When first learning of a new lawsuit against their business, most people are shocked. They need more information. Most of the time, businesses will learn of a lawsuit upon receiving a summons. The summons usually contains the core details of the lawsuit. Most importantly, this includes the complaint (which spells out exactly what the plaintiff feels was done wrongly, and what they seek for damages,) as well as deadlines that the defending party must abide by.
However, sometimes businesses are alerted of a new case before receiving the summons. Other times, you may just want to do legal research on a company before doing business with them. In those scenarios, first check PACER, which looks for cases filed in any federal court. Second, you should run a search on the various county websites where the business has a presence. (Alternatively, hire a private investigator who has access to tools that can search most, if not all, courts in the nation.)
Once you have located a case, you will see a ‘register of actions’, or even a ‘docket,’ which lists all of the official paperwork filed in a case.
The documents you want to download are the complaint, request for dismissals, settlements, and orders. If it is a new case, you will only see the complaint. If you are researching a case that has closed, you may see the others. A request for dismissal or settlement document indicates that the two parties settled the matter out of court.If you see an order, it is an order from the judge against one or more parties. Most of these documents will cost around $7-$15 to purchase from the court website.
Lastly, if you are working with a business lawyer on a case or potential cases, good law firms will have ways to monitor the courts and find your name in new case filings, as well as provide you with the information for complaints and do other legal research on your behalf.