> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.secapi.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# SEC Data for Legal Teams

> Give law firms programmatic access to SEC enforcement actions, filing histories, entity resolution, and event monitoring with full provenance and traceability.

<Info>
  SEC API helps legal teams move from a company name or ticker to SEC filings, extracted filing sections, enforcement releases, insider reports, and saved-search monitoring without hand-copying EDGAR URLs into every matter file.
</Info>

## Why legal teams use SEC API

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Enforcement action search" icon="shield" href="/api-reference/events">
    Search SEC litigation releases, administrative proceedings, and AAER records with release metadata and links back to SEC source documents.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Filing monitoring" icon="files" href="/filing-types-and-exhibits">
    Find 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, proxy, and ownership filings by resolved issuer, form type, filing date, or accession number.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Compliance screening" icon="search-code" href="/api-reference/entities">
    Resolve a target to the best available SEC entity before pulling filings, sections, insider activity, and enforcement context.
  </Card>

  <Card title="8-K event alerts" icon="bell" href="/webhook-stream-workflows">
    Use saved-search monitors and webhook delivery for event-driven review queues tied to filings and disclosure language.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

***

## Key endpoints for legal workflows

| Endpoint                                    | Method | Use case                                                                    |
| ------------------------------------------- | ------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `/v1/entities/resolve`                      | `GET`  | Resolve ticker, CIK, or company name before matter research                 |
| `/v1/filings`                               | `GET`  | Filing search with form type, ticker, date filters                          |
| `/v1/filings/latest/sections/{section_key}` | `GET`  | Extract a section from the latest matching filing                           |
| `/v1/sections/search`                       | `GET`  | Search filing sections for terms such as litigation or restatement          |
| `/v1/events/enforcement`                    | `GET`  | Search SEC enforcement releases by source, violation type, penalty, or date |
| `/v1/events/officer-changes`                | `GET`  | Review filing-derived officer and director change events                    |
| `/v1/insiders`                              | `GET`  | Insider transaction history for a given entity                              |
| `/v1/monitors`                              | `POST` | Create a saved-search monitor with webhook or email delivery                |

***

## Example: build a filing and enforcement trail

Resolve the client or counterparty first, then reuse the CIK downstream:

```bash theme={null}
curl -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/entities/resolve?name=Tesla"
```

Pull recent 8-K and 10-K filings for the resolved issuer:

```bash theme={null}
curl -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/filings?cik=0001318605&forms=8-K,10-K&limit=10"
```

Search SEC enforcement releases separately; use supported filters rather than assuming a free-text client-name match:

```bash theme={null}
curl -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/events/enforcement?source_type=aaer&ticker=TSLA&date_from=2024-01-01&limit=10"
```

## Example: extract legal proceedings from a 10-K

Pull Item 3 from the latest annual filing when you need the source text behind a litigation memo:

```bash theme={null}
curl -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/filings/latest/sections/item_3?ticker=TSLA&form=10-K&mode=compact"
```

For broader review, search sections first and extract only the filings that matter:

```bash theme={null}
curl -H "x-api-key: $SECAPI_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.secapi.ai/v1/sections/search?q=legal%20proceedings&ticker=TSLA&form=10-K&limit=5"
```

***

## How to use this in a matter workflow

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Preserve source context" icon="clipboard-check">
    Keep returned accession numbers, filing URLs, section keys, request IDs, and trace metadata with the memo or diligence packet.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Use generated prompts" icon="terminal" href="/agents/prompt-library/law-firm">
    Start from the law-firm prompt library for disclosure dossiers, deal diligence, restatement scans, and litigation binders.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Prompt>
  You are a SEC filings research assistant with access to SEC API. For any client target company, resolve the entity to the best-match CIK, pull the past 12 months of filings (8-K, 10-K, 10-Q, DEF 14A), extract the legal-proceedings section (Item 3) from the most recent 10-K, list insider trading activity from the past 12 months, and surface any 8-K Item 5.02 (officer/director departures) events. Output a dossier with one section per finding category and inline requestId references for auditability.
</Prompt>

*See the full 12-prompt [Law firm library](/agents/prompt-library/law-firm).*