Note: VitalLaw® automatically recognizes a space between terms as  'AND' retrieving only those documents containing all terms.

Search Operators

Search operators allow you to type a search expression using advanced search capabilities.

Search operators, including STATE:, TITLE:, and DOCTYPE:, can be used in combinations with the Boolean connectors AND, OR, and NOT. These operators indicate the relationships between an operator and search terms in the search expression.  Simply type your search expression using an Operator before the terms in your search expression.

Note: Use parenthesis ( ) when combining search operators and proximity connectors in a search expression.
Example: Title: (world W/5 Charts)

Below are the search operators you can use in VitalLaw® (along with examples).

Author: Retrieves documents authored by person or persons. 
Example: Author: "Steven Mark Levy" (use quotation marks for phrases)

Doctype:  Retrieves documents of a particular type. 
Example: Doctype: Cases: (SEC v. W. J. Howey)

State: or ST:  Retrieves documents that contain state meta data.
Example: State: California

Title:  Retrieves documents that contain the search terms in the document title only.
Example: Title: (blue sky) and hardship exemption

Also, use the Title: operator to search for Parties within case documents.
Example: Title: (Microsoft or Apple) and Doctype: cases and hardship

 

Boolean Connectors

AND
Placing the word and between terms retrieves documents that contain both of the terms. By default, the system inserts the and connector between terms. Therefore, entering court appeals is the same as entering court and appeals.

However, VitalLaw® recognizes Editorially curated 'terms of art', so sometimes a space between terms is ignored, and instead terms separated by a space are searched as an exact phrase. For example, if you type FCPA enforcement as your search expression, that phrase is a recognized 'term of art' on some VitalLaw® dashboards so that your results will include documents that contain the exact phrase FCPA enforcement (as well as synonyms if applicable).

OR
Placing the word or between terms retrieves documents that contain either or both of the terms. This is useful when entering synonyms, terms with identical or similar meanings.

For example, if you type child or dependent as your search expression, your results will include documents that contain child or dependent individual of each other. But your results will also include documents that contain both child and dependent.

NOT
Placing the word not between terms retrieves documents that contain the first term only if the second term does not appear. This connector is useful when your keyword often appears in a context that is irrelevant to your research.

For example, if you want to find documents concerning RICO litigation, the search expression RICO not Puerto excludes documents in which RICO occurs as a part of Puerto Rico.
Note: Partial matches will not work with the NOT boolean connector. For example, searching rico not puerto will return results that include puerto rico. However, searching rico not puerto will return results that include only rico, e.g., the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Hyphen
Placing a hyphen(-) before a term will return search results that do not include that term.
Example: deed -revocation

Quoted Search Terms
Place quotes around a search expression to return search results that include that phrase, without synonym expansion using the thesaurus.
Example: "intervening rights"

Searching with Parentheses
Use parentheses to enforce a logical order in your search expression.  
Example: Title: (director not proxy) and stock incentive

 

Proximity Connectors

F/n
Placing f/n between terms retrieves documents in which the first term follows the second term by no more than a specified number of words (where n equals the number of words within which the first term must follow the second term).
Example: If you type trust f/2 revoc as your search expression, your results will include documents containing both the words trust and revoc in which the word trust follows the word revoc by no more than two words (n = 2 in the example).

P/n
Placing p/n between terms retrieves documents in which the first term precedes the second term by no more than a specified number of words (where n equals the number of words within which the first term must precede the second term).
Example: If you type revoc p/2 trust as your search expression, your results will include documents containing both the words revoc and trust in which the word revoc precedes the word trust by no more than two words (n = 2 in the example).

W/n
Placing w/n between your search expression terms retrieves documents in which the first term appears within the specified number of words as the second term (where n equals the number of words between terms).
Example: If you type revoc w/25 trust as your search expression, your results will include documents that contain the words revoc and trust only when they appear within 25 words of each other.
Note: The value of n cannot exceed 127 words.

W/sen
Placing w/sen between your search terms is equal to entering w/20 and retrieves documents in which the first term appears within 20 words of the second term.
Note: Sentence boundaries will not be considered.

W/par
Placing w/par between your search terms is equal to entering w/80 and retrieves documents in which the first term appears within 80 words of the second term.
Note: Paragraph boundaries will not be considered.

 

Date-Related Search Operators

After a Date
Placing after followed by a specific date will return search results with materials dated after the specified date.
Example:after 1/25/2017

Before a Date
Placing before followed by a specific date will return search results that include materials dated before the specified date.
Example:before January 25, 2018

From Date to Date
Using From date and To date as part of your search expression will return search results that include materials within a range of those dates.
Example:"rule 144" from 1/25/2017 to 1/24/2018

On a Date
Placing on followed by a specific date will return search results that include materials on a specific date.
Example: Doctype: no action letters on Dec 10 2022
You may also search within a specific month
Example: Doctype: no action letters on Dec 2022