Case Management and Court Records
What this domain tests
Case management and court records test how filings become dockets, how cases are scheduled and monitored, and how records are kept, accessed, retained, and destroyed. Questions cover filing and docketing, case-flow management, adjournments, exhibit handling, public access, sealing, retention schedules, and e-filing integrity.
Core rules and concepts
- Every filing should be date-stamped and docketed; the docket is the authoritative index, while the case file contains the documents.
- Differential case management assigns tracks and timelines by case complexity; individual case management is reserved for exceptional matters.
- Adjournments should be granted only for good cause, on terms, and with a new date; repeated adjournments harm witnesses and litigants.
- Court records are presumptively open; sealing must be necessary, proportionate, and narrowly tailored, with redaction preferred.
- Retention schedules are mandatory; destruction must be authorized, documented, and suspended for appeals or investigations.
Worked example
A party asks to seal a settlement agreement because it is commercially sensitive. The court should consider open justice, the public interest in the litigation, and whether redaction or a confidentiality order would suffice. If the amount is already public in the judgment, sealing the whole agreement is disproportionate. The court may seal only specific clauses and order a public version.
Traps
Confusing the docket with the complete file; sealing an entire record to protect one name; destroying records subject to a litigation hold; and backdating filings to hide delay.