By Jay Shuck

Q: I’ve created a few folders in WestlawNext that I will almost certainly keep for a long time, possibly several years.

What will happen to the documents and snippets saved to those folders a year from now? Or five years from now?

A: Your folders never expire—they are retained in WestlawNext for the life of your password, along with any documents or snippets you’ve saved to them.

Q:  I selected All Federal as my jurisdiction and ran a global search related to the construction of bills of lading in shipping contracts.  I retrieved several documents that cite the federal district court case Associated Metals v. M/V Star Skarven, 1995 A.M.C. 505 (1995), but the case never appears in my global search results.  Why not?

A: Until recently, American Maritime Cases documents were not retrieved in a global search even after you selected All Federal as your jurisdiction, unless the case had also been reported by West.  To retrieve those documents, you needed to run a search from the American Maritime Cases (AMC) category page.

That changed earlier this month: American Maritime Cases—even cases not reported by West—can now be retrieved when you run a global search after selecting All Federal or All State & Federal as your jurisdiction. (If you prefer, you can still run searches from the American Maritime Cases (AMC) category page to retrieve only AMC cases—for quickest access to the page, type amc in the WestlawNext home page text box.)

International jurisdictions: It’s possible that American Maritime Cases from other international jurisdictions are retrieved in a global search. When AMC cases are retrieved from more than one international jurisdiction, the International filter is displayed in the left column, as well as a filter for each country listed.  This does not mean that all international content from each listed country was retrieved—only that a country-specific filter is available for each.

Q: Is there an easier way to identify key numbers relevant to my issue without having to sort through the thousands of key

A: Yes, there at least two ways.

If you are already viewing a relevant case, you will likely see a key number under which the relevant point of law is classified.

• To retrieve a list of similar headnotes from other cases, simply click the West topic or key number in the case.
  • If you decide you need headnotes from different jurisdictions, click Change at the top of your results.

If you want key numbers for case retrieval but are not viewing a relevant case, click West Key Number System on the Tools tab.

• Next, type a term (e.g., pollution) in the Title Search text box in the right column and click Search.
• A list of key numbers is displayed.
• To retrieve a list of headnotes classified under a key number on the list, click the key number.

Q: Is there a way to jump to a specific part of a case I’m viewing?

A: Yes.

With WestlawNext, it’s easy to jump to a specific part of the case you are currently viewing.

The Go to menu allows you to directly skip to sections such as Synopsis, West Headnotes, Attorneys and Law Firms, Opinion, or Parallel Citations, depending on the case.

Additionally, as of February 11, the Page # and Skip to buttons have been replaced with the Go to menu.

The interface is intuitive. Click Go to, and a single menu containing the options from the former Page # and Skip to buttons is displayed.

To jump to a specific page number from the print reporter, type the number in the Page # text box on the menu and click Go.  To jump to any other option on the menu, simply click the option name.

Note: To jump to specific terms in the document, you still need to click the Search text in this document (magnifying glass) icon.

Q: I like to use WestlawNext on my laptop, but I sometimes have trouble reading the small text. Is there a way to make it more readable?

A: There are several ways you can modify your WestlawNext display to make it easier to read, including the following:

• Fullscreen mode: To display a document across the full width of the page, click the Fullscreen Mode icon on the toolbar. To exit fullscreen mode, click the Exit Fullscreen Mode icon.
• Text size: To change the text size, click the Display Options icon on the document toolbar, then select a text size from the Display Options dialog box that is displayed.
• Font: To change the font, click the Display Options icon, then select a font from the Display Options dialog box.
• Width: To change the margin width, click the Display Options icon, then select a width from the Display Options dialog box.
• Links and Highlighting: The Display Options dialog box contains check boxes you can use to show or hide search term highlighting and links to citations.

Your document display settings will remain unless and until you change them. To restore your document display to its default settings, click the Display Options icon. Then click Restore Default Options in the Display Options dialog box.

A. Certainly!

• When browsing cases, try the Key Number filter to narrow down to very discrete points of law. (Note: This is especially powerful when used in conjunction with topic pages.)

• When viewing statutes, use the Title filter to narrow to specific statute sections.

• In administrative decisions, the Agency filter allows you to view results by agency – a real time-saver.

Q: After researching the law in one jurisdiction, I often need to run a search or two in a different jurisdiction. Is there a way to do this without having to change my settings in the Jurisdiction selector each time?

A: Yes. You can override your jurisdiction selection by typing the database identifier followed by a colon and your query.

For example, if you selected California using the Jurisdiction selector but later decide to run a search in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Cases database (CTA7), you could run a search like this: cta7: mandatory student fee as a first amendment violation. When you click Search, the search will run in the CTA7 database. (Note that you can only override your jurisdiction selection using a single database identifier.)

When you return to the WestlawNext home page, your original jurisdiction selection is displayed in the Jurisdiction selector.

Q: Is a plain-language search as effective as one with terms and connectors?

A: Yes. While WestlawNext fully supports Boolean Terms and Connectors searching, the best results are achieved using simple descriptive terms. Because Boolean Terms and Connectors are designed to retrieve the documents that match your query restrictions, it is possible that you may miss some relevant results. A search using simple descriptive terms fully harnesses the power of the WestSearch™ algorithm to get you a much more inclusive and better-ranked result list.

Q: Is West attempting to move research from terms and connectors searches to natural language searches?

A: Boolean Terms and Connectors and Natural Language are primary methods for searching on Westlaw.com. As explained in the previous answer, while WestlawNext fully supports Boolean Terms and Connectors searching, the best results are achieved on WestlawNext when searches are initiated using simple descriptive terms.

Q: How do I search using more than one exact phrase?

A: Click on the Advanced Search link and simply enter your phrases separated by an ampersand in the “This exact phrase” box – for example, “summary judgment” & “failure to state a claim”.

Q: How can I search for cases in the Eastern District of New York without pulling up everything in the 2d Circuit?

A: Run your search in the Content Page: New York Federal District Court cases, and then use the jurisdiction filter to narrow to only those cases in the Eastern District.

For more WestlawNext search tips, be sure to check out our archived collection of WestlawNext Q&A posts.

A: Yes. You can now deliver a long result list or KeyCite citing references list as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in Comma Separated Value (CSV) format. This WestlawNext delivery format allows you to filter or sort your list offline. Each type of information available in your list (e.g., KeyCite status flag, citation, or title) is presented in a separate column in the spreadsheet.

To deliver your result list or KeyCite citing references list on WestlawNext, click Download or Email on the toolbar. In the dialog box that is displayed, choose Microsoft Excel (CSV) from the Format drop-down list. Then click Download or Email, as appropriate.