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Fields for Free Form Legal Research
The use of free form searching can be the most effective way to perform a legal search – whether the search is for case law, government data (trademark or patent databases); or e-discovery projects.
Each platform/database will have different rules behind the free form searches but in general you will be using three main components in your free form search:
- (1) a field(s);
- (2) a search term(s); and
- (3) an operator(s).
Fields:
Fields are separate defined components of data entered as part of the whole document in a database. In other words, a field will be a subcategory of data within the main document. Examples of fields are: date of a case decision; title of a patent; owner of a trademark; etc.
For many databases allowing free form searching, the field will be defined before the search term. For example in the USPTO Full Text and Image Database a field is defined with a certain abbreviation. So if a searcher wants to search for a patent issued on a particular date the search would be: isd/(the date). The “isd/” defines the search will be performed in a particular field -- the date field. If the field is not defined then commonly the search will look for the search term anywhere in the document.
For case law legal research platforms, usually a free form search does not require an indication of the field. The search terms will be included in the main search box and those search terms will be searched in the whole document. There can be separate search terms based on other fields but those will be entered separately on the interface - usually on a side column or a button near the search button (Example: entering the date range of the decision; or the court making the decision).
Search Terms:
A search term can be: (A) a single search term; (B) an exact phrase; or (C) a parenthetical.
- A) A single term is most commonly the English word of what you are searching for. So if you are trying find case law about contracts you will use the search term “contract”. The single search term can also be manipulated with a truncation operator explained below.
- B) An exact phrase is multiple words enclosed by quotation marks where the search results will only return what is within the quotation marks. Truncation operators usually cannot be used to manipulate part of an exact phrase.
- C) A search term can be a parenthetical. A parenthetical is a combination of single terms enclosed by parenthesis. An example of a parenthetical is (contract OR agreement OR deal).
Operators:
There are three types of operators: (1) Boolean operators (also called logical operators); (2) proximity operators; and (3) truncation operators.
1) Use of a Boolean operator is a way to combine two search terms. The main Boolean operators are: (A) AND, (B) OR, and (C) NOT.
- A) AND in between two search terms means the search will return results with both search terms. (Example: A search of cat AND dog will return documents which has both words somewhere in the document)
- B) OR in between two search terms means the search will return results with either of two search terms. (Example: A search of cat OR dog will return results which has either word of cat or dog, the results may have both)
- C) NOT before a search term means the search will return results which do not contain the search term. (Example: A search of cat NOT dog will return results which has the word cat, but will not return results which has the both the word cat and dog – results with the word dog are excluded)
2) Use of a proximity operator is a way to find a result where the two search terms are a certain distance from each other. Proximity operators can: (A) define proximity between two search terms where the order doesn’t matter; (B) define proximity between two search terms where the order does mater; or (C) define proximity within a certain part of the document.
- A) A proximity operator will return results where two search terms are separated by a certain number of words. For example, /(number) in between two search terms will return results where the two terms are within the number of words defined after the slash. So, a search of – contract /5 breach – will return results where the word contract and breach are both in the result and not more than five words away from each other – and the order doesn’t matter. (Example: “The plaintiff caused a breach of the sales contract.” and “The dispute involved a contract. The plaintiff’s breach of the agreement …” will both occur in the results)
- B) Certain proximity operators will return results where the order of the search terms matter. For example, ADJ(number) in between two search terms will return results where the two search terms are less than the defined number of words from each other – where the first term must come before the second term.
- C) Other proximity operators will return results where the two search terms are within the same part of the document. For instance, instead of a number, /s means both terms are in the same sentence – and /p means both terms are in the same paragraph.
3) Use of a truncation operator is a way to manipulate a single search term to return multiple results. A truncation operator can be a: (A) end truncation operator; or (B) middle truncation operator.
- A) An end truncation operator will return results with the same part of a single search term but different endings (in some cases beginnings). For example, in the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) government database for trademarks a search of eliminat$ will return results with: eliminate, eliminated, eliminating, or elimination.
- B) A middle truncation operator will return results with the same part of a single search term but a different middle portion of a search term. For example, a search of wom?n will return results with: woman or women.