| name | legal-search |
| title | Legal Case Law and Regulation Search |
| description | Search US and EU case law, court opinions, dockets, and regulations via CourtListener, Harvard Case Law, and EUR-Lex. Use when: (1) finding US court opinions by keyword or citation, (2) searching federal and state dockets, (3) querying EU legislation and case law, (4) looking up cases by date range or jurisdiction. NOT for: current legislation text (use congress.gov), legal advice (never provide), patent search (use USPTO APIs). |
| author | beita6969 |
| author_url | https://github.com/beita6969/ScienceClaw/tree/main/skills/legal-search |
| license | MIT |
| version | 0.1.0 |
| execution_mode | open |
| jurisdiction | cross-jurisdiction |
| practice | litigation |
| language | en |
Legal Case Law and Regulation Search
Search US case law via CourtListener and Harvard Case Law Access Project, and EU
law via EUR-Lex. Covers court opinions, dockets, and legislative documents.
CourtListener API (US Case Law)
Free, open API for US federal and state court opinions and dockets.
Base URL: https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/
Search Opinions
curl -s "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=qualified+immunity&type=o&order_by=score+desc" \
| python3 -c "
import sys, json
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
for r in data.get('results', [])[:10]:
name = r.get('caseName', 'N/A')
court = r.get('court', 'N/A')
date = r.get('dateFiled', 'N/A')
cite = r.get('citation', [r.get('sibling_ids', 'N/A')])
print(f'[{date}] {name}')
print(f' Court: {court}')
print()
"
Search Dockets
curl -s "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=antitrust+merger&type=r&order_by=score+desc"
Filter by Date Range
curl -s "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=fourth+amendment+digital+privacy&type=o&filed_after=2020-01-01&filed_before=2024-12-31&order_by=dateFiled+desc"
Filter by Court
curl -s "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=free+speech&type=o&court=scotus&order_by=dateFiled+desc"
curl -s "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v4/search/?q=patent+eligibility&type=o&court=cafc&order_by=dateFiled+desc"
Common Court Codes
scotus (SCOTUS), ca1-ca11 (Circuit Courts), cafc (Federal Circuit),
cadc (DC Circuit), nyd (SDNY), cand (N.D. Cal).
Harvard Case Law Access Project
Historical US case law (1658-2020). Free API with registration.
Base URL: https://api.case.law/v1/
Search Cases
curl -s "https://api.case.law/v1/cases/?search=miranda+rights&decision_date_min=2000-01-01&page_size=10" \
| python3 -c "
import sys, json
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
for c in data.get('results', []):
name = c.get('name_abbreviation', 'N/A')
date = c.get('decision_date', 'N/A')
court = c.get('court', {}).get('name', 'N/A')
cite = c.get('citations', [{}])[0].get('cite', 'N/A') if c.get('citations') else 'N/A'
print(f'[{date}] {name}')
print(f' Citation: {cite} Court: {court}\n')
"
