Legal and court record websites are pervasive on the Web, making access to public court and arrest records easier than ever. These sites not only aggregate publicly-available information; they also tend to receive strong search engine authority and ranking, something that ultimately results in even higher online visibility.

 

Unfortunately, the problem doesn’t end there. Court cases and records also tend to spawn other potentially negative online items, such as news articles and press releases, further spreading the flow of such information throughout the Internet and complicating the removal process.

 

Fortunately, there is a solution. While sites such as Justia.com and Findacase.com make it easier to search and locate court records, our proprietary removal process makes it possible for you to remove public records safely and quickly, as well as to stop and repair the damage such information is causing your online reputation.

 

A criminal record and arrest history can damage your online reputation, no question about it. Arrest records, mugshots and police reports pop up online often, and many people are left to deal with the potentially harmful consequences. For those who have been convicted with a felony, a misdemeanour or charged and not convicted at all, their encounters with the law will be displayed over the internet. Along with police records being posted online, if local or national newspapers have published charges it can be extremely difficult to repair ones reputation.

 

How to restore your online reputation if your criminal charges have been posted online or in print?

 

Having your name published in a criminal case can be a stressful and harmful event. Many people are overwhelmed and at a loss, not knowing what to do. If your name has been mentioned in a criminal arrest or conviction, don’t fret. There are options available, although most people are unaware that these services exist. The best steps to take to repair your online reputation depend on the individual and their personal needs. Depending on the nature of the crime, the timeline since the arrest/publication, and the extent of the media coverage there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration.

 

Criminal Record Pardon/ Expungement

 

Depending on your Country, State or Province you may be eligible for criminal record expungement. Many Countries have policies in place that aim at forgiving people of their past criminal offenses. Typically there are a number of variables that are taken into account when it comes to government-run programs dealing with criminal pardons. There’s usually a timeline of several years after conviction that must be waited out before applying for a criminal record pardon. Talk to a lawyer, or look into your State/ Provincial laws for more information.

Privacy protection and reputation management have become major challenges for both individuals and businesses in the digital world.

 

Among the greatest threats to one’s personal or professional reputation are old court records. Previously, anyone who wanted to find public court records would have to physically go to a local office and request a clerk to release them. Nowadays, there’s a good chance that these records are available online, even if they contain highly sensitive information.

 

Old court records can chase your reputation around for years, particularly if they end up appearing in the search results. The following websites (among others) contain vast repositories of legal information and court records for litigators to use in their research:

 

• Justia (justia.com)

• Juralindex (juralindex.com)

• Casetext (casetext.com)

• Docketbird (docketbird.com)

• Pacermonitor (pacermonitor.com)

• Plainsite (plainsite.org)

• Atlas Public Records (atlaspublicrecords.com)

• Find A Case (findacase.com)

• Findlaw (findlaw.com)

• Law360 (law360.com)

• Leagle (leagle.com)

• Open Public Records (open-public-records.com)

• Courtlistener (courtlistener.com

• Unicourt (unicourt.com)

• Courtrecords.org

 
Because these websites are so popular, they are considered by Google and other search engines to be highly authoritative. That means Google tends to display information published on them high up in the search results.

 

Originally, court records presented minimal privacy and reputation issues, since they were generally only accessible by going through long-winded processes at government offices. Today, once Google’s algorithm indexes this publicly available information, there’s a good chance that the court record will appear on the first page of Google search results whenever anyone searches for your name or the name of your business. Needless to say, this can lead to an online reputation and privacy disaster.