FedCtRecords – App to Access PACER

FedCtRecords is an app that lets you access your PACER (Public Access to Court Records) account. Whether you are a lawyer, paralegal, reporter, other other information hound who wants to view United States District Court filings, this app can help you find and download filings that were scanned into the PACER system.

[ Lawyers, Paralegals, etc. READ THIS: This app is NOT used for filing documents with a court. It is for viewing filings in United States District Courts. A separate app, FedCtBank allows you to view Bankruptcy filings. ]

The steps are simple. (The use of the app assumes you already have a PACER account. If not, you need to create a PACER account following these steps.)

1. Enter your PACER login credentials and wait for validation.

2. Select the District Court you wish to query and enter the client you wish to relate the research to or bill. (Note: You need to scroll the wheel of courts to locate the district court you wish to query. You cannot type the name of the court in the space provided.)

3. Enter search criteria information. (Case Number, Party Name, etc.)

4. Review the results and choose which files or items you wish to view.

    

5. Agree to pay PACER’s usual fees for downloading and viewing the item and view the item. (PACER charges the page per view fee, not the app. PACER normally charges a fee even if you were to view the item from a computer or other web browser.)

6. If you wish, you can choose to email the PDF by tapping on EMail in the top right corner. The app will drop a PDF of the item you were viewing into your mail app and send it off to whomever you choose.

Conclusion:

Although this app is written for the iPhone, it works fine in 2x mode on a 3rd generation iPad. You can see by the order above (double click on it to zoom if you wish) that the PDF looks great and is easily readable. You can even pinch the document to zoom in and out to increase the size.

So, now you have a choice on how you want to access your PACER account on an iOS device.

You can take several minutes to slog through a series of web browser screens on your iOS device, trying to find the right district court web page, then, find and click on the the right PACER access for that court, then enter a combination of query data, etc. OR use FedCtRecords to quickly and efficiently bypass the hard work of finding the right webpages and get the filings you need to review fast.

For a few dollars, the time savings alone of finding the document or docket information in seconds instead of minutes is well worth the price. If you need to view dockets or documents on PACER on the go, this app makes the process painless and fast. The ability to download and email the document easily is a bonus. If you need to access PACER on an iOS device on a regular basis, you should consider getting this app.