Request a Copy of an Appeals Court Case Document or Oral Argument Recording

Written Request.  Documents filed in an Appeals Court case may be identified by visiting www.ma-appellatecourts.org and using the search feature to find the case and examine the docket.  Please make your request for copies of case documents in writing and include the following details:

• Your name and physical mailing address,
• Your email address (most requests will be fulfilled by email),
• Appeals Court docket number (e.g., 2024-P-0123),
• Case name (e.g., Name v. Name),
• Specific document(s) requested (e.g., paper # 6 on the court's docket; the appellant's brief and record appendix), and
• If you are asking for fees to be waived, provide supporting documentation (e.g., affidavit of indigency, CPCS Notice of Assigned Counsel form) in support of your request for waiver.

Please send the request to the Appeals Court in one of the following ways:

• By Email.  Send an email to APCRecordsRequest@jud.state.ma.us.  A staff member will respond to your email with information regarding payment and any additional information that is required to fulfill the request.
• By Mail.  Mail your request to the Appeals Court at this address:

Appeals Court Clerk's Office
ATTN: Records Request
John Adams Courthouse
One Pemberton Square, Suite 1200
Boston, MA 02108

Unless you are requesting a fee waiver, please enclose payment by check or money order using the schedule of fees below.  If you need to pay the fee in cash or by credit card, you must come to the court in person.  The court is temporarily unable to accept online card payments.  If you are not sure what your total fee is, please first contact the Appeals Court by email or phone to verify the fee amount.

• In Person.  You may come to the John Adams Courthouse in person, but it is not necessary unless you need to pay the fee in cash or by credit card.  The court is temporarily unable to accept card payments online.  You may first contact the court by email or by phone to see if the Clerk's Office can assist you remotely.

Form of Transmission.  When possible, the Appeals Court will send requested case documents by email, in PDF file format.  Please note that depending on the file size of document(s) requested, it may not be possible for the court to email a particular document, or multiple emails may be necessary.  If the court cannot email a document, ordinarily it must be mailed on a CD-ROM (CD).  A $4 surcharge for the mailing of the CD applies and is in addition to the cost of the documents.  For more detail, see the fee schedule below. On a case-by-case basis, the Appeals Court may make certain larger documents available electronically through a web portal.  Please inquire by email or phone to see if this is possible for your request. 

Impounded Case Records.  Impounded case documents will only be made available to a party or attorney who has entered an appearance in a case.  The Clerk must verify the requester’s identity and participation in the case before permitting access to any impounded case record.  If you are an attorney contacting the court by email regarding an impounded record, please use the email address you have on file with the court and the BBO. 

Pre-2000 Case Records.  Most Appeals Court case records from before approximately 2000 were preserved on microfiche and may be requested as PDF documents.  Please note this may take extra time due to the need for court staff to retrieve the records from the Appeals Court’s microfiche archive and convert them to PDF format. 

The Appeals Court historically did not retain single justice filings or the record appendix in panel cases.  Items constituting the lower court record may be requested directly from the lower court where the case originated.

Before requesting an oral argument recording, please be aware you may be able to access a free recording of the argument yourself if the argument was before a panel rather than a single justice.  Audio recordings of arguments in panel appeals held since January of 2019 are available for listening and download at no charge on the public docket website at www.ma-appellatecourts.org.  Additionally, video recordings of oral arguments in panel appeals held since April of 2020 may be viewed for free on the Appeals Court's YouTube channel.  See details below.  Recordings of single justice hearings are generally not available through the public docket website or the YouTube channel, and may be requested through the Clerk's office.

Free Access to Audio Recordings Online.  If the oral argument in a panel appeal took place after January 1, 2019, an audio recording is available for listening and download from the web at no charge at ma-appellatecourts.org.  Arguments are posted within 72 hours of completion.  To access these audio recordings online, follow these instructions:

• Go to www.ma-appellatecourts.org
• Search for the appeal by party name or Appeals Court docket number
• On the case's docket page, scroll down to the box labeled "ORAL ARGUMENTS"
• Press the play button on the left side of the embedded audio player
• To download the argument, click the three vertical dots on the right side of the embedded audio player.  Then click download.  An .mp3 file will be downloaded and can be played on your personal electronic device or burned to a CD. 

