Justia Removal: A Guide to Getting Your Court Records Off Google
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Finding a Justia record when you Google your name is never fun. Thankfully you’re not stuck with it showing up forever.
How to submit a Justia removal request
Justia handles removals, de-indexing, and redactions on a case-by-case basis, depending on your situation. If your case is sealed, they’re legally required to take it down.
If it’s not sealed, Justia’s privacy policy states that they will consider requests to de-index your court records from search engines so they don’t show up when someone searches your name. That said, they have no legal obligation to do so.
For sealed cases: Send an email to dockets@justia.com, including a clear and direct subject line (like “Sealed case removal request”), the URL you need taken down, your full name, contact information, and a copy of your court order to seal. These tend to get handled quickly.
For unsealed cases: Justia usually responds to requests in a few weeks, but the timeline is entirely up to them since they have no legal requirement to remove your case.
In both cases: Once you’ve gotten a response and your records are either removed or de-indexed, you can help speed up the process of getting it off search engines.
Google makes it very easy – all you have to do is search your name, find the Justia record, click the three dots next to it, select “Remove result” from the side panel, and choose the outdated/refresh request option.
As long as your name has been redacted, the page has been de-indexed, or the page has been removed, it should disappear from search results in about 30 days.
A Justia removal is just the beginning
Justia is a single fish in a very big pond. If your case showed up there, it’s probably lurking on CourtListener, Trellis, UniCourt, and countless other legal platforms that scrape public records.
You could easily spend weeks submitting removal requests to every site you find, only to have your case pop up in search results on a different site a few days later.
Sure, the removals help. But a never ending game of whack-a-mole isn’t fun for anyone. The best thing you can do is build up a strong online presence. This creates a protective barrier around your name that makes it much harder for negative content to surface.
The strategy is simple: publish a consistent flow of positive content about yourself so that those court records get buried on page two or beyond.
Why just to page two? Less than 0.5% of people ever search beyond the first page. Once it falls off page one, more than 99.5% of people will never see it or know it exists. In other words, your court records are essentially as good as gone.
How to establish a strong online presence
None of this is particularly hard or technically challenging, but it does require consistent effort over 6-12 months to really pay off. Perhaps the worst part is that it gets old… very fast.
But if you have no problem learning a few things and sticking to a regular schedule, you’ll have no problem doing it yourself.
Here’s how to get started:
Build a website: You can use a simple drag-and-drop builder like Wix or Squarespace. You’ll want to set up a home page, an about page, and a gallery page with images. Make sure your name is prominently featured and be sure to cover details about your profession, achievements, and interests. If you don’t mind the added expense, you can create a second website as well.
Set up social media accounts: Create a profile on all the major platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, etc.). Use your full name, fill out your bios, and make sure your profile photos are real pictures of yourself.
Create content: This is where the real (boring) work kicks in. You’ll need to publish fresh content consistently across all the platforms, including your website and social media profiles. A mix of blog posts, images, videos, and social updates show that all of your digital assets are active and worthy of ranking in search results for your name.
Monitor and adjust: Every few weeks, search for your name in incognito mode and poke through the first three pages. Take note of which types of content are showing up – these are the things that are working.
Double down: Now that you know what’s working, you should create even more of it.
If you ever run out of content ideas or need help writing and planning, AI models like ChatGPT or Claude can help. You can use them for brainstorming, figuring out a schedule, understanding what types of content do best on different platforms, and writing the content for you.
This video does a great job of breaking it all down.
The only costs are your website ($15 - $20 per month per website) and a paid plan with Claude or ChatGPT ($20 per month).
There are other tools you can use to speed things up and make your life a little easier, including a social media planner and automated scheduler, specialized AI tools for social media content, website templates, social media templates, and more. These are all entirely optional.
The beauty of this approach is that it works whether Justia removes your court records or not.
On top of that, you’re creating long-term protection that’ll work in your favor in the future.
Don’t want to manage all this yourself? Get in touch with us – we’ll handle the entire process from start to finish so you can focus on living your life instead of brainstorming content ideas.
What is Justia and why does it have information about my case?
Justia is one of the largest free legal research platforms in the US. It aggregates court dockets, case law, legal opinions, and other documents from federal and state courts nationwide.
It’s incredibly common to see your information on Justia, even if you didn’t submit it, have never used the platform, or have never even heard of it. They get all of their court case information from the public record, including details about your case (and everyone else’s).
It’s entirely legal for them and other legal platforms to publish this information.
Is Justia legit?
Yes. It serves a legitimate legal purpose for legal professionals, researchers, attorneys, and anyone who needs quick and easy access to legal information.
While it is 100% legit, that ease of access also means your court records (even the ones you’d rather forget about) are easily discoverable by anyone who knows how to search for it. On top of that, it’s not uncommon for Justia records to show up when someone Googles your name.
How do I remove my information from Justia?
If your case is sealed, you can email Justia at dockets@justia.com. Be sure to use a direct subject line, your name and contact information, the URL you’d like removed, and the official court order to seal.
For unsealed cases, their privacy policy says they’ll consider de-indexing your case so it doesn’t show up in search results. To submit a request, fill out the form on this page. Be sure to select the second-to-last option (a request to block a Justia link) as the reasoning and include:
The URL in question
Your contact information
A brief explanation as to why it should be de-indexed
In both situations, you can and should ask Google to refresh the URL. Simply find the listing in search results, click the three dots next to it, click “Remove result”, and then choose the outdated/refresh option.
As long as your name has been redacted, the page is de-indexed, or the page is removed, the Justia listing will disappear from search results in approximately 30 days.
How long does a Justia removal take?
There’s no official timeline. Justia usually takes care of sealed cases pretty quickly (a few days to a week or two). De-indexing requests for unsealed cases can take longer.
Once your case has been removed or de-indexed, you can request search engines to refresh the URL. From there, it usually takes another 30 days or so to disappear from search results.
The best thing you can do while waiting? Start building an online presence immediately. All the websites, profiles, and content you create will take time to start appearing in search results. So, the sooner you start, the better.
What to do if Justia denies your removal request
Sealed cases shouldn’t be rejected – Justia’s legally obligated to take it down since it’s no longer part of the public record. If yours is denied, make sure you have all the proper documentation and submit your request again.
For unsealed cases, you should always start with asking your lawyer to help you get your case sealed. Once it’s sealed, you can submit a full Justia removal request.
If you can’t get it sealed and your de-indexing request is denied, focus on establishing your online presence and continuously publishing positive content about yourself. This will eventually push the Justia listing down in search results until it (hopefully) falls off of page one.
Don’t want to handle it alone? We’re here to help. Hit us up and we’ll take care of everything, including your websites, social profiles, weekly content, and regular monitoring.
TLDR: Justia removal options
Sealed cases: Submit a well-crafted removal request to dockets@justia.com including a direct subject line (like “Sealed case removal request”), your contact information, a link to your Justia record, and a court order for sealing or expungement.
All other cases: Start by asking your attorney to help you get your case sealed or expunged. Once you get an official court order, follow the steps for a sealed case. If you can’t get your case sealed, you can ask Justia to deindex your listing by filling out the form on their support page.
After that, be sure to ask Google to refresh the URL by clicking the three dots next to the listing, selecting “Remove result”, and choosing the outdated content/refresh option.
Both scenarios: Establish a strong online presence by creating one or two websites, creating social media accounts, and publishing new content every week.
Get in touch with us if you don’t want to deal with the hassle and headache of doing it yourself.