal name), or your state’s secretary of state business search. For companies you’ve signed a contract with, the contract header line usually has the legal entity name.
Step 2: Run the RECAP/PACER Search
Go to CourtListener.com. In the search bar at the top, select RECAP/PACER Documents from the dropdown. Type the legal entity name in quotes for exact matching — "XYZ Financial Services LLC" — or without quotes for broader matching.
On the results page: filter by Nature of Suit to narrow to consumer categories. Common relevant codes:
- 480: Consumer Credit (FDCPA cases land here often)
- 190: Other Contract (broad category catching many financial disputes)
- 890: Other Statutory Actions (FTC and CFPB enforcement)
- 422: Bankruptcy — Appeal (if the company appealed a bankruptcy ruling)
Step 3: Open a Case and Read the Original Complaint
Click into any case that looks relevant. You’ll see the full docket — every filing in the case, in chronological order. Find Document 1 — the original complaint. This is the most important document in any case. It describes in plain language what the plaintiff alleges the company did, with specific facts and dates.
The complaint is almost always available on CourtListener for significant cases. If it shows “PACER Required” instead of a free link, that’s where RECAP helps — if you have a PACER account and RECAP installed, pulling the document costs $0.10-$0.30 and adds it to the free database permanently.
Step 4: Check the Docket for Key Events
After reading the complaint, scan the rest of the docket for these events:
- Motion to Dismiss — did the company try to get the case thrown out early? Was it granted or denied?
- Class Certification — a court order certifying a class means the judge found the claims credible enough to proceed as a class action
- Settlement Agreement or Stipulation of Dismissal — the case ended, often with a payment. The terms may be sealed or public depending on the case.
- Default Judgment — the company didn’t respond and lost automatically. Often indicates a company that couldn’t defend its practices.
- Consent Decree — in government enforcement cases, this is the key document. Lists what the company agreed to stop doing and what it paid.
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Step 5: Set a Docket Alert
If you’re actively considering hiring this company — or have already hired them — set a CourtListener docket alert. You’ll receive an email when any new filing is added to any case involving the company. This is particularly useful if you’re in a contract and want to know if the company gets sued while you’re a client.
To set an alert: open any docket page for the company → click Get Alerts → enter your email. Free. No account required for basic alerts.
Searching by Federal Statute — The Advanced Move
One of CourtListener’s most powerful features for consumer research is full-text statute search. If you know which law a company might be violating, you can search for all cases in CourtListener that cite that statute alongside the company name.
Key Federal Statutes for Debt Research:
15 U.S.C. § 1692 — Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
47 U.S.C. § 227 — Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA, illegal robocalls)
15 U.S.C. § 45 — FTC Act Section 5 (deceptive practices)
12 U.S.C. § 5531 — CFPB unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts
11 U.S.C. § 362 — Automatic stay in bankruptcy (if company violated it)
Search example: "Freedom Debt Relief" "15 U.S.C. 1692" in RECAP/PACER Documents. This finds every case where that company is mentioned in a document that also cites the FDCPA — a far more targeted search than a general name query.
What CourtListener Can’t Do
Every tool has limits. CourtListener’s are worth knowing before you rely on it:
- State court records are not included — CourtListener covers federal courts only. State consumer protection cases (filed under state UDAP laws) require searching your state court’s own system separately.
- Very recent filings lag by weeks or months — if a company was just sued last week, that complaint may not be in RECAP yet. For current events, check PACER directly.
- Document coverage is uneven — a case may appear in CourtListener with only a few documents uploaded. The rest require PACER. The docket shows which documents are free (blue link) versus PACER-only (gray).
- Confidential settlements are not available — when parties agree to seal settlement terms, those documents don’t appear in any public database.
- Company name variants cause misses — “National Debt Relief LLC” and “National Debt Relief Holdings” may return different results. Search multiple variants.
When You Need to Go to PACER: CourtListener shows you what exists. If you find a relevant case but the complaint isn’t available for free, go to PACER.gov, register for a free account, and pull the document directly. With RECAP installed, the document joins the free database immediately after you download it. Cost: typically $0.10-$0.30 per filing. New accounts receive a $30 fee waiver — enough for extensive research.
How CourtListener Fits Into the Full Research Stack
CourtListener is one of four sources I use for company research. The reason to use all four is that each catches a different kind of harm:
While You’re Researching: Before you open CourtListener, run the company through the CFPB complaint database — it takes 90 seconds and often reveals the same problems at a lower severity level before they reached litigation. Here’s the complete guide to vetting any debt relief company.
Companion Guide: This post goes deep on CourtListener and RECAP specifically. The PACER guide covers the full federal court records landscape — including when to use PACER directly versus CourtListener.
Key Takeaways
- CourtListener is free — no account needed to search and read available documents
- RECAP is the browser extension that makes CourtListener grow — install it before you use PACER so your searches contribute to the public database
- Search RECAP/PACER Documents mode first — it searches full text of actual court filings, not just case names
- The original complaint (Document 1 in any docket) describes the alleged harm in plain language and is the most important document to read
- Docket alerts let you monitor ongoing litigation involving any company — free, no account required
- Statute search (e.g., 15 U.S.C. 1692 + company name) is more precise than a name search alone
- CourtListener covers federal courts only — state court records require separate searches
The companies that have the most to hide are the ones that end up in federal court most often. CourtListener is the fastest way to find out if that’s happened. It costs nothing and takes about three minutes. If a company wants to earn your trust, it should be able to survive three minutes of public record research.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CourtListener affiliated with PACER or the federal government?
No. CourtListener is run by the Free Law Project, an independent nonprofit. It has no formal affiliation with PACER or the federal judiciary. The Free Law Project receives court data through a combination of RECAP contributions from users, direct electronic feeds from courts that provide them, and bulk data acquisition projects. PACER is the official government system operated by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
Does installing RECAP cost anything?
No. RECAP is a free, open-source browser extension from the Free Law Project. It has no subscription fee, no data charges, and no account requirement. It only activates when you’re on PACER.gov and only uploads documents you download while logged into PACER. Your ordinary browsing is not affected.
What if the company I’m searching doesn’t appear on CourtListener?
It may mean: the company has never been sued in federal court, the cases exist in PACER but haven’t been contributed to RECAP yet, or you’re using the wrong entity name. Try variant spellings, search the brand name without quotes, and search the parent company name if you know it. If nothing surfaces and you want to be certain, a PACER search is authoritative — the docket search on PACER.gov is free even without paying per-page fees.
Can I use CourtListener to monitor a company I’ve already hired?
Yes — this is one of the most practical uses. Set a docket alert for the company’s name. If they get sued, receive a government enforcement action, or file for bankruptcy after you’ve started working with them, you’ll receive an email notification. This is particularly valuable in multi-year contracts like debt settlement programs where your money is at risk over an extended period.
How do I find the legal entity name of a company?
Four reliable sources: the company’s contract (the legal name is usually in the first paragraph), the BBB profile (lists the legal business name), your state’s Secretary of State business entity search, or the CFPB complaint database (which lists the company name as reported by consumers and companies). Searching multiple name variations on CourtListener is always better than relying on one.
What is a consent decree and why does it matter?
A consent decree is a court-approved agreement in which a company settles a government enforcement case — typically with the FTC, CFPB, or state attorney general — without admitting wrongdoing but agreeing to specific terms. Those terms typically include: prohibited practices (exactly what the company agreed to stop doing), monetary relief (refunds to consumers), and ongoing monitoring requirements. A consent decree is the clearest possible signal that regulators found the company’s practices harmful enough to require a court order to stop.
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