Delaware Court Case Search — Find Your Lawsuit

Dena Standley | July 21, 2023

Legal Expert, Paralegal
Dena Standley, BA

Dena Standley is a seasoned paralegal with more than 20 years of experience in legal research and writing, having received a certification as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal from Southern Technical College.

Edited by Hannah Locklear

Editor at SoloSuit
Hannah Locklear, BA

Hannah Locklear is SoloSuit’s Marketing and Impact Manager. With an educational background in Linguistics, Spanish, and International Development from Brigham Young University, Hannah has also worked as a legal support specialist for several years.

Summary: If you are being sued for a debt in Delaware, you can access your records online or by visiting the courthouse where the lawsuit was filed. Reduce worry and stress by using SoloSuit to draft and file an Answer to the lawsuit and increase your chances of winning by 7x.

Dealing with debt collection agencies can be frustrating, and it's more stressful when they take you to court. When you know how to navigate the court system, you’ll be better prepared to stay updated on your case. Tracking the status of your case closely will increase your chances of winning, giving you more time to prepare a solid defense.

The Delaware judicial system allows its citizens to access court records either online or in person by visiting the courthouse where the case was filed. The simple task of following up on your case may save you time and hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. Today, SoloSuit will help you understand how the Delaware court system works and the process of finding your lawsuit.

Delaware court structure explained

When you know which Delaware court has jurisdiction over your case, it will make it easier to check your case status and stay informed. Since debt collection lawsuits are considered civil cases, we will focus on the Delaware civil court structure in this section.

The Delaware court system consists of six courts that work in a hierarchy. The Justice of Peace Court is at the bottom, while the Supreme Court is the court with the most authority in the state. Below, we outline each court and its responsibilities in detail.

Justice of Peace Court: These courts are the initial entry point to the Colorado judicial system. They hear civil cases with disputes of up to $25,000.

The Court of Common Appeals: These courts have jurisdiction over civil cases that do not exceed $75,000. They receive appeals from the Justice of Peace Court. So, if you disagree with the outcome of your debt lawsuit, you can make an appeal and the Court of Common Appeals will reconsider it.

Superior Court: The Superior Court listens to most cases except equity cases and some drug offenses. They do not have a monetary maximum for civil matters. They also hear appeals from the lower courts, and parties can appeal directly to the Supreme Court.

Supreme Court: This court reviews civil appeals from the Superior Court. The justices are also in charge of the entire court system and set the administrative policy.

The graphic below further illustrates the Delaware court system:

DE court structure

Your debt collection lawsuit will most likely be heard in the Justice of Peace Court of the county where you live. That being said, the amount you allegedly owe is usually the deciding factor of which court has jurisdiction over the case.

In Delaware, you have 20 days to respond to a debt collection lawsuit before you lose automatically. Use SoloSuit to draft and file an Answer document in minutes. Check out this video to learn more:

How to find your case number in Delaware

A case number is assigned to every case to ensure the court keeps track of them. The case number is derived from a combination of:

The case type
The court name
The judicial officer assigned to the case
The year the suit was filed

For example, case number JP16-22-000001 is the first case filed into the Justice Court 16 (Kent County) in 2022.

Your case number is often included in the lawsuit letter you received. If you do not have it, you can visit the courthouse with your details, and the court clerk will search for it. You can also go to Delaware's online portal, CourtConnect, enter your details and search. Depending on how much information you submit, the results may bring your case only or several cases. You’ll have to look through the list to find your case information if it's the latter.

How to access your court records

Delaware gives you two main options to access your court records: visiting the courthouse or searching online via the CourtConnect platform. Below, we describe both methods in detail.

Access your Delaware court records from the courthouse

You can visit the specific court where the creditors filed the case and make an official written request to the court clerk—you may be charged for this service. Some courthouses have public terminals that are free to use. If you need copies or certification, you’ll have to pay a small fee that varies in each courthouse. Access your court’s location using these links:

Click on your county’s link, choose the courthouse where your case was filed, and you’ll see the address and other contact information.

Access your Delaware court case records online

Delaware allows citizens to access their case information via CourtConnect. The courts that have availed information online are the Superior Courts, the Court of Common Appeals, and the Justice of Peace Courts. The portal grants you access by searching either of the following:

The parties name, company name, and case type
The judgments against an individual or company
The case number

Delaware uniquely gives you another option of finding your case records for cases that have already reached a conclusion. You can search for your old records under the opinions and orders page. Visit the page and enter the details required and click the search button.

Now, let’s consider an example.

Example: Adam is getting sued by LVNV Funding for an old credit card debt in Delaware. He uses SoloSuit to respond to the lawsuit before the state’s 20-day deadline. In his Answer document, Adam uses the expired statute of limitations (which is only three years for credit card debt in Delaware) as one of his affirmative defenses. Over the next few weeks, Adam uses Delaware's CourtConnect to check the status of his case. He is relieved to see that the case gets dismissed just a few weeks after filing his Answer.

SoloSuit is ready to help you

Our software guides you in drafting the document you need to respond to a lawsuit, request debt validation, and ask the creditors to settle out of court. We have custom-made our documents to ensure they abide by Delaware's debt collection laws. The document calculator below helps you determine the best SoloSuit resources for your specific case and situation.

Decide what to do next

This calculator is for educational purposes only.

What is SoloSuit?

SoloSuit makes it easy to fight debt collectors.

You can use SoloSuit to respond to a debt lawsuit, to send letters to collectors, and even to settle a debt.

SoloSuit's Answer service is a step-by-step web-app that asks you all the necessary questions to complete your Answer. Upon completion, we'll have an attorney review your document and we'll file it for you.

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"First time getting sued by a debt collector and I was searching all over YouTube and ran across SoloSuit, so I decided to buy their services with their attorney reviewed documentation which cost extra but it was well worth it! SoloSuit sent the documentation to the parties and to the court which saved me time from having to go to court and in a few weeks the case got dismissed!" – James

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>>Read the FastCompany article: Debt Lawsuits Are Complicated: This Website Makes Them Simpler To Navigate