legal-search

Legal Case Law and Regulation Search

Search US case law via CourtListener and Harvard Case Law Access Project, and EU law via EUR-Lex. Covers court opinions, dockets, and legislative documents.

CourtListener API (US Case Law)

Free, open API for US federal and state court opinions and dockets. Base URL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/

Search Opinions

curl -s "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=qualified+immunity&type=o&order_by=score+desc" \
  | python3 -c "
import sys, json
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
for r in data.get('results', [])[:10]:
    name = r.get('caseName', 'N/A')
    court = r.get('court', 'N/A')
    date = r.get('dateFiled', 'N/A')
    cite = r.get('citation', [r.get('sibling_ids', 'N/A')])
    print(f'[{date}] {name}')
    print(f'  Court: {court}')
    print()
"

Search Dockets

curl -s "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=antitrust+merger&type=r&order_by=score+desc"

Filter by Date Range

curl -s "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=fourth+amendment+digital+privacy&type=o&filed_after=2020-01-01&filed_before=2024-12-31&order_by=dateFiled+desc"

Filter by Court

# Supreme Court opinions
curl -s "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=free+speech&type=o&court=scotus&order_by=dateFiled+desc"

# Specific circuit court
curl -s "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=patent+eligibility&type=o&court=cafc&order_by=dateFiled+desc"

Common Court Codes

scotus (SCOTUS), ca1-ca11 (Circuit Courts), cafc (Federal Circuit), cadc (DC Circuit), nyd (SDNY), cand (N.D. Cal).

Harvard Case Law Access Project

Historical US case law (1658-2020). Free API with registration. Base URL: https://api.case.law/v1/

Search Cases

curl -s "https://api.case.law/v1/cases/?search=miranda+rights&decision_date_min=2000-01-01&page_size=10" \
  | python3 -c "
import sys, json
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
for c in data.get('results', []):
    name = c.get('name_abbreviation', 'N/A')
    date = c.get('decision_date', 'N/A')
    court = c.get('court', {}).get('name', 'N/A')
    cite = c.get('citations', [{}])[0].get('cite', 'N/A') if c.get('citations') else 'N/A'
    print(f'[{date}] {name}')
    print(f'  Citation: {cite}  Court: {court}\n')
"