Accessing justice starts with being able to access the courts and documents filed therein. The U.S. Federal Courts System utilizes online filing for all of its cases, whether they be civil, criminal, bankruptcy or related to patents. This system is called PACER: Public Access to Court Electronic Records. Attorneys and their legal assistants will file records through the use of CM/ECF: Case Management/Electronic Case Files which is the Federal Judiciary’s comprehensive case management system attached to PACER. While only attorneys barred in that specific federal court house may file documents onto the docket using CM/ECF, everyone may access the documents through PACER. Understanding how to research, use and access PACER is an extremely valuable skill. It will allow the user to research persons and entities in support of background searches, obtain court documents which could be used to understand a case or for examples, as well as watch important cases develop, such as those before the U.S. Supreme Court. For this assignment you will complete PACER Training. Please note that while anyone may create a PACER Account with a valid credit card, you are not required to do so for this assignment. PACER training is free and once you have completed training, you will be able to add this valuable skill to your resume. Please read through the entire assignment before beginning.
