Anaya Nolan
Westlaw is a powerful tool for legal research, offering a variety of search methods to find relevant cases. Users can search by keywords, party names, court, date, number, citation, history, disposition, core terms, summary, headnotes, and more. Westlaw's advanced search feature allows for greater specificity, with options to include or exclude specific terms and document fields. Boolean terms and connectors can also be used to refine searches. When searching by topic, users can combine multiple search criteria to narrow results. Additionally, users can filter results by jurisdiction, court, timeline, source, practice area, attorney, and more. Westlaw provides efficient and comprehensive case law research capabilities for legal professionals and students.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Search by | Keywords, party name, jurisdiction, court, date, number, citation, history, disposition, core terms, summary, headnotes, overview, outcome, attorney name, judges, written by, opinion by, opinion, concurrence by, concurrence, dissent by, dissent |
| Search type | Plain language search, Boolean Terms and Connectors search |
| Search filters | Jurisdiction, court, timeline, source, practice area & topic, attorney, law firm, most cited, keyword, and/or judge |
| Search tools | Advanced Search, Browse Box, Westlaw Key Numbers |
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What You'll Learn
Using keywords
When searching for cases on Westlaw, you can use keywords to initiate your research. For example, if you are searching for cases relating to sex discrimination against female employees in the air industry, you can type in the "Free Text" box: [(discrimination /5 female or women) and (airline* or airways)]. You can then click "Search" to run your search query.
Additionally, you can use the Advanced Search option on the Cases page to access the Document Segment/Fields section, which allows you to search by specific fields such as Party Name, Court, Date, Number, Citation, History, Disposition, Core Terms, Summary, and Outcome, among others. This can be particularly useful if you are looking for a very specific case or set of cases, such as every opinion that a certain judge has written or dissented in, or a case with a particular party name.
It is also worth noting that Westlaw provides access to briefs filed in cases, which can be helpful to understand the arguments and authorities relied on by lawyers. These briefs can be found under the "Filings" tab for a given case, although the coverage may not be comprehensive.
If you need further assistance with formulating search strings or developing search strategies, you can always reach out to a reference librarian for guidance and support.
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Using Boolean terms and connectors
Boolean terms and connectors are a useful way to narrow down your search results and find the information you need. Boolean searching refers specifically to the use of AND, OR, and NOT to refine your search.
To require a term or phrase to be present in your search results, use the AND connector. For example, "fair use" AND documentary will return results that contain both "fair use" and "documentary". You can also group synonyms with OR, which must be grouped with parentheses. For instance, (photocop! OR reproduc!) AND (class! OR educat!) AND "copyright infringement" will return results that include any of the first two terms and any of the second two terms, along with the exact phrase "copyright infringement".
You can also use the AND NOT connector (or BUT NOT on Lexis) to exclude certain terms. For example, "fair use" AND NOT documentary will return results that include "fair use" but not "documentary". This is particularly useful when a term is used in multiple legal fields, but you are only interested in one of them.
To ensure that your terms appear near each other in the returned cases, use a proximity operator between them. /p requires your term to appear in the same paragraph as another term, /s requires them to be in the same sentence, and /5 requires them to be within five words of each other. For example, (photocop! OR reproduc!) /s (class! OR educat!) AND "copyright infringement" will return results where the first two terms are in the same sentence as each other and are accompanied by the exact phrase "copyright infringement".
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Searching by party name
Westlaw allows users to search for cases by party name. This is particularly useful when you only have the name of one party or the names of multiple parties.
To search for cases by party name, start by navigating to the Cases page on the Westlaw homepage. From there, you can select the Advanced Search option. This will allow you to access the Party Name field, which will ensure that your results only include cases where the names you entered are used for parties.
If you are looking for federal cases, you can follow a slightly different path. First, click on Federal Materials and Federal Cases. Then, click on the Advanced link to the right of the search bar. This will give you access to the Party Name field, as well as other fields that can help refine your search.
In some cases, you may want to search for cases where a particular entity is a party, but not necessarily a party name. For example, if you wanted cases in which the "United States" is a party, you could simply enter "United States" into the search bar. However, this may retrieve a large number of results, as it will include cases where "United States" is mentioned in the text but not as a party.
To find cases by party name using other search engines, such as Google Scholar, simply enter the name or names you know into the search box and ensure the "Case Law" button is activated. You can also select the jurisdiction if you know it.
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Advanced search options
Westlaw offers a variety of advanced search options to help you find the case law you're looking for.
Firstly, you can use keywords to search for cases. This can be done by entering a plain language search or a Boolean Terms and Connectors search. A Boolean search allows you to use terms like "AND", "OR", and "NOT" to specify which words must or must not be included in your results. You can also use quotation marks around a phrase to search for exact matches.
Additionally, you can search for cases by party name. This is a simple way to find cases involving a particular party.
Westlaw Precision offers even more advanced search options. By clicking the 'advanced' link, you can gain greater control over how your search is conducted. For example, you can specify that your search results contain all of your search terms, any of your search terms, or an exact phrase. You can also restrict results by date and search by citation, name, or title. Exclusion terms can also be used to ensure certain terms are left out of the results.
The Advanced Search features may change depending on the specific Westlaw database you're searching within. For instance, if you're searching within the Secondary Sources database, the Advanced Search options will be different. In some cases, it may be more efficient to browse for a specific title instead of using the search function.
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Narrowing results
Westlaw is a database that holds primarily documents related to court cases and operates similarly to peer-reviewed article databases. It is a useful tool when conducting legal research and needing access to cases—the written opinions of appellate and lower court judges.
To narrow down your search results on Westlaw, you can use the left column on the results page. Scroll down to the "Narrow" heading and select "Select Multiple Filters" if you want to use more than one filter. You can narrow your results by:
- Jurisdiction: Select your desired jurisdiction.
- Date: Select from preset options or customise your date range.
- Reported Status: Narrow down by reported (published within a state or federal reporter) or unreported (not published within a state or federal reporter) case opinions.
- Judge: Find every opinion a certain judge has written or dissented in.
- Party: Search for a case with a particular party name.
- Attorney or law firm: Find cases handled by a particular attorney or law firm.
- Topic: Narrow down by subject matter.
- Docket number: Find a case by its docket number.
- Key number: Westlaw's subject organisational system.
If you are looking for a very specific case or set of cases, you can conduct a segment search. To do this, navigate to the Cases page and select the Advanced Search option.
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Frequently asked questions
After logging into Westlaw, select "Cases" from the menu at the top of the page. Then, in the "Free Text" box, type in your search terms using the correct syntax for the database. For example, if you want to search for cases relating to sex discrimination against female employees in the air industry, you would type [(discrimination /5 female or women) and (airline* or airways)] and click "Search".
You can narrow your search results by date, jurisdiction, court, timeline, source, practice area, attorney, law firm, most cited, keyword, and/or judge.
You can conduct a segment search by navigating to the Cases page and selecting the Advanced Search option. Here, you can search by Party Name, Court, Date, Number, Citation, History, Disposition, Core Terms, Summary, Headnotes, Outcome, Attorney Name, Judges, and more.
A Boolean Terms and Connectors search allows you to use quotations around a phrase or connectors between words. For example, entering the search terms ["United States"] tells Westlaw Edge that you are only looking for results with the phrase "United States" in the title or caption.
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