“RECAP the Law” is a free browser extension that downloads purchased documents from PACER and makes them freely available to the public in the Internet Archive. This poster will show you how to use RECAP to locate documents in a specific case and to find sample documents. It will also show some of the benefits and drawbacks to using RECAP to locate federal court documents.

1. It’s
!
Using RECAP: The Law as a PACER Supplement
What is it?
Other people are doing it:
• >1 million cases
• >3.2 million documents
• Most viewed docket has
72,743 downloads
Using RECAP in PACERUsing RECAP in PACERUsing RECAP in PACER
Why use it? Content limits Issues/concerns
• PACER spelled backwards!
• Free browser add on for
Firefox and Chrome browsers
(no Internet Explorer version
available yet, but it is in
development)
• Collects documents legally
downloaded from PACER
and saves dockets and
documents in the searchable
Internet Archive database
Searching without using PACERSearching without using PACERSearching without using PACER
Dockets/documents in RECAP must be available on
PACER:
• Only federal dockets and documents
• No appellate court documents
• Filed with the court (not discovery)
• Only documents and dockets that are publicly
accessible (not sealed or suppressed)
Additionally the RECAP team removes some
documents (those that contain an unmasked SSN
or that have been reported as a privacy concern).
Ongoing technical issues (monitor the RECAP blog for current issues)
• Searching
• Advanced Search doesn’t work
• Some content only available through the Internet Archive version of the site
• Alert feature doesn’t work
Authenticity
• Courts do not use digital signatures.
• No guarantee a document is authentic.
• Get documents from PACER when you need a guaranteed genuine document.
Privacy
• Does NOT upload documents from your computer
• Reporting system available for privacy concerns
• Indexing turned off to protect litigant privacy
Copyright/Legal
• Conforms to PACER Policies and Procedures
• Court authored documents fall in the public domain
• Non-court authored documents probably fall under fair use exception
Use PACER as you normally do to retrieve a docket. If a
document is available for free from RECAP, a blue R icon
shows under the document number (Image 1). Click that icon
instead of the document number link and you get the message
in Image 2. Click the RECAP link to view the document. Note
that you still incurred a search charge on PACER even though
you avoided the document charge.
Image 1
Image 2
Image 3 Image 4
Image 5
You can also search in RECAP without starting in PACER. From the RECAP main page
(www.recapthelaw.org), click on visit the archive (archive.recapthelaw.org). Enter terms in the simple
search box at the top (do not use Advanced Search) and click Search (Image 3). Click the case name
(Image 3) to view the available documents (Image 4). If a document has a Download link (Image 4), it is
available from RECAP. Click the link to download the document. Some documents do not appear in the
RECAP version of the docket even though they are available. Click the Internet Archive link in the lower
right (Image 4) to check for additional documents. Click the Click here link (Image 5) to see all available
RECAP documents (Image 6). Note that the consent judgment in Image 6 is available from the Internet
Archive even though it says But fro PACER in Image 4 from the RECAP site. Always check the Internet
Archive to be sure a document is not online before purchasing from PACER.
More Information
For a copy of this poster:
or
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/
papers.cfm?abstract_id=2446919
Contact information:
Rachel Gordon
Access Services Librarian
Mercer University School of Law
gordon_r@law.mercer.edu
Image 6
Ways to use it
• Use PACER as you normally do. The
add on runs in the background and
downloads documents you access into
the Internet Archive repository.
• Search using PACER and download
available documents from RECAP for
the cost of the PACER search fee.
• Search using RECAP to locate and
download documents for free.