RECAP

Name: RECAP
Rating: 4.679245283018868 (53 reviews)
Author: https://free.law

RECAP improves the experience of using PACER, the online public access system for the U.S. federal courts.

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RECAP is a free Chrome extension designed to improve your experience with PACER, the U.S. federal courts' public access system. Developed originally at Princeton and maintained by the Free Law Project, RECAP aims to make the legal system more equitable by providing free access to millions of federal court filings.

When you purchase a document on PACER, RECAP anonymously uploads it to a publicly searchable archive at CourtListener.com, allowing others to access it for free. Before buying, the extension notifies you if the document is available without charge, helping you save money. Additionally, RECAP enables you to set up email alerts for federal court dockets and lets you search the archive directly from your browser's URL bar. With millions of filings preserved since 2009, RECAP fosters transparency and collaboration within the legal community while respecting privacy by excluding sealed cases.

Extension Legal Productivity Privacy & Security

By:

Users:

Rating:

Version:

2.8.5 Last updated: 2025-06-16

Creation date:

2020-06-19

Risk:

Permissions:

notifications
storage
unlimitedStorage
activeTab
tabs
cookies
scripting

Host permissions:

*://*.uscourts.gov/
*://ca1-showdoc.azurewebsites.us/
*://ca2-showdoc.azurewebsites.us/
*://ca3-showdoc.azurewebsites.us/
*://ca4-showdoc.azurewebsites.us/
*://ca5-showdoc.azurewebsites.us/
*://ca6-showdoc.azurewebsites.us/
*://ca7-showdoc.azurewebsites.us/
*://ca8-showdoc.azurewebsites.us/
*://ca9-showdoc.azurewebsites.us/

Size:

1.46MB

Email:

in*****@free.law

URLs:

Website ,Privacy policy

Full description:

Source:

Chrome Web Store

Data ingested on:

2025-07-11

Ranking

# 5,620 ▲ 57

Other rankings

#10034 in Workflow & Planning ▲ 9

#20 in purchase keyword 17 ▼ 1

#24 in legal keyword 4 ▼ 1

#33 in will keyword 46

#34 in browser extension keyword 61 ▲ 3

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Other platforms

RECAP (v2.8.5)

2,283 4.68

(19)

RECAP (v2.8.5)

1,085 5.00

(1)

User reviews

RECAP is a valuable, lightweight Chrome extension that saves users money by providing free access to PACER court documents and contributing to a community archive. It integrates smoothly with CourtListener and enhances legal research. However, it currently lacks support for appellate courts and has experienced recent technical issues affecting uploads and downloads. Additionally, some users are concerned about installation warnings and difficulties locating uploaded documents on PACER.

Pros

Significantly reduces costs by providing free access to PACER court documents.
Lightweight and easy to use without slowing down the browser.
Automatically archives purchased PACER documents for community use.
Integrates well with CourtListener, enhancing document search and access.
Community-driven project that contributes to free public access to legal documents.

Cons

Does not support appellate court documents, limiting usefulness for some users.
Recent issues with functionality, including failure to upload documents and null responses on docket downloads.
Installation warnings due to not following Chrome’s best practices cause user hesitation.
Some users report difficulty finding uploaded files on PACER, indicating possible sync or search issues.

Recent reviews

An enormous contribution to a free, civil society in the US and beyond, and useful to no end! Thank you RECAP!

C.*****, 2024-12-02

I am not downloading the extension, so this isn't exactly a review of it but rather the process; the reason I'm not downloading is that I've been warned that it is not being supported because it doesn't follow Chrome best practices, as well as the mixed reviews I'm seeing from those who have. Why wouldn't it follow best practices? Presumably these are there for consumer protection, or at least not harmful. Any other ideas?

Lo*****, 2024-08-22

"This document will not be uploaded to the RECAP Archive because the extension has detected that this page may return a combined PDF and consistently splitting these files in a proper manner is not possible for now." Split it improperly then, please. Or don't bother splitting it. Preventing your adoring public from using your excellent service for such a silly reason make you look like you've switched sides :-(

Da*****, 2024-08-01

View all user reviews ›

Extension safety

Risk impact

Risk impact measures the level of extra permissions an extension has access to. A low risk impact extension cannot do much harms, whereas a high risk impact extension can do a lot of damage like stealing your password, bypassing your security settings, and accessing your personal data. High risk impact extensions are not necessarily malicious. However, if they do turn malicious, they can be very harmful.

RECAP requires some sensitive permissions that could impact your browser and data security. Exercise caution before installing.

Risk impact analysis details

Critical Grants access to browser tabs, which can be used to track user browsing habits and history, presenting a privacy concern.
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Risk likelihood

Risk likelihood measures the probability that a Chrome extension may turn malicious. This is determined by the publisher and the Chrome extension reputation on Chrome Web Store, the amount of time the Chrome extension has been around, and other signals about the Chrome extension. Our algorithms are not perfect, and are subject to change as we discover new ways to detect malicious extensions. We recommend that you always exercise caution when installing a Chrome extension.

RECAP is probably trust-worthy. Prefer other publishers if available. Exercise caution when installing this extension.

Risk likelihood analysis details

High This extension was recently updated in the past month. New updates may not be stable or safe.
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Low **** ********* *** ***** **** **** * ****** **** ***** ********** *** **** ****** ** ** ****** *** *****
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