# CourtListener Case Law Scraper (`parselab/courtlistener-case-law-scraper`) Actor

Search millions of US federal and state court opinions and RECAP dockets by keyword, court and date. No login required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parselab/courtlistener-case-law-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Alonso Garcia](https://apify.com/parselab) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Lead generation, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $41.25 / 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.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## ⚖️ CourtListener Case Law Search Scraper

> Search millions of US federal and state court opinions by keyword, court and date — no login required.

### What it does

Queries CourtListener's (Free Law Project) public case law search API and returns structured records: case
name, court, date filed, docket number, citation(s), times cited, judge, precedential status, and an opinion
text snippet.

### Input

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `maxItems` | Max results. Free users limited to 10. |
| `query` | Full-text search (required). |
| `searchType` | Opinions, RECAP federal filings, or judges. |
| `court` | CourtListener court ID (e.g. `scotus`, `ca9`, `cand`). |
| `filedAfter` / `filedBefore` | Date range (YYYY-MM-DD). |
| `orderBy` | Relevance, newest, oldest, or most cited. |

### Output fields

`caseName`, `court`, `dateFiled`, `docketNumber`, `citation`, `citeCount`, `judge`, `precedentialStatus`,
`snippet`, `caseUrl`, `scrapedAt`, `error`.

### Disclaimer

This actor collects publicly available data from CourtListener.com, a project of the nonprofit Free Law
Project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by CourtListener or the Free Law Project. Use of the collected
data must comply with their Terms of Service and applicable law.

# Actor input Schema

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Free users: Limited to 10 items (preview). Paid users: Optional, max 1,000,000.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Full-text search across case names, opinion text and citations, e.g. 'patent infringement' or 'Apple v. Samsung'.

## `searchType` (type: `string`):

Type of records to search. 'Courts' ignores Search Query and lists all ~3,300 CourtListener courts.

## `court` (type: `string`):

Restrict to a specific court by its CourtListener court ID, e.g. 'scotus' (Supreme Court), 'ca9' (9th Circuit), 'cand' (N.D. Cal.). Leave empty for all courts.

## `filedAfter` (type: `string`):

Only include opinions/filings filed on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD).

## `filedBefore` (type: `string`):

Only include opinions/filings filed on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).

## `orderBy` (type: `string`):

How to order results.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "searchType": "o",
  "orderBy": "score desc"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parselab/courtlistener-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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "maxItems": 10 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parselab/courtlistener-case-law-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parselab/courtlistener-case-law-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parselab/courtlistener-case-law-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/vLcQBbVL1w76FPYn1/builds/uMudyqVHfCLjIMAVn/openapi.json