Search Every Lawsuit a Name Has Ever Appeared In (Replit Build)
This is the build from the video. One idea, two prompts, and Replit Agent finds the public court data and builds the whole search for you.
What you're building
Every lawsuit filed against someone is public record. The problem is it's spread across thousands of courts, so nobody actually checks.
This app fixes that. You type any person's or company's name and get back the court cases that name shows up in, with the court and the date it was filed. Tap a result and you're reading the real filing. Not a summary, the actual opinion from the actual court.
Replit Agent does the hard part. It goes and finds the public court records API and builds the whole app around it.
Step 1: Start a conversation in Free Mode
⚡ Open Replit here
Start a conversation in Free Mode and paste this. Brainstorm with the Agent until you're comfortable with the direction, like which courts to cover and whether a name has to be a party or can just be mentioned.
I want to create a search that returns every case a name has ever appeared inStep 2: Switch to Power and let the Agent build it
When you like the plan, switch the Agent to Power and paste this. You don't have to pick a data source. The Agent finds public APIs for all of it. In my build it picked CourtListener, the free legal archive run by the nonprofit Free Law Project.
Build a web app where I type any person's or company's name and get back every U.S. court case that name has ever appeared in.
Find the best public court records API for this yourself and connect it on the server side. For every result show the court, the date it was filed, the case name and the docket number, with a link to the real filing. Let me switch between cases where the name is a party and cases where it's only mentioned, and sort by most relevant or newest.
Add an honest coverage note under the results: no index has every court record, and the same name can belong to different people.
Make it clean and easy to read on a phone, handle empty results and errors without breaking, then tell me which data source you picked and how to test it.Step 3: Search any name
Type a person's name or a company's name and hit search. Boom, every matching case with the court, the filing date and the docket number. Tap one and you're reading the real filing.
If the Agent needs anything from you along the way, it asks and tells you exactly what to do.
Optional: add cases that were only filed
Court opinions only cover cases where a judge wrote a decision. To also catch cases that were just filed, paste this into the same chat.
Add a second search mode for court dockets so I can also see cases that were filed but never got a written ruling. Label dockets clearly so nobody confuses a filing with a ruling, and link each one to its docket page.Use it before you hire someone, not to stalk them
The point is due diligence. Check the guy pushing an online course or the contractor who wants a deposit up front before you pay them, not after.
Two rules. The same name can belong to a lot of people, so match the details before you judge anyone. And don't use this to screen tenants or job applicants. In the US that's covered by the FCRA and needs a proper screening service.
Get the next one first
New prompts every week.
Free. The new drops and the tools behind them, before they hit the feed.
No spam · New issues Sunday · Unsubscribe anytime
Hire me for your business
Ready to invest in a custom build?
Implementation and custom builds start at $5,000 USD. Bring a specific business problem and an approved budget. Learning on your own? Keep exploring the free guides or join the community above.
Related guides
Prompt
Build a Spin-Off of a Startup That Already Makes Money (Replit Free Mode)
Give the agent one link to a company that already makes money. It picks the missing feature, names the product and builds the whole thing.
Guide
Build a Viral Reel Decoder on Replit (My Exact Prompt)
The exact one-shot prompt I gave Replit to build an app that reverse-engineers why any reel went viral, frame by frame, with a virality score, the moves you missed, and a full breakdown.
Security
Erase Your Digital Identity From the Internet With ChatGPT
Your home address, phone, and family are sitting on data-broker sites you never signed up for. Here is the exact ChatGPT chain that finds them all and wipes you off, for free.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Court opinions and dockets are public records, and CourtListener is a legal archive run by the nonprofit Free Law Project. Checking someone out before you do business with them is fine. Tenant and employment screening in the US falls under the FCRA, so use a proper screening service for that.
No tool does. The archive my build used holds millions of court opinions plus a huge set of federal dockets, but plenty of state and local trial courts aren't in it. Treat an empty result as nothing indexed, not proof someone is clean.
No. Replit Agent does all of it. It finds the public court records API and builds the app around it. You just describe what you want.
Yes. Type the company name the way it would show up in a case name. Search where the name is a party first, then switch to mentions to see everywhere else it comes up.
Free Mode is where you start the conversation and shape the idea with the Agent. Power is what I switched to for the actual build, because the Agent recommended it for connecting the search to real court data.