Filing 1

ORDER regarding the Application for Exemption from the Electronic Public Access Fees by Oluwaseun Cardoso. Signed by Chief Judge J. Randal Hall on 5/24/2023. (ca) Modified on 5/24/2023 (ca).

Case 1:23-mc-00014-JRH Document 1 Filed 05/24/23 Page 1 of 5
u.s.nisT
A!!'::"-.. IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

im HAY 2U A % 53

FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA

IN RE:

Application for Exemption from the Electronic Public Access Fees by

)

OLUWASEUN CARDOSO

)

STANDING ORDER MC 120-

C1 23-0 14

This matter is before the Court upon the application and request by OLUWASEUN CARDOSO for

exemption from the fees imposed by the Electronic Public Access fee schedule adopted by the Judicial
Conference of the United States Couits.
The Court finds that OLUWASEUN CARDOSO as an individual researcher associated with an

educational institution falls within the class of users listed in the fee schedule as being eligible for a fee

exemption. Additionally. OLUWASEUN CARDOSO has demonstrated that an exemption is necessary
in order to avoid unreasonable burdens and to promote public access to information. Accordingly,
OLUWASEUN CARDOSO shall be exempt from the payment of fees for access via PACER to the
electronic case files maintained in this court, to the extent such use is incurred for research related to

training a machine to simulate a judge's decision using artificial intelligence on civil case dockets.
OLUWASEUN CARDOSO shall not be exempt from the payment of fees incurred in connection with
other uses of the PACER system in this court. Additionally, the following limitations apply;
1. This fee exemption applies only to OLUWASEUN CARDOSO and is valid only for the purposes
stated above;

2. This fee exemption applies only to the electronic case files of this court that are available through
the PACER system;
3. By accepting this exemption, OLUWASEUN CARDOSO agrees not to sell for profit any data
obtained as a result of receiving this exemption;
4. OLUWASEUN CARDOSO is prohibited from transferring any data obtained as a result of
receiving this exemption, including redistribution via internet-based databases; and
5. This exemption is valid until August 18, 2023.
This exemption may be revoked at the discretion of the Court at any lime. A copy of this Order shall be
sent to the PACER Service Center.

Dated this ^^f^^day of

J. RAND

hief-Ufti

HALL

States District Judge

Case 1:23-mc-00014-JRH Document 1 Filed 05/24/23 Page 2 of 5

Application for Multi-Court Exemption from the
Judicial Conference's Electronic Public Access(EPA)Fees

1.) I am requesting an exemption from fees for public access to electronic case records for the courts
selected below:

Courts of Appeal

Bankruptcy Appellate Panels(BAP)

