Getting to CSV: Unlocking Public Data in the Civil Justice Space

Many Americans are forced to navigate the civil justice system without an attorney because they cannot afford representation. To better support self-represented individuals, we need detailed information about these individuals’ experiences. Data documenting the parties, events, and outcomes in court cases could help legal aid organizations better address their local needs and court systems better manage public resources. However, state and local courts operate their own data management systems and do not make this information readily available in a format suitable for analytical purposes. Courts also vary drastically in the granularity of their public records, causing inconsistencies when attempting to compare data across jurisdictions. This talk will discuss our work to web scrape, manage, and analyze millions of civil court records to better understand how individuals without attorneys fare in the civil justice system, especially in important areas such as eviction, debt, and domestic violence. This talk will include lessons learned in creating massive datasets and promoting data sharing while maintaining data privacy.