Identify the kind of information you need when launching a lawsuit search. Find out the court where it was filed, state, city and year. Judges names are very helpful to begin your search, but if you don't have that information, make sure that you have the correct spelling and date on the defendant and/or the plaintiff.

Lawsuit searches are typically slow and require a significant amount of effort to product results. Do as much of the work yourself in order to reduce the overall costs of this project. Use libraries, law schools and free legal advisers to gain as much information as possible. Follow the three steps below to enhance your knowledge of lawsuit records search basics.

1. Use a free lawsuit database.

2. Meet with private investigation firms to complete a lawsuit search.

3. Hire a law firm to complete a lawsuit records search.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Investigate free lawsuit database

Make a list of the information that you need to find in a lawsuit search. Think about the type of law, the jurisdiction or court where the lawsuit would have been filed. Speak with your legal adviser about using a lawsuit database to search lawsuits. Discuss the method used when filing a lawsuit to determine the more likely method for success in a lawsuit look up project.

I recommend: Look at the public lawsuit databases available for free on the Internet. The Online Public Records Search and the Free Records Registry both provide tools to assist with this task. When you are searching for lawsuit records, make a note of what your find and request copies from the court where the lawsuit was filed. These copies provide greater detail than can be found using search tools.

Hire a private investigation firm to complete a lawsuit search

Locate a private investigation firm that has the skills necessary to complete a law suit search. Provide them with the details required to complete a proper search for the law suit. Keep confidential or personal information separate, as private investigators are not lawyers, and are not covered by client-lawyer confidentiality.

I recommend: Meet with representatives from firms, such as Your Own Private Eye or Intelius to discuss your needs. When looking for private investigator firm to complete a law suit search, check their credentials and references with care. These firms often charge less than a law firm, but the savings are only realized if they complete the work as assigned.

Engage a specialist firm to complete a lawsuit records search

Hire a lawsuit records search firm to assist you in the search for lawsuits. Meet with the firms and discuss your specific requirements. Ask about fees, timeline and confidentiality. Discuss who will be responsible to look up lawsuits on your behalf and outline what steps you would like to follow when then find lawsuits that match your requirements.

I recommend: Schedule meetings with firms, such as AAA Credit or KnowX to discuss your needs. When looking for law suit search firms, try to locate ones in the city or state when the suit was originally filed. Due to their location, they would be able to locate, copy and send the public lawsuit records and files to you at a lower cost than a firm located further away.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  A lawsuit search provides access to important legal history, legal precedent and can be a great assistance when fighting a lawsuit. Spend the time to check reference of any firm your hire to ensure you get value for your money.

If your business is contemplating partnering with another company or entity, it is often useful to find lawsuits in which your potential partner may have been involved. If a look at a lawsuit database or two shows that your potential business partner is involved in legal battles, that is vital information. If you are in the legal field, of course, you may run more than one lawsuit search as research for upcoming cases.

Just as there is more than one reason for a lawsuit records search, there is more than one way to find lawsuits. You can access a lawsuit database online for free, run a paid lawsuit search or even hire a company to run hand-checked lawsuit records search services. In almost all cases, lawsuits leave a paper trail of public records and every lawsuit public record search hones in on these records to help you find the information you are looking for. When conducting a lawsuit record search, consider:

1. Double-checking any free lawsuit public records for accuracy.

2. Confirming any information you find through paid records sites to ensure you aren’t dealing with a case of mistaken identity.

3. Seeking services that hand-check lawsuit records.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Conduct a free lawsuit public records search

For quick information about lawsuits, a free online public lawsuit records search is ideal. Many of these free services allow you to search for multiple records, including arrest records, court records and criminal records. While not all the information on these databases is completely up-to-date and accurate, a free search is a good starting place.

I recommend: Pretrieve allows you to search for public records (including court records) with an easy-to-use Google-like interface. PublicRecordsWire allows you to easily search court records and cases, with new sources of information added to the site almost daily.

Run a paid lawsuit record search

As you search for lawsuits, you will want to look up civil as well as criminal public records, and while many criminal records are available online for free, civil records are often available through paid lawsuit lookup sites. These sites usually charge a nominal fee and allow members to access and search a database discreetly. These paid services are often more streamlined than free searches--a good option if you are short on time.

I recommend: FindPublicrecords.com is a recognized online record search that lets you search multiple data sources simultaneously. GovtRegistry.com allows you to easily search arrest records, court records and criminal records online.

Hire a service to run custom lawsuit record searches

Many legal professionals and private investigators who use public record and lawsuit searches note that online databases often contain errors. These professionals recommend that if you need to look up lawsuits for a legal case or to make an important business decision, using a customized lawsuit lookup service may be the best option. Although getting someone to research lawsuits for you can cost more, it ensures that records are hand-checked for accuracy.

I recommend: Corporate Screening specializes in searches for criminal and civil records on behalf of companies. AIS has a number of services – including criminal and civil searches that can help you uncover lawsuit information and records.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Another option for getting information about lawsuits is to hire a private investigator. If your business runs many lawsuit searches, you can often hire a PI on retainer. A PI can provide you with verified and accurate information that has been accurately checked, which is important if you will be using lawsuit information for legal cases or for decision-making.
• •  Keep in mind that most lawsuit searches are in fact public records searches and contain many types of records that are not relevant. Looking through these databases does take some time and effort.

