Coverage & Roadmap
DocketLayer monitors federal court dockets — the public records of every case filed in US federal courts. This page shows which courts we cover today and where we are headed.
Context
Federal courts are where the most consequential legal and financial events in the US economy are recorded — publicly, in real time. When a major company files for bankruptcy, when a securities fraud case is filed, when a judgment is entered against a debtor, it happens in a federal court and it appears in PACER.
DocketLayer monitors these records continuously and makes them available to AI agents via a single paid API call. No PACER account required. No session management. No scraping. Your agent submits a case ID, pays $0.99, and learns whether anything has changed — and if so, what.
Not a developer? See our use case guides for attorneys, compliance teams, lenders, and debt collectors — or our guide to building your first walleted agent.
Phase 1 — Live now
DocketLayer launches with the highest-volume federal district and bankruptcy courts — the jurisdictions that handle the majority of significant commercial litigation and financial cases in the United States.
District Court
Southern District of New York
The most prominent federal court in the US. Handles a large share of securities litigation, financial fraud, and complex commercial disputes involving major institutions.
Bankruptcy Court
District of Delaware
The preferred jurisdiction for major corporate bankruptcy filings. Delaware's bankruptcy court handles the largest and most complex Chapter 11 reorganizations in the country.
District Court
Northern District of California
Primary jurisdiction for technology and intellectual property litigation. Covers Silicon Valley and handles a large volume of patent cases and tech-related disputes.
District Court
Central District of California
The largest federal district court by case volume. Covers Los Angeles and handles a broad range of civil and criminal matters including significant financial and entertainment industry cases.
District Court
Northern District of Illinois
A major commercial litigation hub covering Chicago. Handles significant financial, corporate, and securities disputes across the Midwest.
District Court
Southern District of Texas
A growing jurisdiction for energy-related litigation and, increasingly, corporate bankruptcy filings. Covers Houston and handles significant commercial and regulatory matters.
Bankruptcy Court
Eastern District of New York
Covers Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, and Staten Island. Handles significant bankruptcy cases for individuals and businesses in the greater New York metro area.
Bankruptcy Court
District of New Jersey
A major pharmaceutical and healthcare litigation hub. Handles significant bankruptcy cases and complex commercial matters for one of the most densely populated states.
| Court code | Court name | Type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| nysd | Southern District of New York | District | Full |
| deb | District of Delaware Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy | Full |
| cand | Northern District of California | District | Full |
| cacd | Central District of California | District | Full |
| ilnd | Northern District of Illinois | District | Full |
| txsd | Southern District of Texas | District | Full |
| nyeb | Eastern District of New York Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy | Full |
| njb | District of New Jersey Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy | Full |
| caeb | Eastern District of California Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy | Full |
Full live list always available at api.docketlayer.com/v1/status
Roadmap
DocketLayer is built to expand. Federal courts are the foundation. State courts, and eventually international courts, follow a clear sequence driven by case volume and data accessibility.
Phase 1
Live now
The 9 federal district and bankruptcy courts that handle the majority of significant commercial litigation in the US. SDNY, Delaware bankruptcy, NDCA, and more.
Phase 2
Q3 2026
All 184 federal district and bankruptcy courts running CM/ECF, added in order of case filing volume. Complete federal coverage means any case filed anywhere in the US federal system is monitorable through DocketLayer.
Phase 3
Q4 2026
Tyler Technologies Odyssey is the dominant state court case management platform, deployed across a significant percentage of US state courts. DocketLayer will integrate Odyssey courts systematically, beginning with the highest-volume jurisdictions — Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and others.
State courts handle landlord-tenant disputes, small claims, family court matters, and state-level criminal cases — use cases that complement federal court monitoring for debt collection, compliance, and legal workflow agents.
Phase 4
2027
State and county courts not running Odyssey — including those on Journal Technologies, Thomson Reuters C-Track, and other platforms — added progressively, prioritized by demand signals from active users.
Phase 5
Beyond
Canada is the natural first international expansion. CanLII — the Canadian Legal Information Institute — provides a free public API covering federal and all provincial courts. Common law system, English and French, low integration risk.
Following Canada: UK courts via the Courts and Tribunals Service, Australia via AustLII, and Singapore's eLitigation system — all common law jurisdictions with accessible public records.
Known limitations
DocketLayer is a monitoring layer, not a document retrieval service. There are a few things we do not do and a few constraints worth understanding before you integrate.
DocketLayer returns docket entry metadata — filing type, description, timestamp, filing party, and a direct PACER document URL. Retrieving the document itself requires PACER credentials on the caller's side. To access documents, use PACER directly, or check CourtListener and the RECAP archive — many federal documents are available there free of charge.
DocketLayer maintains a continuously updated cache with a maximum 15-minute polling interval per court. Data may lag the official PACER record by up to 15 minutes under normal conditions.
Scheduled PACER maintenance windows affect all covered federal courts simultaneously. These are flagged in advance at api.docketlayer.com/v1/status.
Cases that are sealed or restricted in PACER are not accessible through DocketLayer. The API returns an appropriate error response — you are not charged.
Coverage requests
Coverage prioritization is influenced by demand signals from active users. If your workflow requires a court not currently covered, let us know — we track requests and prioritize accordingly.
Email [email protected] with the court name and jurisdiction, or open an issue on GitHub.