In this post, we are going to discuss how to search court records, specifically relating to civil lawsuits.

{If you are interested in reading more about how to conduct a criminal background check (like an expert), check out our previous post.}

I consider court records to be one of the most important and underutilized resources in an investigator’s arsenal, because they are open-source (anyone can access them), they are based on factual data, they can provide an intimate picture of an individual or business and there are millions of data points (millions of cases are filed each year).

As recent as 15 years ago, the only way to search court records was by physically going to each court and searching the records either on a computer terminal or in bound books. Since the late 1990s, however, records have been computerized and with more increasing regularity, the individual courts are putting the records on the Internet.

This is not true for every court, however. Most courts in the United States still cannot be publicly accessed on the Internet, and in some cases still require a trip down to the court (yes, this is 2015).

This post is meant to give you a broad overview of how to do court research, but there are hundreds of exceptions here. There are more than 4,000 state, local and federal courts in the United States and it’s not possible to cover everything.

Before we get into the meat of the post, let’s discuss some general terms about what a civil lawsuit is, types of cases that are filed and some general terminology.

What is a Civil Lawsuit?

In general terms, a civil lawsuit is a case in which one individual or business files a dispute against another individual or business, seeking some type of damages or compensation.

Some common types of civil lawsuits are marital matters, personal injuries, contract disputes, discrimination, copyright infringement, medical malpractice, and evictions or unpaid rent, all of which would be handled by the civil courts.

There are a number of specialized courts as well, such as the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. Court of Claims and the U.S. Court of International Trade, which are separate entities and have their own rules regarding access.

As noted above, finding criminal cases, although similar, is a different ball of wax altogether.

State Courts vs. Federal Courts

There are two different kinds of courts in the United States – state courts and federal courts. In the most basic terms, federal courts handle cases involving violation of federal laws (e.g., discrimination, copyright), the Constitution, cases involving the United States as a party or cases involving citizens of different states.

State courts involve cases involving state or local laws. The most common cases are marital cases, personal injury cases or contract disputes.

For comparison purposes, about 271,000 federal court cases are filed per year compared with more than 17,000,000 cases filed in state courts per year.

Jurisdiction

For the most part, civil court cases are filed in the county or jurisdiction in which a person lives, works or conducts business (in the case of corporations).

It’s critical to understand which jurisdictions (specifically the counties) are relevant before you get started. If a person lived and worked in Westchester County, New York, you need to make sure that you are searching state-level lawsuits in Westchester and federal level lawsuits in New York.

While most cases are filed in the county or jurisdiction in which the plaintiff lived, worked or conducted business, there are always exceptions. For example, a person may be involved in a vehicle accident in a neighboring county from where they have lived their whole life. In large suburban areas like New York City, many people live outside of the city in which they work.

In some cases, the cases may be filed in the state in which a business was incorporated. For example, many large corporations are incorporated in tax-friendly states such as Delaware or Nevada; even if they do not conduct business in that particular state, a case may still be filed there.

Overview of State/County/Local Courts

Most state-level courts are split up by county. There is usually one “main” court in the county, (typically called the Supreme, District, Circuit or Superior Court) with various smaller courts within the county. In most instances, this main court will handle the more significant cases, such as cases involving more than $5,000.

If you are interested in being very thorough, you will need to make sure that you cover both the main court and the smaller outlying courts. In most cases, the smaller courts handle less significant matters, such as small claims and eviction cases, which may not be all that relevant to what you are doing.

In many states, there are separate courts that handle matters such as family issues (e.g., divorce and child custody), and other courts that handle probate matters such as wills and estates. In most cases, this requires a separate search because these courts are usually not directly wired to each other.

In summary, each county typically has one main court that handles the most significant cases and many smaller courts for less significant matters in terms of damages or other matters altogether.

Overview of Federal Courts

Federal courts are a little less complicated. In total there are 94 U.S. district courts. Some states, such as Alaska, are composed of a single judicial district, while others, such as California, are composed of multiple judicial districts.

There are also appeals courts, where an unsuccessful party can file an appeal to have the decision reviewed, but for the purposes of this post, we are discussing only originating cases and not cases on appeal.

How to search court records

So now that you have a brief overview of the state and federal court systems, how do you search court records?

Before conducting the search, there are few things you should keep in mind.

There is no central database

There is no central database for searching all of the courts. Despite the “millions” of records that you might find on some online site, I can assure you that it is not complete or comprehensive. (The one exception, as explained in more detail below, is that Pacer does a very good job of covering federal-level courts.)

Databases can be quirky

Searching databases can be quirky, so make sure you follow the directions. For example, in some instances the full name and correct spelling is mandatory, while other databases will return names with similar spellings. Also, names may be misspelled or entered incorrectly, so be wary of that.

