# Justia Case Law Scraper (`parseforge/justia-case-law-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes Justia case law by court and year range. Returns full opinion text, docket number, date, court, and citation for each case.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/justia-case-law-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation, Other
- **Stats:** 10 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $23.99 / 1,000 result items

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### Justia Case Law Scraper

**Scrape Justia case law from any US Supreme Court or federal appellate court, up to a million cases per run.** Each case comes with its full text, docket number, date, court, and citation. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Justia's case law database is public, but manually copying decisions is slow and error-prone. This Actor reads the public case pages directly, filtered by court and year range, and returns each match in one fixed schema. It works for the US Supreme Court and all eleven federal circuit courts of appeals.

| Who uses it | What they scrape Justia for |
|---|---|
| Legal researchers | Which precedents a circuit court relied on in a given year |
| Law firm associates | Building a private database of decisions for a practice area |
| Legal tech startups | Training citation or outcome prediction models on real opinions |
| Journalists | Tracking how a court's rulings evolved across a term |

### What it does

This Actor collects Justia case law by direct URL or by court and year filters, and returns each case as a flat row.

- 🔗 **Start URL mode:** paste one case page or one listing page and collect every case linked from it.
- ⚖️ **Court filter:** pick the US Supreme Court or any of the eleven federal circuit courts of appeals.
- 📅 **Year range:** set a start and end year to limit results to decisions filed in that window.
- 📦 **Bulk export:** up to one million cases per run, delivered as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with Justia data

**📚 Build a precedent library.**

A law firm associate scrapes all Fifth Circuit decisions from 2020 to 2024 and imports them into a private search tool for motion practice.

**📈 Track judicial trends.**

A legal analytics startup collects SCOTUS opinions by year to measure how often the Court reverses lower courts.

**🧠 Train legal AI.**

A machine learning team scrapes thousands of circuit court opinions to fine-tune a model that predicts case outcomes.

**📰 Investigate rulings.**

A journalist pulls every Ninth Circuit immigration decision from a single year to find patterns in asylum denials.

### Why choose this scraper

|  | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No API key** | Justia has no official case law API, so this reads the public pages directly. |
| **Fixed schema** | Every case returns the same flat fields, ready for a database or spreadsheet. |
| **Federal coverage** | All twelve federal courts, from SCOTUS to the Eleventh Circuit. |
| **Year filtering** | Narrow results to a single term or a decade of decisions. |

### How it compares

This Actor focuses on case law opinions, while the competitors below target attorney profiles and lawyer directory listings.

| Feature | ParseForge | Justia Scraper with Emails & Socials | Justia Lawyer Directory Scraper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full case opinion text | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Docket number and citation | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Court and year filters | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Attorney email and social enrichment | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
| Lawyer directory by practice area | Not listed | Not listed | Yes |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a direct Justia URL, or leave it empty and set a court plus a year range. Filters run as each case is read, so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.03199 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $3.20 |
| 1,000 results | $31.99 |
| 10,000 results | $319.90 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [Justia Case Law Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/justia-case-law-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Justia through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/justia-case-law-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check your year range. If Year From is later than Year To, or the court has no decisions in that window, the Actor returns nothing. Also confirm the court selection matches your intent.

**The run stops after a few cases.**

Lower Max Items or increase the Actor's memory in the run settings. Large opinions can consume memory, and the Actor stops when it hits the limit.

**Some cases are missing from the output.**

Justia occasionally changes page layouts. If a case page fails to parse, the Actor skips it and logs a warning. Re-run with a narrower filter or report the URL.

**The Start URL returns an error.**

Make sure the URL points to a Justia case page or listing page, not a search results page. If it is a listing page, it must contain links to individual cases.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Which courts can I scrape? | The US Supreme Court and the eleven federal circuit courts of appeals, First through Eleventh. State courts are not included. |
| Can I scrape a single case? | Yes. Paste the case page URL into Start URL and set Max Items to 1. The Actor returns that case as one row. |
| What does a case row include? | The full opinion text, docket number, decision date, court name, and citation. The exact fields are shown in the sample output below. |
| Is there a rate limit? | The Actor respects Justia's robots.txt and throttles requests automatically. You can raise the max items up to one million per run. |
| Do I need a Justia account? | No. The Actor reads public pages without login or API key. |
| Can I filter by legal topic? | Not directly. Use the court and year filters, then filter the exported data by keywords in the opinion text. |
| What output formats are supported? | CSV, JSON, Excel, and XML. Choose the format in the Actor's output settings. |
| How do I scrape a listing page? | Paste the listing URL into Start URL. The Actor follows every case link on that page and collects each one. |
| Can I schedule recurring runs? | Yes. Use Apify's scheduler to run the Actor daily or weekly, for example to collect newly published decisions. |
| What if a case page is missing a field? | The field is left empty in that row. The schema stays the same for every case, so your dataset remains consistent. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Justia, Inc. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of cases to collect in this run.

## `startUrl` (type: `string`):

Direct Justia URL for one case page or one listing page. Leave empty to use search filters.

## `court` (type: `string`):

Court to scrape when Start URL is empty.

## `yearFrom` (type: `integer`):

Start year for case filtering.

## `yearTo` (type: `integer`):

End year for case filtering.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "court": "scotus",
  "yearFrom": 2025,
  "yearTo": 2025
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

Dataset items in overview format.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxItems": 10,
    "court": "scotus",
    "yearFrom": 2025,
    "yearTo": 2025
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/justia-case-law-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "maxItems": 10,
    "court": "scotus",
    "yearFrom": 2025,
    "yearTo": 2025,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/justia-case-law-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 10,
  "court": "scotus",
  "yearFrom": 2025,
  "yearTo": 2025
}' |
apify call parseforge/justia-case-law-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/justia-case-law-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/5AIh4LJag9XImWGYK/builds/t2mU5LGOkDRyzV3IJ/openapi.json