Choose the kind of legal record you need
| Record type | Useful source category | Verification question |
|---|---|---|
| Bills and legislative actions | Official legislative portals and APIs | Is this a proposal, passed law or later amendment? |
| Court opinions | Court sites or documented case-law repositories | Is the decision complete, current and from the correct court? |
| Court docket information | Authorized docket databases | Are filings available, restricted or incomplete? |
| Regulations | Official registers and agency publications | What is the operative version and date? |
| Structured research collections | Curated legal-data services | What coverage, terms and corrections apply? |
A source should be selected for the legal question, not merely because it offers an accessible file or search box.
Documented sources to investigate
Congress.gov API — U.S. legislative records
The official Congress.gov API provides structured access to congressional information, including bill records and legislative actions. Its documentation specifies endpoints and how to obtain an API key. It is useful for identifying the status and history of federal legislative proposals, but a bill record should not be confused with an up-to-date statement of enacted law.
Review: endpoint coverage, data update timing, use conditions, the text being retrieved and how later developments are identified.
Free Law Project / CourtListener — court information
Free Law Project's legal data documentation describes CourtListener APIs, bulk files, other access methods and a connector pathway. It can support case-law research and data collection planning. Services differ in their access arrangements, coverage and conditions.
Review: particular court and date coverage, original source, permitted access method, usage conditions, corrections and citation identifiers.
Harvard Caselaw Access Project — historic and digitized case law
The Caselaw Access Project terms describe the caselaw data and metadata under a CC0 1.0 designation, while distinguishing other website materials and expressly requiring users to respect applicable laws and third-party rights. This is important when deciding which part of a public site can be reused.
Review: whether the particular item is covered by the designation, completeness, provenance, data quality and any restrictions that exist outside the website terms.
Other official legal portals
Judicial, legislative and regulatory websites in additional countries may provide official information, but coverage, citation methods, download functions and reuse rules differ. Country-specific sources should be added to this directory only after verifying their official status and governing terms. No universal right to bulk-collect documents is assumed.
Official sources, third-party services and raw data
An official source is normally the first place to check a current legislative or regulatory text. A third-party repository may improve search and retrieval or assemble records from multiple publishers. A data service or API may provide structured access suited to research software.
These categories are not interchangeable. A third-party copy may carry useful metadata while requiring a separate check against the originating court or legislature. An API may expose only part of a record or use updated versions that need to be captured for repeatable analysis.
What does “publicly accessible” permit?
Being able to read a document online is not the same as having permission to download an entire archive, redistribute records, publish a derivative dataset or use the material to train an AI model. Read the source's terms and any applicable law for the exact activity being proposed.
Also consider personal data, sealed or restricted records, embedded third-party works, attribution, automated access policies and the intended jurisdiction. Where a publisher distinguishes data from website text or code—as the Caselaw Access Project does—keep those distinctions in your record.
A simple reuse decision tree
- Identify the record. What is it, who published it and why do you need it?
- Confirm authenticity. Can you trace it to an official or documented original source?
- Check access rules. Is the intended retrieval method supported and permitted?
- Check reuse rules. Are the precise records covered by a licence, statutory rule or other permission relevant to your activity?
- Check sensitive content. Is privacy, confidentiality or a restricted record involved?
- Record your decision. Save the source link, terms reviewed, verification date and person responsible.
If the answer is uncertain, hold the data for rights review instead of assuming unrestricted reuse.
Example: comparing Congress.gov and CourtListener
A researcher examining how federal legislation develops may start with Congress.gov bill actions. A researcher checking the reasoning in a court opinion may use a case-law source such as CourtListener and then verify the original opinion. Using the first resource to answer the second question—or vice versa—can produce a misleading result even if the data is correctly retrieved.
Sources and updates
The descriptions above are based on the publishers' own Congress.gov API documentation, Free Law Project data documentation and Caselaw Access Project terms. Access conditions and data coverage must be rechecked for the specific records and planned use. No site-wide redistribution rights are inferred.
Frequently asked questions
Can I collect court opinions for an internal research project? The answer depends on the records, source, access method, proposed processing and applicable restrictions. Document those factors first.
Are all government records unrestricted? No. Access and reuse can differ by government, document type and governing law.
Is an API always the best way to get legal data? Not necessarily. For a small number of records, an official website may be more appropriate. An API's coverage and permissions should match the work.
How does this differ from the dataset directory? This page helps locate legal information sources. B02-009 helps assess assembled collections and benchmarks for testing and research.
Continue to a documented legal source
Choose the document type and country before selecting a portal. Follow the source's own guidance and make a short provenance-and-rights record for your project.
Find your next useful step
Start with the sources and practical checks above, then continue to a related guide.
Explore Legal Data Sources