# FindLaw Case Law Scraper (`moving_beacon-owner1/findlaw-case-law-scraper`) Actor Scrapes FindLaw case-law pages into structured records with case names, citations, court details, dates, summaries, breadcrumbs, and full opinion text. Supports multiple URLs, citation parsing, JSON-LD extraction, and Cloudflare-aware scraping. - **URL**: https://apify.com/moving\_beacon-owner1/findlaw-case-law-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Jamshaid Arif](https://apify.com/moving_beacon-owner1) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation, Other - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $9.99 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## FindLaw Case Law Scraper Apify actor that turns [caselaw.findlaw.com](https://caselaw.findlaw.com) opinion pages into structured records. One dataset item per page. ### Input ```json { "urls": [ "https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/347/483.html", "/court/us-supreme-court/410/113.html" ], "maxBodyChars": 50000, "requestDelaySecs": 2 } ```` Bare paths are resolved against `caselaw.findlaw.com`. Article and attorney-profile pages on `findlaw.com` work too (they yield the JSON-LD fields instead of case fields). ### What gets parsed The generic engine pulls title, description, JSON-LD (Article/Attorney/Person: name, phone, rating, address, date). On top of that, case-law pages get properly structured: | Field | Example | |---|---| | `case_name` | `BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION` | | `citation` | `347 U.S. 483` | | `volume` / `reporter` / `first_page` | `347` / `U.S.` / `483` | | `year` | `1954` | | `court` | `US Supreme Court` | | `docket_number` | `10` | | `argued_date` | `1952-12-09` (ISO) | | `decided_date` | `1954-05-17` (ISO) | | `case_summary` | FindLaw's summary, boilerplate stripped | | `breadcrumbs` | `["FINDLAW", "CASE LAW", "United States", "US Supreme Court"]` | | `body_text` / `body_chars` | full opinion text (truncated to `maxBodyChars`; 0 = unlimited) | Citation parsing handles digit-bearing reporters (`F.3d`, `F.Supp.2d`, `Cal.App.4th`), not just `U.S.` Non-case pages simply omit the case fields rather than guessing. ### Cloudflare FindLaw is Cloudflare-protected. The actor uses curl\_cffi browser TLS impersonation (rotating chrome/safari/edge/firefox on blocks), interstitial detection, and backoff — which cleared it in testing at low volume. For batches keep `requestDelaySecs` at 2+ and enable Apify **RESIDENTIAL** proxy if blocks appear. # Actor input Schema ## `urls` (type: `array`): Case-law opinion URLs (`https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/347/483.html`). Article and attorney-profile pages on findlaw.com also work. Paths starting with `/` are resolved against caselaw.findlaw.com. ## `maxBodyChars` (type: `integer`): Truncate the extracted opinion/body text. Full Supreme Court opinions run 20k-100k+ characters. 0 = no limit. ## `requestDelaySecs` (type: `integer`): FindLaw is Cloudflare-protected — keep at 2+ for batches. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): TLS impersonation cleared Cloudflare in testing at low volume; enable Apify RESIDENTIAL proxy for larger runs or if blocks appear. ## Actor input object example ```json { "urls": [ "https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/347/483.html" ], "maxBodyChars": 50000, "requestDelaySecs": 2, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "urls": [ "https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/347/483.html" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("moving_beacon-owner1/findlaw-case-law-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "urls": ["https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/347/483.html"] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("moving_beacon-owner1/findlaw-case-law-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "urls": [ "https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/347/483.html" ] }' | apify call moving_beacon-owner1/findlaw-case-law-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=moving_beacon-owner1/findlaw-case-law-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "FindLaw Case Law Scraper", "description": "Scrapes FindLaw case-law pages into structured records with case names, citations, court details, dates, summaries, breadcrumbs, and full opinion text. Supports multiple URLs, citation parsing, JSON-LD extraction, and Cloudflare-aware scraping.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "GhCCxgMdupnd1zyQJ" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/moving_beacon-owner1~findlaw-case-law-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-moving_beacon-owner1-findlaw-case-law-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/moving_beacon-owner1~findlaw-case-law-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-moving_beacon-owner1-findlaw-case-law-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/moving_beacon-owner1~findlaw-case-law-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-moving_beacon-owner1-findlaw-case-law-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "urls" ], "properties": { "urls": { "title": "FindLaw URLs", "type": "array", "description": "Case-law opinion URLs (`https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/347/483.html`). Article and attorney-profile pages on findlaw.com also work. Paths starting with `/` are resolved against caselaw.findlaw.com.", "default": [ "https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-supreme-court/347/483.html" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxBodyChars": { "title": "Max opinion text characters", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Truncate the extracted opinion/body text. Full Supreme Court opinions run 20k-100k+ characters. 0 = no limit.", "default": 50000 }, "requestDelaySecs": { "title": "Delay between requests (seconds)", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 30, "type": "integer", "description": "FindLaw is Cloudflare-protected — keep at 2+ for batches.", "default": 2 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "TLS impersonation cleared Cloudflare in testing at low volume; enable Apify RESIDENTIAL proxy for larger runs or if blocks appear.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": false } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```