How to find the documents behind big legal cases
Earlier this year, I spent a month covering the trial for a dispute between Apple and Epic. The case was one of the biggest antitrust suits in recent memory, and it brought to light revelations about both companies and the larger tech industry, often in the form of legal filings. I (and other reporters) try to pick out the most relevant details from these filings for readers. But sometimes, the documents are worth checking out in their own right. A site called CourtListener makes that easier than it might sound — if you know how to look.
US federal court documents are supposed to be publicly available through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system. But as somebody who frequently uses PACER, I can confirm it’s a...