Basic Searching

Each case library in CasePortal has a single input search box. 

When you enter any terms into the search box, CasePortal will search for matches across all database fields. 

For example, a search for "Google" will return results where Google is in the plaintiff field as well as the defendant field.

If your search uses a combination of words, you should wrap your search in quotations so that the terms are searched together.

For example, to gets results about slip and fall cases, you should search "slip and fall."

When you search a combination of words and you don't wrap the terms in quotations, CasePortal will search for one term or the other. This is because the default search operator of CasePortal is OR. 

Another way to achieve the same results as using quotations is to include the AND operator between terms. 

For example, a search for first AND amendment will produce the same results as a search for "first amendment."

 

CasePortal search uses a process called stemming by default. Stemming reduces a word to its root form, in order to produce variants when searching.

For example, a search for the term "security" will produce results for security as well as securities, and a search for the term "sustainability" will produce results for sustainability as well as sustainining, sustain, and sustained.

Most of the time, stemming is quite helpful because it enables the interchangeability of words that share a common root, saving you from having to specifically search for each permutation.

However, there may be circumstances where you do not want stemming in your search. In this case, you should toggle on the "Exact Match" option. 

For more information about how exact matching works, please read this article. 

Advanced Searching

You can use search commands to achieve highly targeted result sets. 

For example, by searching plaint:Google, you can search for Google only in the plaintiff field.

Similarly, by searching def: Google, you can search for Google only in the defendant field.

You can also combine commands using the AND or OR operators to target specific values in more than one field.

For example, by searching plaint:Google AND def:Sonos, you will produce only results where Google is the plaintiff and Sonos is the defendant.

 

When using command-based searches, the rules of quotations still apply. 

For example, to search for Best Buy as a plaintiff, you should search plaint:"Best Buy." Otherwise CasePortal would search for "Best" OR "Buy" in the plaintiff field, which will likely not produce the desired results.

 

When you begin typing into the search box, CasePortal will prompt you to use operators or commands to assist your search. 

Most operators are universal to all of CasePortal's libraries. Most search commands are unique to each library. To learn more about the available operators and search commands, we recommend the following articles:

It's possible to search for more than one value within a specific field. 

For example, to search for either Google or Sonos as a plaintiff, you should search plaint:(Google OR Sonos).

With this approach, it's necessary to place the search terms and operators in parentheses as demonstrated so that CasePortal knows to contain the search terms to the specified field.

 

Again, the rules of quotations still apply. 

For example, to search for Best Buy or Berkshire Hathaway as a plaintiff, you should search plaint:("Best Buy" OR "Berkshire Hathaway").

All CasePortal libraries have a built-in tips panel that demonstrate how to use the operators and search commands explained in this article.

For more help with searching, click "See Search Tips" to open the search tips panel, then click the copy icon next to any example and paste it into the search input. This will load the example and results for you. Then you can edit the query with your own values.