---
title: "How Profiles Work"
description: "How Docket Navigator profiles act as pre-built research binders for a case, judge, court, firm, attorney, party, patent, trademark, copyright, or PTAB expert."
---

A **profile** is a pre-built Docket Navigator research binder for one subject.

Profiles collect the searches, analytics, relationships, and summary information that users commonly need when researching a known case, judge, court, firm, attorney, party, patent, trademark, copyright, or PTAB expert.

The profile subject supplies the initial research context. Docket Navigator applies that subject to the profile's tabs so the user can begin with a populated research view instead of recreating the same filters manually.

## Profile types

Docket Navigator provides profiles for subjects including:

- cases;
- judges;
- courts;
- firms;
- attorneys;
- parties;
- patents;
- trademarks;
- copyrights;
- PTAB experts.

The exact profile types and tabs available depend on the active library and the data available in that library.

## Opening a profile

From the main search page, choose the relevant profile type and select the subject from the available results.

The profile opens in the context of the active library. That library determines which records and profile features can be populated.

[Learn how libraries work](/getting-started/libraries/)

## A profile has two layers

Profiles generally combine an **overview** with a collection of **tabs**.

### Overview

The overview gives a high-level picture of the profile subject.

Depending on the subject and library, it can include:

- case or proceeding counts;
- jury-trial or bench-trial counts;
- asserted patent or other intellectual-property counts;
- rankings against comparable subjects;
- activity by year or forum;
- technology or subject-matter distributions;
- frequently related parties, firms, attorneys, clients, judges, or courts;
- case outcomes;
- determinations;
- remedies and damages information;
- appeal information;
- timing information.

The overview is a summary layer. Use the tabs and underlying records when a specific statistic or relationship needs to be investigated.

### Tabs

Profile tabs hold the detailed research views for the subject.

Longer profiles can group tabs into folders, such as:

- decision-related views;
- timing or timetable views;
- stays and transfers;
- case or docket activity;
- outcomes and remedies.

The folder names and tab sets vary by profile type.

## Profile tabs can be search results or analytics

Profiles use the same two tab types that appear elsewhere in Docket Navigator.

### Search-result tabs

Search-result tabs contain records associated with the profile subject, such as:

- cases;
- active cases;
- docket entries;
- pleadings and orders;
- accusations;
- determinations;
- remedies;
- claim constructions;
- declarations;
- patents or other intellectual-property records.

These tabs are useful when the user needs to inspect individual records rather than a calculated summary.

### Analytics tabs

Analytics tabs are marked with three gold bars and contain a chart with an underlying data table.

A profile analytics tab opens with the profile subject already applied as a filter. A Time to Milestones tab inside a judge profile, for example, begins as an analysis of that judge.

Some profile analytics also apply additional default filters that define the calculation, such as a Type of Document, Posture of Motion, forum, or other criterion.

[Learn how analytics tabs work](/analytics/how-analytics-tabs-work/)

## The profile subject is a filter

The most important profile interaction pattern is that the profile subject becomes part of the tab's filter set.

A profile tab should therefore be interpreted according to its **active filters**, not only according to the profile page title.

For example:

1. Open a judge profile.
2. Open an analytics tab that is already filtered to that judge.
3. Add a date range to narrow the analysis.
4. Add a document type or legal issue to isolate a particular category of rulings.
5. Broaden or change the judge filter if a comparison is needed.

The resulting chart means whatever the current filter set defines.

If a profile filter is broadened or removed, the tab can include data beyond the original profile subject. Check the active filters before describing the result as belonging only to the profile subject.

## Profiles often include comparison baselines

Many profile analytics place the profile subject beside an aggregate or other comparison population.

Examples include:

- a judge compared with all U.S. district court judges;
- a court compared with a broader forum;
- a firm or attorney compared with other firms or attorneys;
- a profile's outcomes compared with the wider outcome distribution.

The baseline is part of the chart's meaning. Identify both the subject and the comparison population before drawing a conclusion from a difference.

## Profiles connect summaries to source records

Profiles are designed to support movement from a broad picture to the records behind it.

A typical interaction is:

**profile overview → analytics tab → chart or table value → underlying cases or orders**

or:

**profile overview → search-result tab → individual record → source document**

This drill-down pattern allows a user to inspect how a summary was produced and evaluate the individual matters behind it.

## Profile data differs by library

A profile can expose different tabs in different libraries because the available source data differs.

For example:

- appeal views require appeal data;
- PTAB views require PTAB proceedings;
- Claim Construction views require claim-construction data;
- trademark, copyright, antitrust, trade-secret, securities, patent, and UPC profiles use the data structures available for those areas.

Do not infer that a missing tab means the subject has no activity. Confirm whether that tab exists in the active library and whether the library covers the required data.

See [Scope of Data](/scope/) for coverage by library.

## Profiles are working binders

A profile is also a binder, so the user can extend it.

Users can add their own searches or analytics, organize tabs into folders, and save the resulting research. This makes the profile a starting point for a larger research workflow rather than a fixed report.

A saved copy can preserve customized profile research for later use or sharing.

[Learn how binders work](/getting-started/binders/)

## How an LLM should interpret a profile

When answering a question from profile data, identify:

1. the **profile type** and **profile subject**;
2. the **active library**;
3. the **tab** being used;
4. whether the tab is **record-level** or **analytical**;
5. the **active filters**, including any default profile filters;
6. any **comparison baseline**;
7. the **underlying records** supporting the result.

A profile provides context. The active tab and filters provide the precise meaning of the result.

:::note
Profiles vary by library and subscription. Individual profile pages document the tabs and data available for each profile type in greater detail.
:::