For anyone who litigates in federal court, PACER is indispensable and often frustrating to work with. You log in, pull the docket, scroll through entries, download filings one at a time, and do it all over again when you need something else. It works, but it's far from frictionless, and it operates at a much slower pace than the AI tools through which more and more legal work is being done.
So we've added federal docket retrieval to the Midpage connector. If you're working in Claude or ChatGPT, you can now ask questions about federal cases and get answers drawn directly from PACER — docket sheets, counsel information, procedural history, even specific filings — without leaving your workflow.
What You Can Do With It
Getting oriented on a case. Ask for a snapshot and you'll get back the essentials: parties, counsel on each side, procedural posture, nature of suit, and current status. The tool handles even the most complex dockets — think sprawling MDLs with thousands of entries, overlapping motion tracks, and bellwether schedules that shift constantly — returning insightful summaries without any manual filtering on your end.
Pulling and organizing filings. Ask for a specific document — an operative complaint, a motion, an order — and the tool retrieves it from PACER. You can also pull all filings relating to a particular motion and download them, organized by docket number, date, and document title.
Drafting and cite-checking. When you need to cite a filing in something you're drafting, you can use Midpage to retrieve the document and pull the relevant passage with a docket citation. If you've built a cite-checking workflow on top of Midpage, you can now fold docket sources into it alongside case law.
Monitoring cases for new activity. Claude Cowork and ChatGPT’s Codex both offer a scheduled tasks feature that lets you set up recurring workflows. Use it in combination with Midpage’s docket retrieval tools to check a docket daily or weekly and get a summary of any new filings. Set it up once and it runs on its own.
Already On, Nothing to Install
No additional steps. If you have the Midpage connector enabled in Claude or ChatGPT, you already have the docket retrieval tools loaded. Give it a try and let us know what you think.
What It Costs
Docket retrieval involves PACER access costs, so this isn't an unlimited feature. During this rollout phase, every Midpage user gets 15 PACER calls per calendar month at no extra cost. If you need more frequent access, usage-based pricing is coming. Reach out if you'd like to be the first to know.
This Is Just the Beginning
Midpage is quickly becoming the legal data provider for AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT, and we’re expanding fast. This is the first of many releases — expect more announcements in the months ahead. Stay tuned!
