FILED
Mar 06 2026
United States District Court
Northern District of Ohio
General Order
AMENDED GENERAL ORDER NO. 2026-06
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO
)
PACER FEE EXEMPTION FOR ) ORDER NO. 2026-06-1
BRENNAN SCHAFFNER )
)
Brennan Schaffner, a post-doctoral student associated with Georgetown University, has
submitted a request for a PACER fee exemption from the fees imposed by the Electronic
Public Access fee schedule adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States Courts.
The applicant falls within the class of users listed in the fee schedule as being eligible for a
fee exemption on the basis that the applicant is performing academic research. Additionally,
the applicant has demonstrated that an exemption is necessary in order to avoid unreasonable
burdens and to promote public access to information.
Accordingly, the applicant 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 in the
course of his research project that will map the use of empirical evidence in digital platform
litigation across selected district, appellate, and supreme court jurisdictions to understand how,
when, how much, and under what circumstances empirical research data-driven methodologies
inform judicial reasoning and influence technology law cases. The applicant 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. The fee exemption applies only to the applicant and is valid only for the purposes
stated above.
2. The fee exemption applies only to the electronic case files of this Court that are
available through the PACER system.
3. By accepting the exemption, the applicant agrees not to sell for profit any data
obtained as a result of receiving the exemption.
4. The applicant is prohibited from transferring any data obtained as a result of
receiving the exemption, including redistribution via internet-based databases.
5. The exemption is valid from January 22, 2026, through January 22, 2028.
The exemption may be revoked at the discretion of the Court at any time. A copy of this Order
shall be sent to the PACER Service Center, which should provide applicant’s PACER account
with a fee exemption to access the records of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
Ohio for:
Brennan Schaffner
PACER Account No. 8658052
500 First Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 687-0100
[email protected]
IT IS SO ORDERED.
FOR THE COURT
Sara Lioi
Chief Judge
