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https://github.com/sachabechara/pacerr

Automated retrieval and network analysis of the PACER court cases through EM-ECF Court systems, and extraction of documents (docket sheets and non-scealed documents) for academic research
https://github.com/sachabechara/pacerr

legal legaltools pacer pacer-docket-api pacer-docket-processing pacer-dockets r r-package r-package-automation research-tool

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Automated retrieval and network analysis of the PACER court cases through EM-ECF Court systems, and extraction of documents (docket sheets and non-scealed documents) for academic research

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README 

          
# pacerR



[![Project Status: WIP](https://www.repostatus.org/badges/latest/wip.svg)](https://www.repostatus.org/#wip)



Automated retrieval and network analysis of PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) court documents. Developed for academic research on litigation in US federal courts.



---



## ⚠️ CRITICAL: READ THIS BEFORE USING ⚠️



**PACER CHARGES FEES.** You are **SOLELY RESPONSIBLE** for all costs incurred.



### Fee Information



- **Standard rate**: $0.10 per page

- **Quarterly cap**: $30 per user per quarter

- **Your responsibility**: Verify your fee exemption status BEFORE using this tool

- **No guarantees**: The author is NOT responsible for any charges to your account



### Fee Exemptions for Researchers



Researchers can apply for fee exemptions:

- **Application**: https://pacer.uscourts.gov/my-account-billing/billing/fee-exemption-request-researchers

- **Verify status**: Check your PACER account to confirm exemption is ACTIVE

- **Check scope**: Confirm exemption applies to the courts you're accessing

- **Monitor charges**: Regularly check your account for unexpected fees



**This tool worked with my fee exemption for US Courts of Appeals.** It has NOT been tested extensively on District Courts or other court types. Results may vary.



### What This Tool Does



This software automates retrieval of XML docket files from PACER. **Each retrieval may incur charges if you do not have an active, applicable fee exemption.**



### Your Responsibilities



You MUST:

- ✅ Understand PACER's fee structure completely

- ✅ Obtain appropriate fee exemption (if eligible)

- ✅ Verify exemption is active and applies to your use case

- ✅ Monitor your PACER account for charges

- ✅ Use ONLY for legitimate academic research

- ✅ Comply with PACER Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy



You MUST NOT:

- ❌ Use for bulk commercial downloading

- ❌ Use for resale of data

- ❌ Use without understanding fee implications

- ❌ Assume fee exemption applies without verification



**THE AUTHOR PROVIDES THIS CODE AS-IS FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES AND TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR FEES, CHARGES, OR MISUSE.**



---



## Overview



`pacerR` provides tools to:



- **Authenticate** with PACER system securely

- **Retrieve** full docket information in XML format

- **Extract** associated case information (consolidated, related, lead cases)

- **Discover** complete litigation networks through recursive case associations

- **Analyze** patterns in federal court case relationships



Built for researchers studying judicial behavior, legal networks, and litigation patterns.



## Installation



```r

# Install development version from GitHub

# install.packages("devtools")

devtools::install_github("sachabechara/pacerR")

```



## Prerequisites



### 1. PACER Account

Register at https://pacer.uscourts.gov/



### 2. Fee Exemption (STRONGLY RECOMMENDED)

Apply for research fee exemption: https://pacer.uscourts.gov/my-account-billing/billing/fee-exemption-request-researchers



**Verify exemption is active before using this tool.**



### 3. Understand the Costs

- Without exemption: $0.10 per page (capped at $30/quarter)

- With exemption: Free, but verify it applies to your account and court type

- **You are responsible for all charges**



### 4. Credentials

You'll need to securely store your PACER username and password (see Setup below)



## Setup



### Secure Credential Management



**Never hardcode credentials in your scripts.** Use environment variables:



```r

# Edit your .Renviron file

usethis::edit_r_environ()



# Add these lines:

PACER_USERNAME=your_username

PACER_PASSWORD=your_password



# Restart R for changes to take effect

