How can I get the party/attorney information using the API?

[mlissner]

I'm using the search API to identify a docket of interest. Once I do, how do I access parties and their attorneys' information in a manner similar to what is displayed in the Parties and Attorneys Tab on the front-end?

[mlissner]

The case I use for most of my demoing purposes is the PACER fees class action lawsuit:

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4214664/parties/national-veterans-legal-services-program-v-united-states/

It has a docket ID of 4214664.

Using that, I can go to the parties API and filter to just that docket:

GET https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/parties/?docket=4214664

That returns:

{
    "count": 34,
    "next": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/parties/?docket=4214664&page=2",
    "previous": null,
    "results": [
        {
            "resource_uri": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/parties/12911884/",
            "id": 12911884,
            "attorneys": [
                {
                    "role": 1,
                    "docket": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/dockets/4214664/",
                    "attorney": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/attorneys/8648984/",
                    "date_action": null
                },
                {
                    "role": 2,
                    "docket": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/dockets/4214664/",
                    "attorney": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/attorneys/8648984/",
                    "date_action": null
                }
            ],
            "party_types": [
                {
                    "docket": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/dockets/4214664/",
                    "name": "Interested Party",
                    "date_terminated": null,
                    "extra_info": "",
                    "highest_offense_level_opening": "",
                    "highest_offense_level_terminated": "",
                    "criminal_counts": [],
                    "criminal_complaints": []
                }
            ],
            "date_created": "2023-08-30T11:14:41.656029-07:00",
            "date_modified": "2023-08-30T11:14:41.656037-07:00",
            "name": "TROY LAW, PLLC",
            "extra_info": ""
        },
...

And that's your answer, but you need to make sense of it. You'll see towards the end that this is for TROY LAW, so let's go look at the HTML for that in CL:

_{Ignore the pencil icons, those are b/c I'm an admin}

This one is a bit complicated because Troy Law is representing its own interests in this case, but here's how I think of it:

1. The name of the party is: "name": "TROY LAW, PLLC"

2. That party has a party type of "name": "Interested Party",

3. There are two values in the attorneys key. This key is a bit poorly named, but the idea is that the attorney in the key has two roles for the party in this docket (role 1 and role 2). These correspond to Attorney to be Noticed and Lead Attorney you see in the screenshot.

4. If you want the attorney's information, click the link in the attorney section. That gets you:

   {
       "resource_uri": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/attorneys/8648984/",
       "id": 8648984,
       "parties_represented": [
           {
               "role": 1,
               "docket": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/dockets/4214664/",
               "party": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/parties/12911884/",
               "date_action": null
           },
           {
               "role": 2,
               "docket": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/dockets/4214664/",
               "party": "https://www.courtlistener.com/api/rest/v3/parties/12911884/",
               "date_action": null
           }
       ],
       "date_created": "2023-08-30T11:14:41.893765-07:00",
       "date_modified": "2024-02-05T10:11:47.090192-08:00",
       "name": "John Troy",
       "contact_raw": "TROY LAW, PLLC\n41-25 Kissena Boulevard, Suite 110\nFlushing, NY 11355\n718-762-2332\nEmail: [johntroy@troypllc.com\n](mailto:johntroy@troypllc.com\n)",
       "phone": "(718) 762-2332",
       "fax": "",
       "email": "[johntroy@troypllc.com](mailto:johntroy@troypllc.com)"
   }
   

And that's the full information you need for that party. Iterate over the remaining 33, and you should be in business.

[sanazyavari]

Where can I find the definitions for roles (1 or 2 ..)? Thanks

[mlissner]

Thanks for asking. If you do an HTTP options request to the endpoint (or press the OPTIONS) button on the browsable API, it'll give you the details. The idea is that the API is full self-describing.