CaseLawResearch.com

LEXIS

Westlaw

Connectors

and

and

and, &

or

or

or, space

and not

and not

but not, %

Proximity Operators

w/n

w/n

w/n, /n

w/n

Pre/n

pre/n, +n

Exact Phrase Match

unlawful entry

unlawful entry

"unlawful entry"

Wild Cards:  End Of Root Word

*

!

!

Wild Cards:  Single Character

?

*

*

Order of Operators*

Proximity operators, and not, and, or

or, proximity operators, and, and not

or, proximity operators, and, but not

Example:  Order of Operators *

*The order of operators refers to the order in which the search engine combines the search terms to resolve the search. Depending on the combination of operators you have used, you may need parentheses to correctly organize your search. (Hint: if you have used the same search operator throughout your search, you will probably not need parentheses. But if you have combined conjunctive connectors – and, near/n – with disjunctive connectors – or – you probably will need parentheses.) The proximity operators are operated upon as equals.

Here is how the order of operators affects your search. If trying to retrieve cases discussing negligence or assumption of the risk related to jaywalking, here is how you would resolve the search on the three different systems:

(negligen* or (assum* w/5 risk)) and jaywalk*

negligen! or (assum! w/5 risk) and jaywalk!

negligen! or (assum! /5 risk) & jaywalk!