Dockets are a great way to gain insight into individual cases. They contain information about the court, counsel, parties, and the nature of the case. Depending on the case, a record of the proceedings might be available. eCourts is the best method with which to access dockets. However, subscription services, like Bloomberg, Westaw, and Lexis, also provide access.
eCourts is the docket service of the New York State Unified Court System. eCourts contains dockets for local civil cases, supreme court civil cases, criminal cases, and family court cases. eCourts also makes it easy to track pending civil and criminal cases from participating courts through eTrack alerts. You will need to create an account to log in.
Subscription services, like Bloomberg, Westlaw, and Lexis, also provide access to dockets. However, their scope of coverage is not as comprehensive as that which is available on eCourts. The main advantage of subscription services is derived from their enhanced search capabilities (i.e., it is easier to perform keyword searches on a subscription service than it is on eCourts).