The Akorn bankruptcy docket is available in full on PACER, the federal judiciary’s electronic records system, under two separate case numbers in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware: 20-11177 for the 2020 Chapter 11 reorganization and 23-10253 for the 2023 Chapter 7 liquidation. A partial free copy of key filings from the 2020 case lives on the claims agent’s website at veritaglobal.net/akorn, and additional documents may be available at no cost through the RECAP Archive on CourtListener.
Figure Out Which Case Number You Need First
There are two Akorn bankruptcies, and searching the wrong one is the most common mistake.
The original case, styled In re Akorn, Inc., et al., was filed on May 20, 2020, as a Chapter 11 reorganization. Multiple affiliated entities filed together and the court jointly administered them under lead case number 20-11177. The Delaware bankruptcy court approved a sale of the company to its own term loan lenders on September 2, 2020, and Akorn exited Chapter 11 that fall.1U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC EDGAR Filing – Akorn Inc Exhibit 99.1
The successor entity, Akorn Operating Company LLC, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on February 23, 2023, after failing to sell its remaining assets.2S&P Global Ratings. Research Update: Akorn Operating Co. LLC Downgraded To D From CCC+ Following Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Filing That case, In re Akorn Holding Company LLC, et al., carries case number 23-10253, also in the District of Delaware. All U.S. operations ceased and all employees were terminated on the filing date.
If you’re a creditor of the original Akorn, Inc., you want 20-11177. If your claim arose after the 2020 sale but before the 2023 shutdown, you likely want 23-10253. When in doubt, pull both.
Searching the Docket on PACER
PACER is the only place to see every filing in either case. Motions, orders, proofs of claim, adversary proceedings, fee applications — all of it sits on PACER. The free options carry pieces of the record, not the whole thing.
Registering and What It Costs
Opening a PACER account is free.3PACER: Federal Court Records. Options to Access Records if You Cannot Afford PACER Fees Register at pacer.uscourts.gov and you can search right away. The system charges $0.10 per page for viewing or downloading, capped at $3.00 per individual document, or 30 pages.4PACER: Federal Court Records. Pricing Frequently Asked Questions The cap does not apply to name searches, non-case-specific reports, or court transcripts.
For casual research, most people pay nothing. PACER bills quarterly, and if your charges stay at $30 or less in a billing cycle (January–March, April–June, July–September, October–December), the bill is waived.5PACER: Federal Court Records. PACER Pricing: How Fees Work That’s around 300 pages per quarter before you owe anything.
Running the Search
Log in, choose the bankruptcy court search, and select the District of Delaware. Enter 20-11177 or 23-10253 in the case number field. The system returns the docket sheet — the chronological index of every filing, with a docket number, date, brief description, and link to the underlying document. Click a document link and PACER shows the page count and charge before you commit.
One thing to know before pulling a long docket: the $0.10-per-page charge applies to the docket sheet itself, not only the documents you open. A case this size has a docket that runs many pages. The cost still falls under the $3.00 report cap, but it’s not free.
Free Ways to See at Least Part of the Docket
Two options give you Akorn filings without paying, and neither is complete.
Verita Global (Formerly KCC)
In large Chapter 11 cases, the debtor hires a claims and noticing agent to run creditor communications and host a public case page. Akorn’s agent was Kurtzman Carson Consultants LLC, which rebranded as Verita Global in April 2026.6Verita Global. KCC, Gilardi, and RicePoint Rebrand as Verita The Akorn case page is still live at veritaglobal.net/akorn and hosts key documents — major court orders, the plan of reorganization, the disclosure statement — at no cost.7Verita Global. Akorn, Inc., et al.
The site is curated, not comprehensive. It skips most routine filings, contested matters, and individual proofs of claim. To verify a specific claim or check the status of a particular motion, you’ll need PACER.
CourtListener and the RECAP Archive
CourtListener, run by the nonprofit Free Law Project, hosts the RECAP Archive, a searchable collection of PACER documents uploaded by users of the free RECAP browser extension for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.8CourtListener. Advanced RECAP Archive Search for PACER Whenever anyone downloads a document from PACER with the extension running, a copy is added to the public archive. Everything PACER makes available for free is there as well.
Coverage depends on whether someone has already pulled the document you want. For a case as visible as Akorn’s, many key filings are likely archived. Search by case name or number at courtlistener.com before paying for the same document on PACER.
What the Documents on the Docket Actually Are
A bankruptcy docket can carry thousands of entries. Knowing what the major document types do helps you find what matters.
Motions and Orders
A motion is a formal request asking the judge to do something: approve a sale, authorize financing, extend a deadline. The first wave in the Akorn case, filed on or near the petition date, asked the court to let the company keep paying employees, maintain insurance, and use cash collateral. An order is the court’s response — granted, denied, or granted with conditions. Orders are what actually bind, so if you’re trying to figure out what the court decided on an issue, read the order rather than the motion.
Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement
These two documents define how creditors get paid and how the company exits Chapter 11. The plan groups creditors into classes and specifies what each class receives: full payment, partial payment, equity in the new entity, or nothing. The disclosure statement is the companion document creditors read before voting on the plan. Federal bankruptcy law requires the disclosure statement to carry enough information for a hypothetical investor in each creditor class to make an informed judgment about the plan.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 11 – Section 1125 Postpetition Disclosure and Solicitation In the Akorn case, the plan provided for a sale to the company’s own lenders.
Proofs of Claim
A proof of claim is the form a creditor files to tell the court that Akorn owes them a specific amount for a specific reason. The plan’s treatment of each creditor class depends on the total claims filed and how they’re classified. In the 2020 Chapter 11, the deadline to file a proof of claim (the bar date) was August 3, 2020.7Verita Global. Akorn, Inc., et al. That date has long passed. A creditor who missed it has likely lost the right to share in any distribution unless they can persuade the court that an exception applies, which is rare.
Adversary Proceedings
Some disputes inside a bankruptcy case are serious enough to become their own mini-lawsuit, filed as a formal complaint with its own case number. These are adversary proceedings, and they sit on a separate docket from the main case.10Central District of California | United States Bankruptcy Court. Bankruptcy Case Vs. Adversary Proceeding, What Is the Difference? Common examples are lawsuits to claw back money transferred before the filing (preference actions) and disputes over whether a debt can be discharged. Each adversary proceeding has its own number, usually containing “AP” in the designation, and its filings do not appear on the main case docket. If you’re tracking a specific lawsuit connected to the Akorn bankruptcy, search for that number separately on PACER.
Professional Fee Applications
Lawyers, financial advisors, and investment bankers working on a Chapter 11 case have to file detailed applications before they can get paid from the estate. Fee applications show what each professional billed, broken down by task and hourly rate, and the court can reduce them. If you’re watching how much of the estate is going to administrative costs, this is where to look.