Just to clarify for non-lawyers, PACER is needed for certain filings, but not the four opinions themselves. There are several good websites that host these.
Not that PACER isn’t overcharging, just that it isn’t where lawyers go to get opinions, which are critically important for the practice of law.
I'm chiming in a lot, but this is only sort of true. In theory, yes, opinions and orders are free on PACER. In practice clerks have to check a box when they upload each opinion to mark it as free, and yeah....some clerks do a great job. Others do terribly. Some info here: https://free.law/pacer-facts/#written-opinions-are-free-on-p...
In my practice, all important opinions were published and freely available. Perhaps there are areas of law where coverage is spotty or delayed, but I literally never needed to use PACER because I didn't work on active litigation (just transactions, opinion letters, client memos and other research-related work).
Right, you can usually find opinions, but in many cases, that's because the provider you're using — WestLaw, Bloomberg, Justia, Google Scholar, whatever — paid for it on your behalf. They (we) have to go to PACER and buy these things too.
Not that PACER isn’t overcharging, just that it isn’t where lawyers go to get opinions, which are critically important for the practice of law.