Court Data: Best Court Datasets & Databases

What is Court Data?

Court data is all data and information that is related to or produced by the Court, including information about the administrative side of the Court and its employees, operations, systems or proceedures. A court dataset will of course include information about court record, court proceedings as well as research, business affairs and anything else linked to the Court.
Because this category is so widely ranging, as shown above, there is a whole variety of information that could be provided in a court dataset. Additionally, the court records and court information will depend on which court’s data you are accessing. The US Supreme Court will provide a different set of data and records to a dataset relating to US Federal Courts for example.

How is Court Data collected?

Any data that is collected in court or during a judicial process is put into the public domain and this information can be accessed by anyone. While this is the case, data providers collect this information from court records, which are increasingly available online, and collate, process and analyze this data to produce a more comprehensible dataset that prevents companies from having to trawl through numerous records to find the most useful pieces of information.
Court data sources can include anything from court records, such as records of proceedings that have taken place in a specific court, to administrative records, such as employee details.

What are the attributes of Court Data?

When accessing court datasets, you are primarily looking for court information. Therefore a court dataset will primarily include data from court records. This can be information about the judicial proceedings themselves such as what the case was and what verdict was handed or this can be details about which parties were involved, who their legal representation was and the judge who presided over the case.
There will also be basic administrative data to do with the court case. You will find details about the case name, docket number, decision date and jurisdiction as well as, crucially, which court the case was presented to.
Depending on your personal needs, you can also find court datasets that will provide other court information that is less typical of a standard court dataset. For this reason it is important to ask for a data sample before you buy to ensure the data provided matches your personal needs.

What is Court Data used for?

Generally, court data is used by professionals involved in the legal profession such as lawyers, paralegals or clerks. They use court data as reference material, espeically when preparing a case to look for precedents or other cases which might be useful. Researchers use court data for a similar reason as it can give a useful insight into particular cases as well as the legal system as a whole.
The development of Artificial Intelligence has adapted the way legal professions can use court data. These AI programmes can analyze judges decisions and attempt to predict their rulings by identifying trends which is used by lawyers to adapt their arguments to be more successful.
Furthermore, court data can be used by law firms to conduct competitor and market analysis. They can use this data to identify how their competitors fared in similar legal procedures and evaluate their own personal successes.

How can a user assess the quality of Court Data?

The highest quality dataset will provide pertinent and up-to-date court data, but without providing an overwhelming amount. As there is a significant amount of data that is generated during judicial proceedings, not to mention administrative court data, it is important to find a dataset that refines this information into one easily-digestible dataset.
Historical data makes up the base of a court dataset as it is crucial to be able to identify similar cases and their outcomes while conducting legal research for a case. Therefore you should always ask for a data sample before you buy any court data to ensure the information provided properly caters to your legal needs.
Lastly, always read the data provider’s reviews before purchasing any court data to ensure that the data is of the highest quality possible.

Where can I buy Court Data?

Data providers and vendors listed on Datarade sell Court Data products and samples. Popular Court Data products and datasets available on our platform are Legal (Judicial - Court ) Lawyers List Datasets | Grepsr by Grepsr, UniCourt Court Data API - USA Court Records (AI Normalized) by UniCourt, and UniCourt Judge Data API - USA Judges in State and Federal Courts (AI Normalized) by UniCourt.

How can I get Court Data?

You can get Court Data via a range of delivery methods - the right one for you depends on your use case. For example, historical Court Data is usually available to download in bulk and delivered using an S3 bucket. On the other hand, if your use case is time-critical, you can buy real-time Court Data APIs, feeds and streams to download the most up-to-date intelligence.

What are similar data types to Court Data?

Court Data is similar to Intellectual Property Data, Litigation Data, Bankruptcy Data, Patent Data, and Trademark Data. These data categories are commonly used for Legal Analytics and Legal Intelligence.

What are the most common use cases for Court Data?

The top use cases for Court Data are Legal Analytics, Legal Intelligence, and litigation strategy.