Introduction
 LEXIS and WESTLAW:
 computer-assisted legal research (CALR)
systems.
 Online access

full texts legal materials,

current newspapers and periodicals,

law-related textbooks and journals, and

other materials.
CUSTOMIZING WESTLAW
① Go to “Add a Tab”
CUSTOMIZING WESTLAW
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CUSTOMIZING WESTLAW
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CUSTOMIZING WESTLAW
CUSTOMIZING WESTLAW
QUICKIES
FIND BY
CITATION
KEYCITE THIS
CITATION
QUICKIE 1
 FIND BY CITATION
 Gets a document (case, statute, secondary
source)
 TYPE: 367 US 643
RESULT
QUICKIE 2
 KEYCITE BY CITATION
 Is a case or statute good law?
 Retrieve more recent cases
 TYPE: 367 US 643
RESULT
TWO THINGS
Procedural
History of the
case (default)
Cases that
cite this case
YOUR TURN
 FIND: “384 US 436”
 WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE CASE?
 FIND: “34 AD3d 1249”
 WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE CASE?
FIND STATUTES
 FIND STATUTES: Penal Law § 120.00
 In the “Find by Citation” box, type the statute
citation
 FORMULA: <state abbreviation> <statute
title> <section number>
 “ny penal law 120.00"
FIND STATUTES
FIND STATUTES
YOUR TURN
 FIND: New York’s Domestic Relations Law § 170
 FIND: New York’s CPLR 3211
Domestic Relations Law §
170
 FIND: New York’s Domestic Relations Law § 170
 TYPE: NY Domestic Relations 170
RESULT
YOUR TURN
 FIND: New York’s CPLR 3211
IS THIS CASE GOOD LAW?
 KeyCite: People v Belton, 68 AD2d 198
 In the “KeyCite this Citation” box, type the
cite
 68AD2d198
This is your
case
IS A RED FLAG
EVER GOOD?
KeyCite Status Flags
RED FLAG
 the case is no longer good law for at least one of
the points of law it contains.
YELLOW FLAG
 the case has some negative history but has not
been reversed or overruled.
BLUE H
 indicates that the case has some history.
GREEN C
 case has citing references but no direct history
or negative citing references.
THE STAR TREATMENT:
Depth of Treatment Stars
EXAMINED
 The citing document contains an extended
discussion of the cited case or administrative
decision, usually more than a printed page of text.
DISCUSSED
 The citing document contains a substantial
discussion of the cited case or administrative
decision, usually more than a paragraph but less
than a printed page.
CITED
 The citing document contains some discussion
of the cited case or administrative decision,
usually less than a paragraph.
MENTIONED
 The citing document contains a brief reference
to the cited case or administrative decision,
usually in a string citation.
YOUR TURN
 People v Payton, 55 AD2d 859
 People v Martinez, 80 NY2d 444
OUR EXAMPLE
 ISSUE: May a prayer or benediction
be given at a school graduation?
Creating a Terms and
Connectors Search
 Terms and Connectors searching is the most
powerful and precise way to search Westlaw.
 Using these techniques allows you to take full
control of the powerful search engines built in to
these systems.
 The Westlaw Search Form takes you step-bystep through the process of creating a search on
Westlaw.
STEP-BY STEP
1. Define your issue carefully.
a) State it precisely in one sentence.
b) Avoid being narrower or broader than is necessary.
c) EXAMPLE: you are seeking cases on prayer at
public school graduations
i.
TOO BROAD: “when is religion permitted in
public schools”
ii. TOO NARROW: “may a student say the
Lord’s Prayer at a public school graduation”
STEP-BY STEP
2. Circle the key terms in your issue statement.
a) Key terms are words most closely related to your
issue.
b) Exclude words so common that they are likely to
turn up in many documents unrelated to your
issue.
c) ISSUE: May a prayer or benediction be given at a
school graduation?
 FIND TERMS: May a prayer or benediction
be given at a school graduation?
 ELIMINATE COMMON: May a prayer or
benediction be given at a school
graduation?
 WHAT YOU ARE LEFT WITH: prayer or
benediction, school, graduation
STEP-BY STEP
3. Write these key terms in the Terms boxes at the
top of the Westlaw Search Form.
a. If two or more key terms both relate to only
one aspect of issue, list them vertically, as
alternatives.
b. EXAMPLE TERMS:
i.
prayer or benediction
ii.
school
iii. graduation
STEP-BY STEP
4. Consider whether alternative terms might
appear in a relevant document.
 For example, if your issue involves an attorney,
likely alternatives would be lawyer or counsel
 Consider synonyms (car/automobile) and
antonyms (admissible/inadmissible).
 Consider also broader or narrower or related
terms (car/vehicle/truck/motorcycle...).
STEP-BY STEP
5. List the alternatives to your key terms in the
columns below each key term.
 OUR EXAMPLE:
i.
prayer or benediction or invocation
ii.
school
iii. Graduation or commencement
STEP-BY STEP
6. Use truncation (!) or the universal character
(*) to account for variations of key terms.
 EXAMPLES:
 discrim! retrieves discriminate,
discriminating, discriminated....
 kn*w retrieves know or knew.
 test*** retrieves test, tested, testing,
testify... but not testimony or
testamentary
STEP-BY STEP
6. Use truncation (!) or the universal character
(*) to account for variations of key terms.
 OUR EXAMPLE:
i.
prayer (or pray or praying) or
benediction or invocation
ii. school
iii. Graduation (or graduating or
graduate) or commencement
STEP-BY STEP
6. Use truncation (!) or the universal character
(*) to account for variations of key terms.
 OUR EXAMPLE:
i.
Pray! or benediction or invocation
ii. school
iii. Graduat! or commencement
STEP-BY STEP
7. Use connectors to specify the relationship
between key terms.
AND
“AND”
 USE: &
 EXAMPLE: narcotic & warrant
OR
“OR”
 USE: A space
 EXAMPLE: car automobile vehicle
MORE “AND”
CONNECTORS
TERMS IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH
 USE: /p
 EXAMPLE: hearsay /p utterance
MORE “AND”
CONNECTORS
TERMS WITHIN THE SAME SENTENCE
 USE: /s
 EXAMPLE: warrant /s arrest

