Clarence Darrow Cases Help
The Clarence Darrow Cases database contains documents obtained from Thomson Reuters Westlaw.
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Terms and Connector Search Tips
Connectors are symbols you place between search terms to specify the relationship between them. You can also use the root expander and universal character to ensure that your search retrieves different forms of your search terms.
| Connector | Symbol | Retrieves |
|---|---|---|
AND |
& | Search terms in the same document: narcotics & warrant |
OR |
(space) | Either search term or both: car automobile |
Phrase |
" " | Search terms appearing in the same order as in the quotation marks: "attractive nuisance" |
Grammatical Connectors |
/s | Search terms in the same sentence: design*** /s defect! |
| /p | Search terms in the same paragraph: hearsay /p utterance |
|
| +s | The first term preceding the second within the same sentence: palsgraf +s island |
|
| +p | The first term preceding the second within the same paragraph: ti(mikkelson +p mikkelson) |
|
Numerical Connectors |
/n | Search terms within "n" terms of each other (where "n" is a number from 1-255): person** /3 jurisdiction |
| +n | The first term preceding the second by "n" terms (where "n" is a number from 1-255): 20 +5 1080 |
|
BUT NOT |
% | Documents not containing the term or terms following the % symbol: laminectomy % to(413) Use the % connector with caution; it may cause relevant documents to be excluded from your search result. |
Root Expander
To retrieve words with variant endings, use the root expander (!). When you place an exclamation point (!) at the end of a root term, you retrieve all possible endings of that root. For example, obey! retrieves obey, obeys, obeyed and obeying.
Universal Character
The universal character (*) represents one character. You can place the universal character within or at the end of a term. When you place the universal character within a term, it requires that a character appear in that position. For example, fea*t retrieves feast but not feat.
When you place the universal character at the end of a term, you specify the maximum length of that term. For example, object*** retrieves object, objects, objected, objective, objection and objecting but not objectionable.
Turning Off Plurals and Equivalents
Thomson Reuters Westlaw automatically retrieves plurals when you enter the singular form of a term. You can turn off plurals of a particular term by placing the # symbol in front of the term. To retrieve damage but not damages, type #damage. Placing the # symbol in front of a term also turns off the automatic retrieval of equivalencies. To retrieve perm but not permanent, type #perm.
Restricting Your Search by Field
Thomson Reuters Westlaw allows restricting searching to "fields" or sections of a document rather than searching the entire document.
| To search by | Type this |
|---|---|
| a title or case name: | ti(staeger) |
| a Judge: | ju(giovine) |
| a Citation: | ci(871 +2 1998) |
| Within Opinions: | op(department /s "standing to file") |
| Full-Text: | ft("administrative hearings" /5 appoint /10 "qualified interpreter" /3 unavailable) |
Natural Language Search Tips
- Type a description of your issue in plain English, up to 640 characters. For example, type must a manufacturer disclose the side effects of a drug.
- Click Search.
Tips for Browsing Documents
Citations List
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Browsing by Search Terms
In a search result, you can click the right or left Term arrow at the top or bottom of the page to move to the next or previous occurrence of your search terms in the displayed document.
Browsing by Document
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