To follow a federal lawsuit, find the case in the federal court where it was filed, review its docket through PACER, and use that court’s RSS or other alert service if available. PACER is the official source for the docket. CourtListener’s RECAP archive and alerts can help you discover activity, but confirm important filings on the official docket.
Find the right federal court and case
Federal district, bankruptcy, and appellate courts maintain their own case information. If you know the court, search there directly through the PACER Court CM/ECF Lookup. If you do not know where the case was filed, use the nationwide PACER Case Locator.
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You need a PACER account to access federal court records online. PACER says its records are available at all hours, subject to system availability. Search by case number when you have it; otherwise try the party’s name in the likely court. The court-specific information is updated immediately, while the national Case Locator index is updated daily, so a very recent filing may appear in the court search before the nationwide index.
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- Register or sign in. Start at PACER and create an account if you do not already have one.
- Choose the search route. Open the court’s CM/ECF system through the Court CM/ECF Lookup if you know the court; otherwise search the PACER Case Locator.
- Run a focused search. Enter the case number if available. A party-name search may return multiple matters, so check the court, parties, and case details before proceeding.
If you cannot locate a case, PACER advises contacting the court where it may have been filed.
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Read the docket and open filings
A docket is the chronological record of filings and court events in a case. Open the docket report and review its entries for motions, orders, notices, hearing information, and other activity. When an entry includes a document link, select it to view the filing. Some entries do not have a self-service document link; the PACER manual says you may need to request that document from the clerk’s office.
Not every docket event is itself a new document. An entry may record a procedural event or summarize a filing. Read the entry and, when available, the linked document rather than relying on a short alert summary.
Choose an alert route
| Option | Coverage and timeliness | Cost and access | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Court-specific PACER/CM/ECF search | Official court information; described by PACER as immediate for a specific court. | PACER fees may apply; document charges are subject to the current fee schedule. | Confirming docket activity and accessing source filings. |
| Court RSS feed | Available only if the filing court provides one; sends notices of new docket activity. | The feed is free; linked material may require PACER sign-in. | Passive, low-cost notification of activity. |
| CourtListener/RECAP alerts and archive | Depends on docket information collected for RECAP; do not assume every filing appears instantly. | The cited service pages describe free research and alerts; features and quotas can change. | Supplemental discovery and alerts. |
Check whether the court offers RSS
Use the Court CM/ECF Lookup to find the filing court, then check that court’s site for an RSS option. PACER says some courts provide free RSS notifications with summary text and links; it does not promise a universal public email subscription. The link may lead to a report or document that still requires PACER access. See PACER’s RSS case-alert FAQ.
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CM/ECF filing notices are not the same as a public alert subscription. PACER describes email notices with docket-entry text and document links for registered participants who receive filing notices. Qualifying party recipients get one free look at the linked document within 15 days. Having a PACER account alone does not make a public observer a recipient of notices sent to case participants. Details are in PACER’s filing FAQ.
Use CourtListener/RECAP as a supplement
CourtListener provides searchable RECAP materials and docket alerts. RECAP is built from PACER content collected by users and other sources, so coverage and timing can vary. Treat a third-party alert as a prompt to check the official docket, not as proof that the docket is complete or that a deadline has not changed. The service explains its archive at RECAP and its alerts at CourtListener Alerts.
Some courts have their own additional alert utilities. For example, the Fourth Circuit lets registered public interested parties request filing notices through its Notice for Cases of Interest utility. This is a court-specific feature, not a service available everywhere.
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Understand PACER fees before searching
As listed on the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts’ PACER pricing page accessed in 2026, covered searches, reports, and documents cost $0.10 per page, with a $3.00 cap per document for items such as docket reports. Search charges are based on the pages generated, including searches that return no matches. Some report types and transcripts have no maximum.
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Use alerts as monitoring, not legal advice
An alert is a notification, not a guarantee that you have seen every filing or that a legal deadline is met. Court RSS availability varies, party email notices are limited to their recipients, and RECAP depends on collected docket data. For consequential activity, verify the entry and its linked filing on the official court docket. Monitoring a case does not provide legal representation or determine what action a party should take.
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