# Litigation Releases API Reference | SEC API

> Complete API reference for the SEC Litigation Releases API. Every request parameter, every searchable field and every response attribute, with types, constraints and a live example response.

Source: https://sec-api.io/api-reference/sec-litigation-releases

SEC enforcement and rulemaking

POST`https://api.sec-api.io/sec-litigation-releases`

Search every SEC litigation release published since 1995, covering civil lawsuits the SEC filed in federal courts, settlements, final judgments and injunctions. The dataset holds more than 10,000 releases as structured JSON, and new releases are added as the SEC publishes them.

[Read the guide for this API →](https://sec-api.io/docs/sec-litigation-releases-database-api)

## Authentication

Send the API key either as a header or as a query parameter. The header is preferred; the query parameter exists for cases where a header cannot be set, such as opening a URL directly in a browser.

Authorization: required header

The API key on its own. Do not prefix it with Bearer or any other word.

Example `Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY`

token: optional query parameter

The API key, appended to the URL. Use this only when a header is not possible.

## Request body

A JSON object. Content-Type must be application/json.

query: required string

The search expression in Lucene syntax, written as field:value. Every field listed under Searchable fields can be used, combined with AND, OR, NOT, ranges and wildcards.

Example `entities.ticker:TWTR`

from: string, Maximum 10000

Index of the first result to return, used for pagination. Increment by the value of size to page through results.

Default `"0"`

size: string, Maximum 50

Number of litigation releases to return in one response.

Default `"50"`

sort: array of object

Sort order. Each item maps one field to an order object, for example [{ "releasedAt": { "order": "desc" } }]. Sorting is supported on releasedAt and penaltyAmounts.penaltyAmount.

Default `[{ "releasedAt": { "order": "desc" } }]`

order: string

Either asc or desc.

## Searchable fields

Every field below can be used inside query. 29 fields are searchable, and they match the structure of the objects returned in the response.

| Field | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `releaseNo` | SEC litigation release number (e.g. "LR-26115") |
| `releasedAt` | Publication date / time (ISO 8601) |
| `title` | Title of the litigation release |
| `subTitle` | Sub title of the litigation release |
| `caseCitations` | Case citations (e.g. "Securities and Exchange Commission v. Elon Musk, No. 1:25-cv-00105 (D.D.C.)") |
| `summary` | Free-text summary of the litigation |
| `tags` | Tags — e.g. "securities fraud", "insider trading" |
| `url` | URL of the original SEC litigation release |
| `entities.name` | Entity name involved in the litigation |
| `entities.type` | Entity type — "individual", "company", or "other" |
| `entities.role` | Entity role — "defendant", "respondent", "affected entity", etc. |
| `entities.cik` | Entity Central Index Key (CIK), when matched to a public company |
| `entities.ticker` | Entity ticker symbol, when matched to a public company |
| `complaints` | Free-text SEC complaints / charges |
| `violatedSections` | Violated securities laws or rules |
| `requestedRelief` | Requested reliefs — e.g. "permanent injunction", "disgorgement" |
| `parallelActionsTakenBy` | Other agencies that took parallel actions (e.g. DOJ) |
| `hasAgreedToSettlement` | true if defendant agreed to settlement |
| `hasAgreedToPayPenalty` | true if defendant agreed to pay a penalty |
| `penaltyAmounts.penaltyAmount` | Numeric penalty amount in USD |
| `penaltyAmounts.penaltyAmountText` | Original penalty text (e.g. "over $2.4 million") |
| `penaltyAmounts.imposedOn` | Party on which the penalty was imposed |
| `investigationConductedBy` | Persons or offices that conducted the investigation |
| `litigationLedBy` | Persons or offices that litigated the case |
| `otherAgenciesInvolved.name` | Other agency name (FBI, U.S. Attorney's Office, etc.) |
| `otherAgenciesInvolved.country` | Other agency country |
| `resources.label` | Resource label (e.g. "Judgment", "SEC Complaint") |
| `resources.url` | URL to a related document |
| `id` | Internal unique identifier of the litigation release. |

## Response

A JSON object. Nested attributes are collapsed; expand one to see its fields.

total: object

How many litigation releases matched the query.

value: integer

Number of matching litigation releases.

relation: string

Either eq, meaning value is exact, or gte, meaning value is a floor.

data: array of object

The matching litigation releases, at most size per response. Every field of a release object is itself searchable.

id: string

Internal unique identifier of the litigation release.

releaseNo: string

SEC release number of the litigation, for example LR-26219.

releasedAt: string

Publication date and time of the litigation release, for example 2024-08-27T13:30:00-04:00. Format: yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssXXX.

url: string

URL of the original SEC litigation release.

title: string

Title of the litigation release.

subTitle: string

Sub title of the litigation release.

caseCitations: array of string

Case citations of the litigation release, such as Securities and Exchange Commission v. Elon Musk, No. 1:25-cv-00105 (D.D.C. filed Jan. 14, 2025).

resources: array of object

Links to related documents, such as complaints and judgments.

label: string

Label of the related document, for example SEC Complaint.

url: string

URL of the related document.

summary: string

Brief summary of the litigation.

tags: array of string

Tags associated with the litigation, such as bribery or insider trading.

entities: array of object

The parties involved in the litigation.

name: string

Name of the party involved.

type: string

Type of the party, such as individual, company, fund or other.

role: string

Role of the party, such as respondent, defendant, affected entity or other.

ticker: optional string

Ticker symbol of the party. Present only when the name was matched to a known publicly traded company.

cik: optional string

Central Index Key (CIK) of the party. Present only when the name was matched to a known publicly traded company.

