How to look up a class action case in court records

Every real class action settlement belongs to a case with a name, a court and a case number, and the court's record of that case can be searched by anyone. Type what your notice gives into the helper below; it explains the case number and builds the searches, and the record you find is the most neutral check on the notice there is.

How to read the result

The helper does three things with what you type. It splits a federal case number into its parts, tells a federal court from a state court by its name, and builds links to CourtListener and the PACER Case Locator. It does not run the searches or read the court record for you: the page sends nothing anywhere, and a search runs only when you open a link.

• "Searched as" shows the number in the form most search boxes accept, with the judge's initials left off.
• A federal court means the records are in PACER, and often free on CourtListener.
• A state court means neither of those holds the case; the court's own website does.

A search that finds nothing does not show that a case does not exist. Read the next sections before drawing any conclusion from an empty result.

Reading a federal case number

Federal district courts each explain their own numbering, and we found no single national explanation. One court's explanation, from the District of New Jersey: division digit, colon, two-digit year, case type (cv, cr, mc), sequential number, then the judge’s initials U.S. District Court, District of New Jerseychecked October 1, 2026. Its case-type codes are “cv for civil, cr for criminal, mc for miscellaneous, and m for magistrate.” Other districts use different digits and codes, so the court's own page is the final word.

One code you may meet on a notice is not in the New Jersey list: "md", seen in multidistrict litigation numbers such as the T-Mobile data breach docket below. A state court number does not follow this pattern at all.

CourtListener and the RECAP archive (free)

CourtListener is run by the Free Law Project. Its RECAP Archive is a searchable collection of millions of PACER documents and dockets that were gathered using RECAP extensions Free Law Projectchecked October 1, 2026. A search by docket number works without an account. It has two limits. It holds only what its users' extensions have gathered, so a docket can be missing or incomplete. And each docket page carries this warning: "Items on this page are sourced from PACER and RECAP and may not be up to date." (In re Zoom Video Communications, Inc. Privacy Litigation, 3:20-cv-02155 (docket)).

A docket marked "terminated" can still be paying claims. The Zoom docket shows the case as terminated, yet the settlement website shows payments starting much later; the payments page walks through that timeline.

PACER: the federal courts' own system, and what it costs

PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) holds the federal courts' electronic records. “You must first register for a free PACER account before searching for federal court records online.” The PACER Case Locator is “a national index for district, bankruptcy, and appellate courts” PACER, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courtschecked October 1, 2026. The index is updated once daily. PACER's own advice: “If you do not know where the case is filed, use the PACER Case Locator.” PACER, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courtschecked October 1, 2026

What PACER charges, from the PACER Service Center's pricing page:

• Documents: $0.10 per page PACER Service Centerchecked October 1, 2026, and $3 per document at most.
• Searches are charged by pages generated, even with no matches, and have no maximum fee.
• Fees are waived if you spend $30 or less in a quarter; above that, you're billed each quarter.
• “Court opinions are always free.”

The cheapest way in is the case number: "Search by case number rather than by party name so you will go directly to the case without a charge." One free route usually doesn't help a class member: a party who receives a Notice of Electronic Filing gets one free copy PACER Service Centerchecked October 1, 2026. That copy comes with the court's electronic notice of filing to a party; a class notice in the mail is not one.

Cases in state court

“Both the federal government and each of the state governments have their own court systems.” Administrative Office of the U.S. Courtschecked October 1, 2026 A class action in a state court follows that state's rules, and its records are not in PACER or RECAP. We found no single official directory of state court record searches, so the route is the court itself: search for the name of the court printed in the notice, use the case search on its official site, and type the case number exactly as printed. State numbers follow their own patterns: the Dr. Squatch settlement in the Los Angeles Superior Court is case 25STCV03523 Official settlement websitechecked October 1, 2026, which looks nothing like a federal number. If the records are not online, the clerk's office of that court can confirm the case by its number. That settlement is on the list of settlements that need no proof.

Which document answers which question

Court notices themselves point to the record. The Visa and Mastercard ATM fee notice says case documents are available online through PACER or at the clerk's office U.S. District Court, D.D.C.checked October 1, 2026.

Two worked examples

What to do next, and who can help for free

1. Copy the case name, court and case number from the caption of the long-form notice, found on a settlement website you reached yourself.
2. Search CourtListener by docket number first; it is free. Use the PACER Case Locator if you do not know the court.
3. Compare what you find with the notice: the court, the case name, the administrator, and the website the court-approved notice gives.
4. The court clerk can confirm that a case exists and help with records. Questions about claims and eligibility go to the administrator and class counsel named in the notice, and one federal court's guidance has notices tell people not to phone the court or the clerk's office about a settlement. Free legal aid, for people who qualify, is listed on the options page.

This page describes public court records. It is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

1. What is the significance of the number and letters in my case number?U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
2. RECAP ArchiveFree Law Project
3. PACER Pricing: How fees workPACER Service Center
4. Comparing Federal & State CourtsAdministrative Office of the U.S. Courts
5. In re: Zoom Video Communications, Inc. Privacy Litigation (settlement website home page)Epiq, settlement administrator
6. In re Zoom Video Communications, Inc. Privacy Litigation, 3:20-cv-02155 (docket)CourtListener, U.S. District Court N.D. Cal.
7. PACER Case LocatorPACER, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
8. Search by National IndexPACER, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
9. PACER Frequently Asked QuestionsPACER, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
10. Frequently Asked QuestionsOfficial settlement website
11. Order granting motion to reset certain settlement-related deadlinesU.S. District Court, M.D. Tenn.
12. Judges' Class Action Notice and Claims Process Checklist and Plain Language Guide (2010), PDFFederal Judicial Center
13. Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement, Burke v. Visa Inc., No. 1:11-cv-01882U.S. District Court, D.D.C.
14. In re T-Mobile Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, 4:21-md-03019 (search result listing docket entries)CourtListener, U.S. District Court W.D. Mo.

Each source listed here was read on October 1, 2026.