Quick Overview
- The following types of civil cases are generally public in US courts: For more information, visit the US Courts.
- Certain civil proceedings are restricted from public access: For more information, visit the PACER.
- Removing civil case information from official court systems generally requires a court order.
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What Civil Court Cases Are Public Record?
The following types of civil cases are generally public in US courts: For more information, visit the US Courts.
- Personal injury and negligence lawsuits
- Contract disputes and business litigation
- Debt collection cases and judgments
- Employment discrimination claims
- Class action lawsuits
- Intellectual property disputes
- Real estate and property disputes
- Federal civil rights cases
Which Civil Cases Are Sealed or Restricted?
Certain civil proceedings are restricted from public access: For more information, visit the PACER.
- Divorce and family court: Many states restrict public access to divorce, custody, support, and adoption proceedings
- Sealed settlements: Confidential settlement agreements may be filed under seal
- Trade secret litigation: Portions of commercial litigation involving proprietary information are routinely sealed
- Juvenile civil proceedings: Civil cases involving minors are often confidential
- Mental health commitment proceedings: Restricted in most states
- Court-ordered sealed cases: Any case where a court finds sufficient interest to overcome public access presumption
How Civil Cases Appear in Google Search Results
Civil cases reach Google through multiple channels:
- PACER/CourtListener: Federal civil cases indexed by CourtListener appear in Google searches
- State court portals: State court websites with public name searches are crawled by Google
- Legal aggregators: Justia, FindLaw, and Law360 publish case information and opinions
- Data brokers: Include civil judgment and lawsuit data in people profiles on Spokeo, BeenVerified, etc.
- Court records aggregators: Sites like CourtListener, PlainSite, and DocketAlarm aggregate civil docket data
- News coverage: Noteworthy civil cases are covered by media with online archives
Can Civil Case Records Be Removed?
Removing civil case information from official court systems generally requires a court order. Unlike criminal records where expungement is a recognized legal mechanism, civil record expungement is less common, so the route often runs through sealing, redaction, publisher outreach and online removal. Options that do exist include: Learn more about court record removal on our blog.
- Sealing order: Petition the court to seal the case file based on specific interests (trade secrets, personal safety, etc.)
- Vacatur: In some states, judgments can be vacated which may affect how the record appears
- Data broker opt-outs: Effective for people-search sites that aggregate civil record data
- Aggregator removal requests: CourtListener, PlainSite, and similar sites have removal processes
- Google Personal Information Removal Tool: For pages showing sensitive personal information from civil cases
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Civil court cases in the United States are generally public record. This includes the complaint, all filings, orders, and the final judgment. Some civil matters are restricted by statute (family court, juvenile proceedings) or court order (sealed settlements, trade secret cases). The default presumption in US courts is openness - parties seeking to seal civil records must overcome that presumption with a specific showing.
You can petition a court to seal a civil case file, but courts apply a presumption of public access and require specific justification - typically trade secrets, personal safety, or extraordinary privacy interests. Courts are generally reluctant to seal entire case files. Sealing specific documents (exhibits containing SSNs, medical records, etc.) is more commonly granted than sealing an entire case.
Civil lawsuit records are not typically included in standard criminal background checks. However, civil judgments - especially debt judgments - appear in some background check reports and on credit reports. Professional licensing background checks may uncover civil litigation. Data broker sites often include civil lawsuit and judgment information in their people profiles, which makes them findable online.
There is no standard expiration for civil court records. Court records become part of the permanent court record unless sealed or expunged by court order. Federal civil records are retained indefinitely on PACER. State court retention schedules vary - some courts retain records for decades, others indefinitely. Data broker sites that indexed the records may retain them long after the court's own records are archived.
Yes. Civil debt collection cases - where a creditor sues a debtor for an unpaid debt - are public record. They are filed in small claims or civil court, and the resulting judgment (if any) is also public. These judgments appear on public court portals, data broker sites, and sometimes in Google search results. Satisfied or vacated judgments can sometimes be removed through court procedures, but the original filing typically remains.
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