Lastly, many databases can be searched by plaintiff (the party filing the lawsuit) or defendant (the party who is being sued); make sure that you search both.

Official repositories are always best

If you are deciding which database to use, the “official repository” is always the best. Official repositories include state and federal government repositories where you can access information directly through the source — for example, Pacer, the Cook County Circuit Court or the Palm Beach County Court. The benefit, of course, is that you are using an official repository run by the state or federal government; however, these repositories are only as good as the information they contain.

Use multiple sources

It is always recommended that you use multiple sources for searching records, even if you are using the “official” repository. After using one database, always try another — you might be surprised when you find different results.

Numerous times throughout my career, I have found records in one database and not another. Even “official” county-sanctioned databases have their issues.

Civil cases don’t have Identifying Information

Unlike criminal cases, which typically have some type of identifying information such as a date of birth, civil cases do not. So if you find a case filed against John Smith, it could be one of hundreds of John Smiths. While in some cases you may be able to determine within the court documents that the case is related to a specific person, the truth is that you may never know whether the case is related to that specific person.

That’s a whole other blog post though…

Sources to Find State-Level Civil Cases

Online

For many counties, you can access the court records through the web. More often than not, those court records only cover the highest court in the county and not the smaller courts, but each county is different. Also, the depth of the information varies. Connecticut’s case look-up only displays records for 10 years, but you can get records at the local court beyond that. (Insider Tip: Court PC of Connecticut has been collecting records since the 1980s and is a fantastic source for historical records in Connecticut.)

Local retriever

There are thousands of local retrievers throughout the country that can search the local courts. They are a great source of information, too, as they know the ins and outs of the local court system. You can find a local retriever through the Public Record Retriever Network.

Third-party database aggregators

There are a number of third-party commercial database aggregators that have been collecting civil court case information for years such as Lexis Nexis, Westlaw and Courtlink (which is owned by Lexis Nexis).

There are other third-party databases that collect information from a particular jurisdiction like Court PC of CT, which collects Connecticut court records, and CourtTrax, which collects records from Washington and a number of other western states.

Call the court

As a last resort, you can call the court (yes, using a telephone). In many small counties, you can actually call the court and they will do a search for you while you are on the phone. Or in some instances, they will ask you to submit a request by snail mail (yes, using the post office). Just a few weeks back, I spoke to a clerk in Hall County, Utah, who was able to look up a case for me over the phone and email me the records.

Please don’t try calling New York County Supreme Court; they will probably laugh in your face. Or if you do call, don’t mention my name! ;-)

Sources to Find Federal-Level Civil Cases

Pacer

PACER is a national locator index for federal district courts. The site is maintained by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and is updated daily. You can search by party name, case number or nature of suit. You can search the entire database (nationwide) or you can search by a specific region or state.

Third-party database

Just like the state-level lawsuits, there are third-party commercial databases that also collect information on federal court cases, such as Lexis Nexis, Westlaw and Courtlink (which is owned by Lexis Nexis).

Why is this recommended?

Over the years, I have found many instances of cases that showed up in one database and not in another for no explicable reason whatsoever.

Summary

I hope you have found this a useful guide on how to search court records. With over 17 million cases filed per year, that’s a lot of information to go through, but I hope that you now have a better sense as to how to find them.

Of course, if you have any questions or feedback, feel free to leave a comment below.

References:

The Differences between Federal, State, and Local Laws
Federal vs. State Courts – Key Differences
Court Statistics Project
USCourts.gov
National Center for State Courts

One of the most frequently asked questions relates to the availability of marriage records in New York and whether they are public records.

The short (over)simplified answer is no, they are not public records.

The term “public record” (at least my definition) implies that the record is open to the public and can be obtained by anyone with few or no restrictions. If that is how you define public record, then the simple answer is no, marriage records are not publicly available.

They may be available, however, if one of the following applies:

• You are a party to the marriage.
• The records are more than 50 years old, and both spouses are known to be deceased.
• You have a legal court order or other legal reason (i.e., an estate matter) to obtain the record.

If your reason for requesting a marriage record does not fit one of those categories, it is not a matter of public record.

If you are a party to the marriage…

…and you need a copy of a marriage certificate for someone who was married outside one of New York City’s five boroughs, you can make a request to the New York Department of Health.

If the marriage took place within one of New York City’s five boroughs (Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan or Staten Island), you must make a request to the Office of the City Clerk, Marriage Bureau.

If the record is more than 50 years old…

…and both spouses are known to be deceased, these are considered genealogical records, and they can be obtained either through the New York State Department of Health or through the New York City Municipal Archives if the marriage took place in New York City.

