KeySearch

is a research tool powered by the respected and dependable West Key Number System identifies key numbers and terms most relevant to your legal issue integrates related key numbers from different topics into one search creates effective queries for you in the appropriate database(s) uses intuitive language and organization, making it easy to navigate KeySearch

KeySearch in westlaw.com Start your research in KeySearch when: you are unfamiliar with an area of the law you are unfamiliar with the West Key Number System you need to retrieve unreported cases or secondary- source documents as well as reported cases.

KeySearch uses the dependable and respected power of the Key Number System and the expertise of West’s attorney- editors to retrieve relevant documents. KeySearch can be accessed from anywhere in westlaw.com by clicking the link on the toolbar. KeySearch

An Employment Law Issue Sue had been employed by the Busy Bee Corporation for several years. Busy Bee is a 20-person, family-run business and Sue had always had smooth relationships with family members and good job reviews. Last year, Sue began living with Roger. The Busy Bee owners did not say anything directly to Sue, but she knew her living arrangements upset the very conservative family. Relations with family members soured and soon her job reviews expressed dissatisfaction with her work. Sue was fired for unsatisfactory performance. Can Sue claim discrimination based on her status as an unmarried person?

West attorney-editors have created logical topics and subtopics. Topics are arranged alphabetically for easy scanning. Links to popular subtopics are listed below each main topic. Let’s choose Employment Law to find an answer to Sue’s legal dilemma. Employment Law

A folder indicates that there are subtopics. A search icon indicates there are no subtopics. Clicking on a search icon will retrieve the search page. Discrimination has subtopics. Discrimination

Marital or Familial Status Discrimination is the exact subtopic we’re looking for. We can click the search icon to begin our search. Marital or Familial Status Discrimination Path Notice that the KeySearch path is displayed at the top of the page so it is easy to keep track of how we got to this subtopic.

KeySearch gives us the option of retrieving reported or unreported cases, encyclopedias, treatises, law reviews and journals, and many other secondary sources.

We’ll select Cases with West headnotes (reported cases). Then we’ll select All State Cases for the database. Open the Query Editor to see which topic and key numbers are applicable to this Employment law issue. All State Cases Query Editor Key Numbers

Search We can add search terms to the end of the query to further customize the search. Here we’ve added: /p single unmarried “not married” “living in sin” The last step is to click Search.

That’s it. In just a few clicks we have retrieved 22 on-point documents in the All State Cases database. Read the headnotes from these cases to see how successful our KeySearch search was.

We can use the Term arrows to move to the highlighted search terms to quickly identify the most relevant portions of these documents. Terms

Scan What if we aren’t sure where to begin looking in the KeySearch hierarchy? We can type the essential terms in the Scan text box and click GO and and a list of the topics and subtopics that contain our terms is displayed.

Here is the list that is displayed when we enter marital familial in the Scan text box. The KeySearch path we chose by pointing and clicking is included in results above.

Efficient – KeySearch creates expert queries for you. There’s no need for you to locate the correct topic and key numbers or determine which terms to include in your query. Easy to use – The interface is organized, logical and easy to navigate. Flexible – You can edit KeySearch queries to fit your fact pattern. Comprehensive – KeySearch includes approximately 10,000 legal issues and retrieves results from reported and unreported cases as well as analytical law. Reliable – KeySearch is powered by the West Key Number System, so you know your results can be trusted. Queries are created by experts in legal topics and query formulation.

Question KeySearch 1.Builds on the Key Number System 2.Adds relevant words so unreported cases and secondary sources can be retrieved 3.Allows you to customize the automatic query 4.All of the above

Question KeySearch 1.Builds on the Key Number System 2.Adds relevant words so non-reported cases and secondary sources can be retrieved 3.Allows the automatic query to be customized 4.All of the above