Clio Docket lets you search for court dockets and documents across U.S. federal and state courts directly from within Clio Work. You can look up cases by party name, case number, keyword, or legal topic, and refine results using filters, the query builder, or search phrase syntax. This article covers how to run searches, build queries, and filter results.
Search for dockets and documents
The Clio Docket landing page allows you to use the Search tab to look up cases by party name, case number, keyword, or legal topic across all available courts.
- In Clio Work, click Docket in the left navigation panel.
- In the search bar, enter your query. You can search using plain English, Boolean operators, exact phrases, party names, or advanced syntax. Refer to Build queries and use search phrase syntax for more information.
- To narrow your search to a specific court, click the All Courts dropdown and then use the navigation arrows and checkboxes to find and select court(s).
- Click the search icon (magnifying glass) or press the Enter/Return key to run your search.
Build queries and use search phrase syntax
Clio Docket supports multiple search methods to help you find the exact cases and documents you need. You can type search phrases directly in the search bar, or use the query builder to construct your search. As you add conditions in the query builder, the search phrase syntax in the search bar updates automatically to reflect your selections.
- Click the filter icon next to the search bar, then click + Add condition.
- Select the field type you want to search (for example, Keyword, Docket Number, Party, Judge, Status, Case Start Date, or Most Recent Docket Entry).
- Depending on the selected field type, your options for how to search will differ.
- Set how to return results if multiple keywords (terms or phrases) for field types are involved.
- matches Any: Returns results where at least one of the keywords you entered is found (Boolean OR).
- matches All: Returns results where every keyword you entered applies (Boolean AND).
- Set how each value is compared.
- contains: Returns results where any of the words in your search term appear anywhere in the field.
- exactly: Returns results that match your search term as an exact phrase.
- starts with: Returns results where the field value begins with your search term.
- is not: Excludes results that match your search term.
- Nearby words: Returns results where two terms appear within a specified proximity of each other. Enter a first term and a second term, then set the distance (for example, within 5 words of).
- For dates/date ranges: select the start and/or end date.
- Set how to return results if multiple keywords (terms or phrases) for field types are involved.
To add more search terms in a given condition, click + Keyword.
To add more conditions, click + Add condition again. To remove a condition, click the delete icon on the condition block. To duplicate a condition, click the copy icon. Once the query is complete, press Enter/Return or click the search icon.
If you prefer to use search syntax directly, you can use the following reference table to understand how to construct the syntax.
| Plain English | Type a natural language query, such as personal injury. |
| Boolean | Use operators like AND, OR, and NOT to combine terms. You can also use parentheses for more nuanced searches. For example: (Richard or Dick) and Cheney will provide all results involving Richard Cheney as well as Dick Cheney. |
| Exact phrase | Wrap a phrase in quotation marks to search for an exact match. For example: "patent infringement". Results will only return when the entire phrase appears in a docket. |
| Specific field search | Search for a value in a specific field using the field name as a prefix to your search term. For example, type party:(Apple) to find results where the "party" field contains "Apple". |
| Specific field search (combinations) | Search for specific values in specific fields using the field names as prefixes to your search terms. For example, type party:(name:Apple type:defendant) to find results where the "party name" field contains "Apple" and the "party type" is "defendant". |
| Date range search | Use the from: and to: prefixes to specify a date range. For example: from:1/20/2012 to:2015. |
Filter and refine search results
After running a search, the results page displays found dockets and documents. Several options on this page allow you to refine your results and display them in a way best suited to your needs.
- Search bar: Use the search bar to search for keywords within the returned results.
- Switch between Documents or Dockets: Use the tabs at the top of the results to filter by result type. As you select from the filter panel on the left, your selections appear as pills above your search results. Click X on a pill to remove the filter, or click Clear all to reset all filters.
- Sort results: Sort by relevance, by newest or oldest filing date, or by last docket entry.
You can also save an Excel file of your search results by clicking Export docket results.
Up next
- View, Export, and Track Dockets: Open a docket from your search results to view case details, export reports, and track updates.
- Create and Manage Alerts: Save a search as an alert to get notified when new results match your criteria.