complaints: array of string

The complaints or charges, such as Magyar Telekom paid approximately $9 million through four sham contracts to funnel money to government officials in Montenegro.

parallelActionsTakenBy: array of string

Other agencies that took parallel actions related to the case, such as the U.S. Department of Justice in case of criminal charges.

hasAgreedToSettlement: boolean

Whether the defendant has agreed to a settlement.

hasAgreedToPayPenalty: boolean

Whether the defendant has agreed to pay a penalty.

penaltyAmounts: array of object

The penalties imposed on the parties involved. A case can carry several penalties, for example when several defendants are involved.

penaltyAmount: string

The cleaned penalty amount in USD.

penaltyAmountText: string

The original penalty amount as stated in the release, for example over $2.4 million.

imposedOn: string

The party on which the penalty was imposed.

requestedRelief: array of string

The requested reliefs, such as disgorgement of profits, injunction or civil penalty.

violatedSections: array of string

The securities laws violated by the defendants, such as Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

investigationConductedBy: array of string

Persons or entities that conducted the investigation leading to the case.

litigationLedBy: array of string

Persons or entities that litigated the case.

otherAgenciesInvolved: array of object

Other agencies involved in the investigation or litigation, such as the Swiss Office of the Attorney General in case of international cooperation.

name: string

Name of the agency.

country: string

Country of the agency.

## Status codes

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| `200` | Success. The response holds total and data. |
| `400` | The request body could not be parsed, or the Lucene expression in query is malformed. |
| `403` | The API key is missing, or it is not valid. |
| `429` | Too many requests. Slow the request rate and retry. |
| `500` | Server error. Retry, and report it if it persists. |

## Request example

POST https://api.sec-api.io/sec-litigation-releases

```json
{
  "query": "releasedAt:[2024-01-01 TO 2024-12-31]",
  "from": "0",
  "size": "50",
  "sort": [{ "releasedAt": { "order": "desc" } }]
}
```

```python
from sec_api import SecLitigationsApi

secLitigationsApi = SecLitigationsApi("YOUR_API_KEY")

response = secLitigationsApi.get_data({
    "query": "releasedAt:[2024-01-01 TO 2024-12-31]",
    "from": "0",
    "size": "50",
    "sort": [{"releasedAt": {"order": "desc"}}],
})
```

```javascript
import { secLitigationsApi } from "sec-api";

secLitigationsApi.setApiKey("YOUR_API_KEY");

const response = await secLitigationsApi.getData({
  query: "releasedAt:[2024-01-01 TO 2024-12-31]",
  from: "0",
  size: "50",
  sort: [{ releasedAt: { order: "desc" } }],
});
```

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.sec-api.io/sec-litigation-releases \
  -H "Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "query": "releasedAt:[2024-01-01 TO 2024-12-31]",
    "from": "0",
    "size": "50",
    "sort": [{ "releasedAt": { "order": "desc" } }]
  }'
```

## Response example

200 OK · application/json

```json
{
  "total": { "value": 288, "relation": "eq" },
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "d459bd679554a02194c7c5f272f138fa",
      "releaseNo": "LR-26206",
      "releasedAt": "2024-12-31T01:53:13-05:00",
      "url": "https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26206",
      "title": "Dale B. Chappell, et al.",
      "subTitle": "SEC Charges Humanigen's CEO and Chief Scientific Officer with Insider Trading",
      "caseCitations": [
        "Securities and Exchange Commission v. Dale B. Chappell, et al., No. 23-civ-03769 (D.N.J. second amended complaint filed May 20, 2024)"
      ],
      "resources": [
        {
          "label": "SEC Complaint",
          "url": "https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/complaints/2024/comp26206.pdf"
        }
      ],
      "summary": "The SEC has charged Humanigen's CEO Cameron Durrant and Chief Scientific Officer Dale B. Chappell with insider trading for selling company stock based on nonpublic information about the FDA's likely rejection of their COVID-19 drug, resulting in significant avoided losses.",
      "tags": ["insider trading", "biopharmaceutical", "antifraud"],
      "entities": [
        {
          "name": "Cameron Durrant",
          "type": "individual",
          "role": "defendant"
        },
        {
          "name": "Humanigen, Inc.",
          "type": "company",
          "role": "other",
          "cik": "1293310",
          "ticker": "HGENQ"
        },
        {
          "name": "Black Horse Capital LP",
          "type": "fund",
          "role": "defendant"
        }
      ],
      "complaints": [
        "Chappell and Durrant sold Humanigen stock while in possession of material nonpublic information that the FDA was unlikely to approve Emergency Use Authorization for lenzilumab.",
        "Chappell avoided losses of more than $38 million while Durrant avoided losses of more than $1 million."
      ],
      "parallelActionsTakenBy": [
        "Department of Justice's Fraud Section",
        "U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey"
      ],
      "hasAgreedToSettlement": false,
      "hasAgreedToPayPenalty": false,
      "penaltyAmounts": [],
      "requestedRelief": [
        "permanent injunctions",
        "disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest",
        "civil penalties",
        "officer and director bars"
      ],
      "violatedSections": [
        "Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933",
        "Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934",
        "Rule 10b-5"
      ],
      "investigationConductedBy": [
        "W. Bradley Ney",
        "Daniel Ball",
        "George B. Parizek"
      ],
      "litigationLedBy": ["Anna Area", "Daniel Lloyd", "David Nasse"],
      "otherAgenciesInvolved": [
        {
          "name": "Criminal Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice",
          "country": "United States"
        },
        {
          "name": "Federal Bureau of Investigation",
          "country": "United States"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```