There are some exceptions, such as a request from a direct line descendant (i.e., a child), but outside parties cannot request records that are less than 50 years old.

You can also check with the local county. Westchester County, for example, has a vast resource of marriage records from 1908 through 1935.

If you have a legal reason…

…to obtain a copy of a marriage certificate, you would have to contact the local county or town clerk. Every county handles this differently. For example, in New York City, the request can be made at one of several offices; however, in Westchester County, the request must be made in the town or city in which the marriage took place.

In some cases, you will need a court-ordered subpoena; however, in other cases, you may need only a letter from an attorney.

In a recent case involving a legal matter, we were able to obtain a confidential marriage record in New York City for evidence in a legal proceeding. We had to provide a letter from the attorney, which stated that “the Marriage Record is required as evidence in a legal proceeding,” and within an hour of our waiting in line, we were provided with a letter from New York City. In our case, we were provided a letter stating that two individuals were not married, which was critical evidence in our case.

SMI came on the scene in 2011. It evolved because its founders saw a need to take the vast array of social media information available and make that information easier and less time-consuming to digest and use to make decisions.

I’ve been following the company for quite some time, and ran into some of its employees again at the 2015 ACFE Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, where I got a chance to speak extensively with SMI’s sales director, Mike Bosick, and its cofounder, Chris Randall.

I’ve been interested in giving the company a shot for quite some time, and did a quick demo with Mike Bosick several months ago; then after speaking with Mike and Chris at length, they agreed to do a sample report on me so that I could get an idea about what they provide.

I have a pretty extensive profile in social media and on the Web, and I was interested in seeing what they would find, what they wouldn’t find, how it would be presented, and if I could incorporate their social media investigation into my work.

(I was not paid to write this review. Other than receiving a free “Deep Report” on myself, I have not received any other compensation to write this.)

What They Do?

SMI has a team of researchers whose job it is—every day—to identify and capture information on individuals posted on various social media sites. While that doesn’t sound all that complex, for those of you who haven’t conducted social media research before, it’s not as simple as it seems. Given the constantly changing online landscape, conducting social media investigations is time-consuming and sometimes complex.

To do this, they do not just use some computer algorithm that spits out a bunch of pages as a report. It’s also pretty clear that they are not just doing a Google search. They have actual humans who scour the deepest parts of the Web, determine the relevance of what they find, and capture the information. This is very similar to what I do on a daily basis.

Why This Is Important

Social media investigations have become more and more critical as more and more people join the social media revolution.

Why?

Because people will provide information on social media platforms that you just can’t get anywhere else. Like their daily activities. Whereabouts. Employment history. Connections to other people. As an investigator or law firm, this information is priceless.

Because of the immense growth of social media and the constant changes in the landscape, finding someone’s social media presence is not as simple as you may think.

Simply finding a social media profile of a person can be a task in and of itself. Just the other day, I spent hours trying to figure out if I had the correct Facebook profile of a guy named Paul Blair, and I still don’t know if it’s the right guy.

Also, most social media accounts don’t require your real name, so there is a distinct possibility that an account may be created under a pseudonym or a generic screen name (insider’s tip: most people use the same screen name across multiple platforms).

In my case, I don’t have a terribly common name and I have a fairly prominent media profile out there that often includes my picture, so it’s not all that difficult to match up my picture with the right social media profile. But if my name were more common, or I didn’t have any photos on the Web, it would make this task much more difficult.

You would also see that I was in Baltimore, Maryland, for the ACFE conference last month; I love food and sports; and that I talk endlessly about fraud and investigations (I know … it’s quite a snooze).

What You Need to Give SMI

In my case, all I gave them was my business card, which had my name, email address, company name, and phone number.

That was it.

In general, however, it’s best to provide SMI with as much information as you can up-front, so they don’t have to spend too much time trying to figure out if they are researching the right guy, like whether the Chris Brown they want is the musician, politician, baseball player, veterinarian, hockey player, or … you get the idea.

The more you can provide them with up-front, the better.

What You Get

In my case, I received a 103-page report that captured the various links and screen shots of my social media profiles as well as instances in which I have been mentioned across the Web. They do not capture every instance, but they do a good job of prioritizing, by putting the more significant social media sites and mentions toward the top of the report, with the less relevant information filtered at the bottom.

They found a number of social media accounts that I use (including some that I had forgotten that I had signed up for), as well as various articles that I have written or have been quoted in. They also found some phone numbers and addresses that have been associated with me, most of which were accurate (but some that were not).

They also found a website by an investigative firm in California that has literally copied every single blog post that I have written and pasted it into their site (thanks SMI!).

