Dockets, filings, and court records
Case Caption
The caption is the block at the top of every filing that names the court, the parties, and the case number.
It answers three questions in a few lines: which court is hearing this, who is suing whom, and what number identifies the case. The party listed first is the plaintiff in a civil case or the United States in a criminal one, and the versus name is the defendant.
Captions freeze early and then age. If a company is acquired or a public official leaves office, the caption often keeps the original name, which is why searching by the name you know can miss a case entirely. Searching a shorter fragment of the name usually finds it.
Captions also tell you the posture at a glance. The words in re at the front signal a matter with no opposing party, such as a bankruptcy or a grand jury proceeding, and a caption naming a sum of money rather than a person means a civil forfeiture action against the property itself.
How it appears on a docket
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK. MARIA RODRIGUEZ, Plaintiff, v. ACME LOGISTICS, INC., Defendant. Case No. 1:23-cv-04517-JMF.
Related terms
- Docket Number — A docket number is the unique identifier a court assigns to a case, such as 1:23-cv-04517, and it is the fastest way to find that case again.
- Plaintiff — The plaintiff is the party who starts a civil lawsuit by filing the complaint.
More on dockets, filings, and court records
See this term in a real case
Search federal court records and read the filings where case caption actually shows up. New to federal dockets? Start with how to find a federal case.