Casemaker Weekly – January 13th, 2021

by Tali Thomason on January 13, 2021

You can’t Research without SEARCH. This week we focus on the Search Bar area of Casemaker4 and how it can help you find exactly what you are looking for! Let’s get started.

In the Casemaker4 system, the search function is the star. This top portion of your screen contains everything you need to conduct your searches. It centers around our search bar; where you can type in the information that you are looking for. Start with keywords, a citation or case name, section number, whatever your needs may be.

When you click into the search bar, you will notice a menu appears. The first button, Recent Searches, allows you to view the searches you have recently conducted. These include the terms you typed in as well as the date and time they were entered. Clicking these terms will allow you to regenerate that search.

The second option in the menu is Search Tips which provides you with a listing of search operators that function in the Casemaker system. Here you can see an example of the type of search that you can conduct, how we would type that into the system to utilize it, and a description of the results that would provide you with. A second click on the Search Tips button will close that information.

The third option is Advanced Search. Clicking this button will allow you to type in specific search information in a combination of your choosing, including keywords and search operators, citation, case name, docket number, court, attorney, judge, panel, and date range.

Directly to the left of the bar that you can type in is our Jurisdiction and Compilations menu. In the blue text on the search bar, you will see what jurisdictions and compilations are currently selected. Clicking on the menu will allow you to select as many or as few jurisdictions as you like.

Looking for all cases related to a particular state, including district and circuit decisions? Click the Related Federal box. Checking this box will allow you to receive results from your selected state or states as well as any federal material relevant to that jurisdiction specifically.

Similarly, if you are conducting research in the Circuit Opinions, you can also use the Related State box to return results from your selected circuits and the corresponding state-level results as well.

Over on the right side of the menu, you have the opportunity to narrow your state-level results by compilation as well. Casemaker’s default is All Compilations but if you are interested in only conducting a search in the admin code, for example, you can make that designation here.

At the bottom left of the Jurisdiction menu, you will see Save To My Settings. If the settings that you’ve just selected are your most normally used settings when conducting research in the Casemaker system, then you can click this to establish your choices as your default instead of automatically using Casemaker’s default. If you had previously conducted a search outside of your norm and would like to revert to your default, you can click the Use My Settings button. In the upper right of the menu, you will find the Clear All Checks option, which gives you the opportunity to clear all of your checks with just one click as well. After you’ve made all of your jurisdiction and compilation selections be sure to click the blue Save button in the bottom right to save them and continue with your search.

As you start typing your citation or keywords Casemaker is providing suggestions for what you may be looking for. This type-ahead feature suggests queries or documents based on your typing.

Need help forming a query? Our customer service staff is available from 8 am to 8 pm, Monday through Friday. Give us a call at 877.659.0801, email us at support@casemakerlegal.com or click the Live Chat link in the upper right of the Casemaker screen.

That is all for this week! We will back with more tips and tricks next week. Thanks again for making Casemaker a Valued Member Benefit.

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