```



Alternatively, set them in your current session:



```r

Sys.setenv(PACER_USERNAME = "your_username")

Sys.setenv(PACER_PASSWORD = "your_password")

```



## Quick Start



### Basic Retrieval



```r

library(pacerR)



# Authenticate (reads from environment variables)

token <- pacer_authenticate()



# Retrieve a few specific cases

results <- pacer_retrieve_cases(

  cases = c("20-1234", "20-1235", "20-1236"),

  circuit = "cadc",  # DC Circuit Court of Appeals

  auth_token = token

)



# View results

View(results)

```



### Retrieve from CSV File



```r

# CSV file with column containing case numbers

results <- pacer_retrieve_cases(

  cases = "my_cases.csv",

  case_column = "case_number",  # Specify which column has case numbers

  circuit = "cadc",

  auth_token = token

)

```



### Network Discovery



Discover all related cases in a litigation network:



```r

# Simple discovery (finds immediate associations)

network <- pacer_discover_network(

  cases = c("20-1234", "20-1235"),

  circuit = "cadc",

  auth_token = token

)



# Recursive discovery (finds 2nd-degree connections)

network <- pacer_discover_network(

  cases = "my_cases.csv",

  case_column = "case_number",

  circuit = "cadc",

  recursive = TRUE,

  max_iterations = 2,

  auth_token = token

)



# Analyze discovered network

cat("Original cases:", length(network$original_cases), "\n")

cat("New cases found:", length(network$discovered_cases), "\n")

cat("Total network size:", length(network$all_unique_cases), "\n")



# View associations

View(network$associations)

```



## Circuit Codes



Common circuit codes for the `circuit` parameter:



| Code | Court |

|------|-------|

| `cadc` | DC Circuit Court of Appeals |

| `ca1` through `ca11` | Circuit Courts of Appeals 1-11 |

| `cafc` | Federal Circuit |

| `dcd` | DC District Court |



See [PACER documentation](https://pacer.uscourts.gov/) for complete list.



## Advanced Usage



### Custom Rate Limiting



```r

# Wait 8-12 seconds between each request

results <- pacer_retrieve_cases(

  cases = my_cases,

  circuit = "cadc",

  rate_limit_seconds = c(8, 12),

  auth_token = token

)



# Fixed 10-second wait

results <- pacer_retrieve_cases(

  cases = my_cases,

  circuit = "cadc",

  rate_limit_seconds = 10,

  auth_token = token

)

```



### Resume Interrupted Downloads



```r

# Automatically skips cases where XML already exists

results <- pacer_retrieve_cases(

  cases = my_cases,

  circuit = "cadc",

  output_dir = "my_xml_files",

  resume_if_exists = TRUE,  # Default

  auth_token = token

)

```



### Extract Associations from Existing XML



```r

# From XML file

associations <- pacer_extract_associations("docket_20_1234.xml")



# From XML content

xml_content <- readLines("docket_20_1234.xml")

associations <- pacer_extract_associations(xml_content)



# Process multiple files

xml_files <- list.files("xml_files", pattern = "\\.xml$", full.names = TRUE)

all_assoc <- purrr::map_dfr(xml_files, pacer_extract_associations)

```



## Output Files



### pacer_retrieve_cases()



Creates:

- `pacer_xml_output/` (or custom directory)

  - `docket_*.xml` - Full XML dockets for each case

  - `retrieval_log_final.csv` - Status of all retrieval attempts

  - `progress_log_*.csv` - Periodic progress saves



### pacer_discover_network()



Creates:

- `pacer_network_output/` (or custom directory)

  - `xml_files/` - All retrieved XML files

  - `case_associations.csv` - All discovered associations

  - `all_unique_cases.csv` - Complete list of cases in network

  - `newly_discovered_cases.csv` - Cases not in original input



## Tested Courts



**This tool has been tested and works with:**

- ✅ US Courts of Appeals (Circuit Courts) - tested with DC Circuit ("cadc")



