‘Excessive’ PACER Fee Suit Will Proceed as Class Action

The government agency running the PACER system, which provides online access to federal court records, must face a certified class action alleging it charges excessive fees (Nat’l Veterans Legal Servs. Program v. United States, 2017 BL 19710, D.D.C., No. 16-745, 1/24/17).

All PACER users are similarly affected by the fees making class status appropriate, Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote Jan. 24.

The nonprofit organizations who filed the suit say the fees create “substantial barriers to accessing public records—for litigants, journalists, researchers, and others.”

Individuals ...