What I Was Surprised About

The biggest surprise was that they found my Facebook profile. For most people, that would not be a surprise, but I’ve effectively locked down my privacy settings on Facebook so that you can’t search for me by name or email, and I turned off the feature that allows Google to capture and index my name.

It’s not impossible to find my profile if you know what you are doing, but it does take some trial and error. This alone showed me that they know what they are doing.

I wouldn’t say I am surprised, since they told me they use “real” humans to do these investigations, but they didn’t provide any false positives. In other words, they did not provide results of other people named Brian Willingham, like the real estate broker or the former cop.

Computers are not all that great at telling the difference between two people with the same name, so it’s clear that this report is not just coming from some computer algorithm that is spitting out a report.

What They Didn’t Find

They didn’t find my Instagram account, which I am pretty active on. I have my privacy settings locked down in such a way that none of my photos or followers are publicly available and my profile picture is not a picture of me, so I wasn’t all that surprised that they couldn’t find that.

Frankly, if I don’t specifically point out which Instagram account is mine, there is pretty much no way you would ever know it was me, as there is no way to specifically link it to me.

And they didn’t find a personal blog that I have maintained for the past few years, but I registered the website under a proxy, so it’s not attached to my name, and the website is not indexed by Google, so again, no real surprise there.

They also didn’t capture my profile on About.me. Frankly, there is nothing significant about this website, but it does show a picture of me other than my normal corporate headshot that is plastered everywhere. As an investigator, I would be interested to know where the picture was taken (any guesses?).

The Verdict

For $150, I think SMI’s Deep Report is a great value. SMI estimates that it would take another investigator at least two to three hours of time and up to five or six hours to find the information that they provided. In some cases, I think it would take much longer.

Social media investigations take a certain level of expertise and patience, and SMI has clearly demonstrated an expertise in this area.

For those who are not all that familiar with conducting social media investigations, I think using them is a no-brainer.

On the other hand, if you are familiar with conducting social media investigations, at the very least, the Deep Report provides a good backstop that could even find some things that you couldn’t.

Our comprehensive background check packages start at $1,000, which can cause a bit of sticker shock to those who are accustomed to seeing “comprehensive” background checks advertised on the Internet for less than $50.

So a legitimate question that is frequently asked is what is the difference between our “comprehensive background check” and what you find on the Internet, ranging from $14.95 to $49.95?

Thoroughness

A little dark secret that most of these online background checks don’t want you to know is that their records are incomplete. And when I say incomplete, I don’t mean almost complete or missing a few records. I mean they are totally incomplete, especially when it comes to criminal records, which is hands down the most critical data point.

The simple fact is that most criminal records in the United States cannot be accessed via one database. Accessing all of them requires multiple data points, and sometimes it even means physically going to a courthouse to check.

Human Touch

Computer-generated reports do a great job of spitting out hordes of information, pages and pages of data that can take days to sift through and comprehend.

But what does all that information mean? And how does it affect me? Why should I care?

Having years of experience, investigators know where to look, what to look for and what is relevant. You don’t need to spend hours culling through data; we hand you the relevant information on a silver platter.

State-of-the-Art Databases

When it comes to background checks, the information that is ultimately included in the final report is highly dependent on the information that is researched and the quality of the databases used to conduct that research.

First, there is not “one” database. There are hundreds of databases that are critical. Second, not all databases are equal, and the most comprehensive ones are not cheap. Last, many of the databases are old, stale or totally incomplete. You ultimately get what you pay for.

Details

So you order an online background check and get a list of a whole slew of criminal offenses. That’s great. But you will typically get little more than a date of arrest, description of the charge and possibly the date of disposition.

But what really happened? What was the outcome? Who was involved? Where did it happen?

Knowing that something happened is crucial, but knowing what actually happened is even more critical. These are the small details that you will most certainly not be able to obtain through an online background check.

Accuracy

Computer-generated background check reports have lots of errors. Since most records that are part of the report are matched by name only, there may be a whole bunch of records that are associated with the person you are investigating based on the same name but that are not, in fact, related to the person at all.

This can be really serious. For example, what happens if the report mixes up two people who have the same name, one with multiple criminal offenses and another with a clean record?

Relevancy

We recently completed a background investigation for a client who was interested in buying out his business partner who had left the country under some mysterious circumstances. The client not only wanted to find out why his business partner may have fled the country, but also was interested in establishing a negotiating position.

So in addition to our standard investigative process, we kept an eye on any financial troubles, assets sold or litigation that the partner was involved in, in order to help give our client the upper hand in negotiations.

Summary

The not-so-comprehensive online background check certainly has its place in society. But if you are looking for an accurate, detailed, thorough, relevant, state-of-the-art background check with a human touch, you might need to look elsewhere.