**NOT extensively tested:**

- ⚠️ US District Courts

- ⚠️ Bankruptcy Courts  

- ⚠️ Other specialized courts



**If you use this with untested court types, verify fee exemption applies and monitor your account closely.**



## Understanding PACER Fees



### Fee Structure (Without Exemption)

- **Per-page cost**: $0.10 per page

- **Quarterly cap**: $30 maximum per user per quarter

- **XML downloads**: Typically charged

- **When charges apply**: Each docket retrieval



### Fee Exemptions

Research exemptions are available but:

- Must be applied for and approved

- May not apply to all court types

- Must be verified active before each use

- Can expire or be revoked

- Your responsibility to understand scope



**This tool CANNOT determine if your exemption is active or applicable.**



### Monitor Your Account

Check your PACER account regularly at https://pacer.uscourts.gov/



**The author has a research fee exemption that worked for Courts of Appeals. Your exemption may differ.**



## Responsible Use



### Rate Limiting



This package implements responsible rate limiting to avoid overloading court servers:

- Default: 5-10 second random wait between requests

- Configurable via `rate_limit_seconds` parameter

- Progress saved periodically to resume after interruptions



**Be respectful of court system resources.**



### Acceptable Use



**Permitted:**

- ✅ Academic research

- ✅ Legitimate legal research  

- ✅ Educational purposes with proper fee exemption



**Prohibited:**

- ❌ Bulk downloading for commercial resale

- ❌ Automated monitoring without exemption

- ❌ Any use violating PACER Terms of Service

- ❌ Use without understanding fee implications



**This tool is for research purposes only. PACER prohibits bulk commercial use. The author does not support or condone use for commercial, non-research, or bulk downloading purposes that violate PACER policies.**



### Terms of Service



Users MUST comply with:

- PACER Terms of Service: https://pacer.uscourts.gov/help/tos

- PACER Acceptable Use Policy

- All applicable court rules and regulations



**By using this software, you acknowledge:**

- You understand PACER's fee structure

- You are responsible for all charges

- You will verify fee exemption status

- You will monitor your account

- You accept all risks and responsibilities

- The author is NOT liable for any fees or misuse



## Citation



If you use this package in research, please cite:



```

Sacha Bechara (2024). pacerR: Automated Retrieval and Network Analysis of PACER Court Documents. 

R package version 0.1.0. https://github.com/sachabechara/pacerR

```



## Development



### Building the Package



```r

# Generate documentation

devtools::document()



# Check package

devtools::check()



# Install locally

devtools::install()



# Build vignettes

devtools::build_vignettes()

```



### Testing



```r

# Run tests

devtools::test()



# Test specific file

testthat::test_file("tests/testthat/test-authenticate.R")

```



## Related Work



- [CourtListener](https://www.courtlistener.com/) - Free legal opinion and docket data

- [RECAP](https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/) - PACER archive project



## Issues and Contributions



Please report bugs or request features via [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/sachabechara/pacerR/issues).



Contributions welcome via pull request. See `CONTRIBUTING.md` for guidelines.



## License



MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.



## Disclaimer



**READ THE LICENSE FILE COMPLETELY BEFORE USING THIS SOFTWARE.**



This software is provided AS-IS for academic research purposes with NO WARRANTIES.



**You are SOLELY responsible for:**

- All PACER fees and charges incurred

- Verifying fee exemption status and applicability  

- Monitoring your PACER account

- Complying with PACER Terms of Service

- Ensuring appropriate use of court data

- All risks associated with use of this software



**The author is NOT responsible for:**

- Any fees or charges to your PACER account

- Verification of fee exemptions

- Changes to PACER policies or fee structures

- Misuse or violations of PACER policies

- Use without proper understanding of fee implications



**This tool was developed for research on litigation in US federal courts. It has been tested on US Courts of Appeals and may behave differently on other court types.**



## Author



**Sacha Bechara**  

Email: sacha.bechara.23@ucl.ac.uk (until end of 2026)  

Alternative: sacha_bechara@aol.com



Developed as part of research on litigation networks in US federal courts.



## Acknowledgments



This tool was developed independently for academic research on federal court litigation patterns. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by PACER or the US Courts.