Until recently, every case produced a mountain of papers that were eventually physically archived deep in the subterranean bowels of a courthouse. Now many courts require lawsuits to be filed online, where court papers are archived on publicly accessible websites. Searching by name will often lead directly to case dockets and papers that can be easily opened and downloaded. They aren’t protected by modern data safeguards like two-factor authentication, such as you might find on a bank website. Accessing sensitive information filed as part of a case generally requires no permission or notice to the court, parties or attorneys.

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