The US Courts announced today that they have finally completed their implementation of electronic case filing, with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit joining “every other federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy court… .” Hurray!
This is a great opportunity to remind law students and other researchers that electronic court documents are still a (relatively) recent thing. As we note in our Guide to Dockets and Pleadings:
[E]lectronic versions of filings are only available for most federal cases after 2003, though this date will vary court by court and by case type. For example, in the Southern District of New York, judges started using the electronic court filing system (ECFS) in 2004; but even today, not all filings are electronic because it is up to the parties to provide electronic documents.
So if you’re doing research that requires court documents, keep that early-aughts period in mind. A warning light should go off in your head if you hear anybody talking about with court documents that are older than (approximately) a decade. If you don’t already have the records, they’re likely only available in paper. Those paper case files for federal courts may be stored at the courthouse or at one of the Federal Records Centers, and you’ll need to contact the court in which the case was filed for more information. See Court Records, http://www.uscourts.gov/CourtRecords.aspx.