In Maine, all Civil and Criminal court searches are conducted by court personnel as there is no public access.  

So here is the problem.  The clerks, and not all of them,  miss case files, overlook name spelling variations,  can't find docket books for copies (that are really there) and mis-interpret search instructions.  The computer index can list a company as LL, L L, L.L. or O'toole or Otoole, depending on the input and it will be missed.  

We catch these errors quite a bit, especially when we know a case file exist.  We inform our customers of the problems and provide a detailed explanation or disclaimer beforehand if requested and with our reports.  

So, where does the Court's Liability come in?  Are they liable at all?  If public information is incorrect who is liable?  We do not conduct the search but pay close attention to our customers instructions, so where does our liability come in?  

Your input on this would be appreciated.