UniCourt Product Release – Find Key Litigation Events with Docket Date Filters

UniCourt’s new docket date filters allow our users to search through billions of docket entries to find the recent entries that matter for uncovering new business opportunities and developing better pleadings, motions, and briefs. Instead of needing to track thousands, if not millions, of cases to get notified when certain important events occur in litigation, you can now streamline the process through leveraging our docket date filters combined with our automated searches. 

From a business development perspective, when a triggering event occurs there’s typically a limited period of time you have to act or else the business opportunity goes out the window. Docket date filters cut out the noise from search results and help ensure you don’t miss out on the opportunities that can convert into new business. 

Previously, if users were interested in finding cases where a case management conference has been scheduled for example, the only way they could do this is by searching for the keywords “case management conference” and then narrowing down their search results by case filing date. Since this kind of an event comes up later in the life cycle of a case, and not typically during the case initiation, it was very difficult to get results for older cases where a case management conference was recently scheduled.

In addition to locating cases where case management conferences have been scheduled, eDiscovery, court reporting, other litigation support providers may also want to know when key events like discovery deadlines are set or discovery deadlines have been extended. Similarly, law firms and attorneys may want to search docket entries for recently filed briefs and motions for specific case types and jurisdictions, such as all new antitrust related briefs filed in all U.S. District Courts in New York. But without being able to filter by the date of docket entries, this can become very cumbersome and inefficient.

However, now it is very easy to set up an automated search, which you can run every day (or week), and find search results where important events like case management conferences were scheduled in just the last 7 days, irrespective of when the case was filed. We will also soon be exposing this feature to our APIs to make the process even more efficient.

To make use of the docket entry date filters, all you need to do is follow 6 easy steps:

1. Enter in your search terms into the search bar
2. Click the “More Options” filter above the search bar and select “Docket”
3. Click “Show More Options” at the right end of the search bar and select “Docket Entry Date”
4. Filter by a specific date range or by last # of days
5. Click the “Search” button
6. Add in other filters to narrow your search (jurisdiction, case type, case status, etc.)

Once you’ve created the search you want, you can then automate your search to get daily notifications of when certain events occur, such as when a case management conference is scheduled, when discovery deadlines are set, or a judgment is entered. To create your automated search you will simply follow Steps 1 through 6, choose the “Last 7 days” for Step 4, and click “Save this Search.”

On top of our docket date filters, UniCourt is also tagging different types of litigation events in dockets to make it easier to find and filter out search results. Specifically, we are leveraging our machine learning technology to more accurately tag certain types of common motions and events like motions for summary judgment, motions in limine, motions to compel arbitration, trial and default judgments, and much more.

Contact Us if you’re interested in learning more about our docket date filters or if you want to discover how you can use this new search tool to power your business development and case research efforts.

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