Investigate thoroughly all the aspects of a lawsuit search. There are a wide range of resources available to assist you when you start to look up lawsuits. Make a list of exactly what you are looking for, time line and an budget.

Review your options and make careful note of the pricing and costs of lawsuit records search. Set your budget with care and take the time to read the fine print before making a decisions. Follow the three steps below to learn more about the pricing and costs of lawsuit records search.

1. Discover lawsuit search costs.

2. Get quotes for lawsuit search.

3. Discuss lawsuit search options.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Review lawsuit search costs

Investigate the costs for starting a lawsuit search. Contact staff at your local courthouse and research the fees required for a public record lawsuits search, as well as the cost for copies of legal documents. The fees for a copy of a lawsuit are usually by the page and can be lower for high volume orders.

I recommend: The average cost per page for the results of a lawsuit look up range from $10 to $25 per page. This cost includes accessing a lawsuit database, locating the file and printing legal copies. Verify the details of the cost structure with care. The Minnesota Judicial Bench and Baton Rouge City Court are both court websites with a listing of the costs.

Obtain quotes for a lawsuit search

Meet with at least three different law firms to get quotes for your lawsuit records search. Depending on the complexity, costs range from $500 to $25,000. Ask what you can do to reduce the costs and speed up the process such as hiring private investigators and using services that offer to find lawsuits.

I recommend: Make a list of what you require, time lines and schedule meetings with lawyers to obtain quotes for services. Martindale.com provides a directory of law firms and professional services. Discuss the level of expertise required to complete the actual lawsuit records search and the type of lawyer supervising the work. Ask about incidental fees for phone calls, photocopies, couriers and other expenses. Read about other lawsuit searches and their results on Lawsuit Search.

Investigate lawsuit search options

Talk with paralegal, law clerk or private investigator firms. The amount of legal expertise and skill required depends on the rules in different states.

I recommend: Meet with paralegal and private investigators to discuss what information you required from the lawsuit record and their access to an updated lawsuit database. Cost range from $300 to $5,000, depending on the level of skill required to complete the tasks required. Review the directory of resources available through the Private Investigator Magazine for more associations. Search lawsuits at KnowX.com, which charges less than $3 for a single search and up to about $20 for viewing the detailed records.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Obtain multiple quotes before signing a contract with a lawsuit records search firm. Compare prices and descriptions carefully to make sure that you are getting what you need at the best possible price.

As a business owner, it's important to verify that whomever you ally yourself with is trustworthy and financially stable. One way to do that is to perform a lawsuit records search to see if there have been any actions filed against the individual or business.

There are several ways you can obtain a lawsuit records search, including case search sites provided by counties or by talking to the county clerk. There are also several other ways to obtain these search results.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Lawsuit

First, it's important to understand what a lawsuit actually is. A lawsuit, also known as a civil action, is where one party, known as the plaintiff or claimant, files a document with the court stating that the defendant (or respondent) did something wrong and seeks restitution for that wrong. Most lawsuits involve an unpaid debt and doing a search for these lawsuits will help you determine whether a customer or associated business is financially and morally stable.

I recommend: Visit Legal Forms Kit to learn more about lawsuits and the legal process associated with filing them.

Intelius

Intelius is a top Internet database that searches lawsuit records. Additionally, it provides clients with criminal records, background checks, driving records, credit reports and other screening services. This gives businesses the opportunity to not only know who they're working with, but also to prescreen employees before hiring them.

I recommend: Read more about Intelius screening solutions on its website.

KnowX

KnowX is the court records search service provided by Lexis Nexis. Lexis Nexis is the number one information solution for law firms and other corporations regarding laws, regulations and cases. KnowX provides a number of resources including background checks (which includes its lawsuit records search), people locations, asset searches, business information and licensing searches.

I recommend: Look over KnowX lawsuit records search tips to obtain the most accurate and informative results.

Private investigator

Private investigators, also known as P.Is. or private detectives, assesses individuals and businesses by obtaining private information. Among the many services they provide are lawsuit records searches. If you prefer not to do the work yourself, a P.I. can find the information you need for you.

I recommend: Obtain more information on the searches a private investigator like John A. DeMarr, P.I. can provide, such as a search of public court records.

Skip trace

Skip tracing is a means of locating an individual or business with only limited information available to you. While you may not need to locate someone, skip tracing firms check all possible leads and records in their investigation, including court records.

I recommend: Among the background search services listed for RZD Investigative Group are judgment records, liens, bankruptcies and UCC filings.

Judgment

A judgment, sometimes spelled 'judgement,' is the court's final decision in a case. It states which party has proved its position, typically with the phrase 'judgment in favor of' or 'judgment against' the plaintiff or defendant. The judgment also states any money owed by either party as well as how and to whom to pay it. This is the first thing you should look for when you obtain the lawsuit records search results.

I recommend: Visit the National Check Fraud Center for a better understanding of what the winning party can do with a judgment.