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 ① Go to TABS ② CLICK on “Add Westlaw Tabs”

CUSTOMIZING WESTLAW Scroll down

CUSTOMIZING WESTLAW ① Go to TABS ② CLICK on “Add Westlaw Tabs” ③ Add New York Tab

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 § In the “Find by Citation” box, type the statute citation FORMULA: “ny penal law "

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-by- step 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” & /p /s /n NO CONTROL 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: Or, /n, /s, /p, &

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 Terms Pray! /p school /p Graduat! Alternatives or benedictioncommencement or invocation SEARCH QUERY Pray! Benediction invocation /p school /p graduat! commencement

DATABASES WHAT YOU WANTDATABASE New York Cases New York StatutesNew York Statutes Annotated US Supreme Court Decisions Search for Database SCT Corpus Juris SecundumSearch for Database CJS