Free Access to Video Recordings on YouTube.  Since April of 2020, oral arguments in panel appeals have been live streamed on the Appeals Court's YouTube channel and remain available there afterwards for viewing (but not downloading) as archived recordings.  Most single justice hearings are not livestreamed or archived.  The YouTube channel is searchable for past recordings (it is best to search for the full docket number, e.g., 2024-P-0123).

Request an Oral Argument Audio Recording.  If you still would like to request a CD of an oral argument recording, either by purchase (currently $50.50) or for free under a fee waiver, please make a written request to the Appeals Court Clerk's Office.  Include the following details:

• Your name and physical mailing address,
• Your email address,
• Appeals Court docket number (e.g., 2024-P-0123),
• Case name (e.g., Name v. Name),
• Date of the oral argument, and
• If you are asking for fees to be waived, provide supporting documentation (e.g., affidavit of indigency, CPCS Notice of Assigned Counsel form) in support of your request for waiver.

Please send the request to the Appeals Court in one of the following ways:

• By Email.  Send an email to APCRecordsRequest@jud.state.ma.us.  A staff member will respond to your email with information regarding payment and any additional information that is required to fulfill the request.
• By Mail.  Mail your request to the Appeals Court at this address:

Appeals Court Clerk's Office
ATTN: Records Request
John Adams Courthouse
One Pemberton Square, Suite 1200
Boston, MA 02108

Unless you are requesting a fee waiver, please enclose payment by check or money order using the schedule of fees below.  If you are not sure what your total fee is, please first contact the Appeals Court by email or phone to verify the fee amount.  If you need to pay the fee in cash or by credit card, you must come to the court in person.  The court is temporarily unable to accept online card payments.

• In Person.  You may come to the John Adams Courthouse in person, but it is not necessary unless you need to pay the fee in cash or by credit card.  The court is temporarily unable to accept card payments online.  You may first contact the court by email or by phone to see if the Clerk's Office can assist you remotely.

Note about oral arguments held before March 1, 2005:  The only recordings available for purchase are of oral arguments conducted by a panel or single justice of the Appeals Court on or after March 1, 2005.  Recordings of arguments held before that date are not available.

Arguments Held Outside the John Adams Courthouse:  If the argument was held at a location outside the John Adams Courthouse, then it is possible the argument was not recorded.  Before you purchase a recording, please determine the location of the argument by reviewing the docket online. If the argument was not held at the John Adams Courthouse, please call the Clerk's Office at (617) 921-4443 to verify that a recording exists.  

The fees applicable to requests for copies for case documents and oral argument recordings are as follows:

If you are not sure what your total fee is, please first contact the Appeals Court by email or phone to verify the fee amount.

The Appeals Court will accept cash, check, money order, or credit card payments in person at the counter in the Clerk's Office.  Checks and money orders may also be mailed (see next paragraph), but if you need to pay the fee in cash or by credit card, you must come to the court in person.  The court is temporarily unable to accept online card payments.

Make any check or money order payable to the "Commonwealth of Massachusetts" or "Massachusetts Appeals Court."  Payments by check or money order may be mailed to: Appeals Court Clerk's Office, ATTN: Records Request, John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Suite 1200, Boston, MA 02108.  

For additional information about Appeals Court fees, click here.

If you are requesting a copy of a case document or oral argument recording and asking that the associated fee be waived, please make the request following the steps described above.  In lieu of payment, please provide supporting documentation (e.g., affidavit of indigency, CPCS Notice of Assigned Counsel form) in support of your request for waiver.  The court will review your submission and provide the requested items or follow up with you if additional information is required.