A case within the federal court system can be uniquely identified by ALL of the following information
| Part | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Court | The bankruptcy court the case was filed in. | California Central Bankruptcy Court (cacbke) |
| Office | The divisional office within the bankruptcy court the case was filed in. | 1 (single digit number) |
| Year filed | The year the case was filed. Can be two digit or four digit year. | 09 or 2009 |
| Case type | Two letter case type code. | ‘bk’ for bankruptcy |
| Case number | Case number within the court system | 12345 |
Like “court O:YY-tt-NNNNN”
Example: cacbke 2:10-bk-38052
Unfortunately the year and case number (typically shown as 10-12345 in court documents) can match multiple cases across the PACER system and even within an individual court. All the elements above are required to uniquely identify a single case.