Arrest warrant

Warrant of arrest

Court issued a warrant for his arrest.
NUMERICAL
CONNECTORS
/n
 Search terms within n terms of each other
(where n is a number from 1-255):

Queens /2 county

Queens County

County of Queens
CONNECTORS IN BRIEF
RULE: All connectors are either OR or AND
 OR:

OR
 AND:


&, /p, /s, /n
The difference with the different ands is how
much control you want to use
CONTROL OF “AND”
&
NO CONTROL
/p
/s
/n
MORE CONTROL
MORE
EXACT PHRASE
 USE: “[Insert phrase]”
 EXAMPLE: “Rule of Perpetuity”
STEP-BY STEP
8. HOW TO EFFECTIVELY USE CONNECTORS
 Use the [or] connector between alternative.
 Use the & connector or its variant forms: /p
or /s or /#, (where # is a number, e.g., /2)
between your groups of ␣␣ ␣ key terms.
When in doubt, start with a grammatical
connector (/p or /s).
 Westlaw processes connectors in this
order:
USING THE FORM
USING THE FORM
INSERT THE TERMS HERE
USING THE FORM
INSERT THE
ALTERNATIVES
HERE
USING THE FORM
CHECK THE
CONNECTORS
BACK TO EXAMPLE
 ISSUE: May a prayer or benediction be given at
a school graduation?
 TERMS:
i.
Pray! or benediction or invocation
ii. school
iii. Graduat! or commencement
BACK TO EXAMPLE
Alternatives
Terms
/p
Pray!
or
benediction
school
/p
Graduat!
or
commencement
or
invocation
Pray! Benediction invocation
SEARCH QUERY /p school /p graduat!
commencement
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