Q All Courts of Appeal

□

□ First Circuit

□ Eighth Circuit

□ Second Circuit

□

Ninth Circuit

□ Eighth Circuit - BAP

r~l Third Circuit

□

Tenth Circuit

□

Ninth Circuit - BAP

□ Fourth Circuit

□

Eleventh Circuit

□

Tenth Circuit - BAP

□ Fifth Circuit

□

D.C. Circuit

□ Sixth Circuit

□

Federal Circuit

1 1 Alabama Middle

□

Illinois Northern

□

Nebraska

Q Rhode Island

Q Alabama Northern

□
□
□

Illinois Central

□

Nevada

Q] South Carolina

Illinois Southern

Indiana Southern

□ Arkansas Eastern

□
□

Iowa Northern

□ New Hampshire
□ New Jersey
□ New Mexico
□ New York Eastern

Q Arkansas Western

□

Iowa Southern

□

New York Northern

Q Texas Eastern

Q California Central
Q California Eastern

□ Kansas
□ Kentucky Eastern

□
□

New York Southern

1 1 Texas Northern

New York Western

Q Texas Southern

r~| California Northern

□
□

North Carolina Eastern

Q Texas Western

1 1 California Southern

□ Kentucky Western
□ Louisiana Eastern

North Carolina Middle

□ Utah

□ Colorado
□ Connecticut

□
□

Louisiana Middle

□
□

Q Delaware

□

Maine

Q District of Columbia
r~] Florida Middle

□ Maryland
□ Massachusetts

[~] Florida Northern

□ Michigan Eastern

Q Florida Southern
Q Georgia Northern
□ Georgia Middle

□ Michigan Western
□ Minnesota
□ Mississippi Northern

□ Georgia Southern

□ Mississippi Southern

□ Pennsylvania Eastern

Q Guam

Missouri Eastern

□

Pennsylvania Middle

1 1 Hawaii

□
□

Missouri Western

Pennsylvania Western

Q Idaho

□

Montana

□
□

Seventh Circuit

□

First Circuit - BAP

□

Sixth Circuit - BAP

District Courts
All District Courts

Q Alabama Southern
Q] Alaska
□ Arizona

Indiana Northern

Louisiana Western

□ South Dakota
1 1 Tennessee Eastern
n Tennessee Middle

□ Tennessee Western

North Carolina Western

r~| Vermont

North Dakota

Q Virgin Islands

□
□

Northern Mariana Islands

r~1 Virginia Eastern

Ohio Northern

f~~| Virginia Western

□

Ohio Southern

1 1 Washington Eastern

□
□

Oklahoma Eastern

1 I Washington Western

Oklahoma Northern

1 1 West Virginia Northern

□
□

Oklahoma Western

1 1 West Virginia Southern

Oregon

r~l Wisconsin Eastern

Puerto Rico

1 1 Wisconsin Western

1 1 Wyoming

Case 1:23-mc-00014-JRH Document 1 Filed 05/24/23 Page 3 of 5

Bankruptcy Courts
□ All Bankruptcy Courts
I I Alabama Middle

Q Illinois Northern

I I Nebraska

I I Rhode Island

Q Alabama Northern

Q Illinois Central

□ Nevada

□ South Carolina

Q Alabama Southern

[~| Illinois Southern
|~| Indiana Northern
Q Indiana Southern

I I New Hampshire

n South Dakota

r~l New Jersey

□ Iowa Northern
[]] Iowa Southern

□ New York Eastern

□ Tennessee Eastern
Q Tennessee Middle
□ Tennessee Western

□ New York Northern

r~] Texas Eastern

□ New York Southern
□ New York Western

r~| Texas Northern

r~| California Eastern

□ Kansas
Q Kentucky Eastern

r~| California Northern

Q Kentucky Western

□ North Carolina Eastern

I I Texas Western

[]] California Southern

□ Louisiana Eastern

□ North Carolina Middle

□ Utah

Q Colorado
Q Connecticut

□ Louisiana Middle
□ Louisiana Western

□ North Carolina Western
Q North Dakota

Q Virgin Islands

□ Delaware

□ Maine

Q Northern Mariana Islands

Q Virginia Eastern

Q District of Columbia

r~| Maryland

Q Virginia Western

[~~| Florida Middle

Q Massachusetts

□ Ohio Northern
□ Ohio Southern

r~| Florida Northern

Q Michigan Eastern

□ Oklahoma Eastern

I I Washington Western

Q Florida Southern

Q Michigan Western

I I Oklahoma Northern

Q West Virginia Northern

□ Georgia Northern

Q Minnesota

I I West Virginia Southern

Q Georgia Middle

Q Mississippi Northern

Q Oklahoma Western
Q Oregon

Q Georgia Southern

Q Mississippi Southern

□ Pennsylvania Eastern

Q Wisconsin Western

r~l Guam

n Missouri Eastern

Q Pennsylvania Middle

□ Wyoming

r~l Hawaii

Q Missouri Western

I I Pennsylvania Western

□ Idaho

Q Montana

I I Puerto Rico

Q Alaska
I I Arizona

Q Arkansas Eastern
(~~| Arkansas Western
[~~| California Central

□ New Mexico

Q Texas Southern

[~~| Vermont

Q Washington Eastern

I I Wisconsin Eastern

National Courts
Judicial Panel on

□ Multidistrict Litigation

□

U.S. Court of
Federal Claims

2.) I am an individual associated with

□

U.S. Court of
International Trade

Unlverlsty of Toronto

3.) Please summarize why the case information from the Public Access to Court Electronic Records
(PACER) service is needed and how it will be used. Also, please explain why an exemption from
the courts identified is necessary. If you need more space, please provide in an attachment.

Please check attached file

Case 1:23-mc-00014-JRH Document 1 Filed 05/24/23 Page 4 of 5

4.) In support of this application, I affirm the following:
a) An exemption from the Judicial Conference's EPA Fee is necessary in order to avoid
unreasonable burdens and to promote public access to information.
b) That the exemption will be for a definitive period of time: 16 months

c)I understand that this fee exemption will apply only to me, will be valid only for the purposes
stated above, and will apply only to the electronic case files of the court(s) indicated above that are
available through the PACER service.
d)I agree that any data received through this exemption will not be sold for profit, will not be
transferred, will not be used for commercial purposes, and will not be redistributed via the Internet.
Declaration: I declare that all the above information is true and understand that a false statement

0 may result in teiTnination of my exempt access and an assessment of Electronic Public Access
usage fees.(The box must be marked or your request will not be considered)

[phone]

Oluwaseun Cardos

Applicant's Phone Number

Applicant's Printed Name
[e-mail]

Graduate Researcher

Applicant's Title

Applicant's Signature'

Applicant's email address
350 Columbia Street West

Applicant's Mailing Address
Waterloo

ON

N2L6G8

City

State

Zip Code

May 16, 2023
Date

Please submit your completed, signed request via email to [e-mail]
or by mail to:

Attention: Multi-Court Exemptions
Court Programs Division
DPS-CSO-PRGD

One Columbus Circle, N.E.

Washington, DC 20544
**

Requests sent through the US mail may take up to two weeks to clear security.**

Case 1:23-mc-00014-JRH Document 1 Filed 05/24/23 Page 5 of 5

I am a research student from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. My

research focuses on the intersection of A!(Artificial Intelligence) and Law. My
topic of interest is using machine learning to understand and predict the
outcomes of court cases and motions. In order to build a model that can

accurately predict the outcome of cases and motions, we would need access to

large amounts of cases. We intend to use natural language techniques to
preprocess the case information into a format our machine learning models will
understand. Our academic research contributions will provide enormous value to
our understanding of law and cases, thus benefiting the American judicial system.

The paywall that Pacer imposes is the only limitation preventing us from
conducting ground-breaking research on Legal Al.
To satisfy your narrow scope constraint, below is what we require.
• We do not want case docket access to Courts of Appeal, Bankruptcy

Appellate Panels, Bankruptcy, or National courts.
• We do need access to the case dockets of all District courts.

• We are interested in only civil cases. Not bankruptcy nor Criminal.
• We need access atleast one hundred thousand (100000)case dockets for
our research project.

What we are primarily interested in are the motions and their associated briefs,

responses, replies and orders (judge's decision). To get what we want, we need
access to civil case dockets. It doesn't matter what the case is about all that we

require is that it is a civil case.

At a high-level our research goal is to train a machine to be able to predict
motions. In order words, we want to train a machine learning model to simulate a

judge's decision. When our Al is presented with a motion, memorandum in
support and in opposition to that motion, we want to ask the Al if it would deny or
grant a motion.

We do not plan to redistribute the original court text. We are not picky and are
not interested in a specific type of case other than the case should be a civil case.