How to Search by a Litigant's Name on Lexis CourtLink

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You can search by a litigant's name in the Keywords search box as well as in the Litigant field. Either method searches for the litigant's name in the section of the docket labeled Litigants or Participants. There are different rules that apply to each method though.

Litigant Field Keywords Search Box

Search Tips for the Litigant Field Search Tips for the Keywords Search Box

 

 Litigant Field

The Litigant field searches the terms that are entered using a segment search. Take the following steps to search by a litigant's name in the Litigant field:

1. Select a court or courts from the within drop-down.
2. Enter the litigant's name in the Litigant field.
   Note:  Leave out initials, middle names, and/or abbreviations as the court may or may not use these.  You can enter the litigant's first name and last name in any order if they are a person. You can use wildcards, but do not use connectors.
3. Click Search or press Enter. 

Note: If the Litigant field is not available on your selected courts, you see the following message: You won’t receive results from these courts.  Click these courts to see the list of courts which do not support searching by Litigant field.

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 Search Tips for the Litigant Field

Review the following tips for using the Litigant field in your search:
 

Ampersands (&)	When searching for a litigant name that has an ampersand in its name such as AT&T, omit the & symbol and enter the following in the Litigant field:  at t
Apostrophes (')	Apostrophes are ignored.
Business Names	Omit abbreviations like Inc., LLC., etc. as the court may or may not use these.  Use quotation marks to keep the litigant's name together without any intervening terms.
Connectors	You cannot use connectors in the Litigant name field.
Hyphens (-)	Hyphens are ignored unless in between 2 spaces.
Individual Litigant Name	Avoid searching for common last names with no other criteria. Most courts allow you to search by last name only, but only do this when you are not sure about the first name. CO - District and County Courts require at least 2 letters of the first name in order to search for an individual litigant. Indiana state courts require a first and last name in order to search for an individual litigant. Missouri state courts require a first and last name in order to search for an individual litigant. WA District and Municipal Courts require a first and last name in order to search for an individual litigant.
Middle Initials	Avoid using middle initials whenever possible because the court may not have entered a middle initial.
Noise Words	Noise words are ignored. For a list of noise words, see Noise Words on Lexis CourtLink . If a party name includes noise words, search with the name in quotation marks. For example, search "agency for the performing arts".
Periods	Periods are read as a space.
Quotation Marks	Use quotation marks to keep litigant names together with no intervening term

 
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 Keywords Search Box

Take the following steps to search by a litigant Jon Smith's name in the Keywords search box:

1. Select a court or courts from the within drop-down.
2. Enter jon w/3 smith in the search box.
3. Click Search or press Enter.

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 Search Tips for the Keywords Search Box

Review the following tips for using the Keywords field in your search:
 

General Tips

The search box uses Lexis® search logic. You can construct Natural Language or Terms & Connectors searches. You can use wildcards and segments. Put your search terms in quotation marks to look for an exact phrase when running Natural Language searches. See How Do I Search for Variations of Words? for additional search tips.

Symbols and Special Characters

The Lexis® CourtLink® service does not search for the following special characters or symbols and ignores them as terms and treats them like spaces in most situations: # (number / pound) , (comma) $ (dollar sign) @ (at / section) : (colon) - (hyphen) / (slash) ' (apostrophe) There are a few special characters that cannot be searched and change the way the service interprets your search: " (quotation marks) - You cannot search for quotation marks, but you can use quotation marks in your search to find exact phrases or turn off some search functionality. & (ampersand) - You cannot search for an ampersand, but you can use & as an equivalent to the AND connector. . (period) - The period is generally viewed as a space. Use quotation marks in your search to turn off that functionality. ( ) (parentheses) - You cannot search for parentheses, but you can use them in your search. The Lexis CourtLink service processes the search with the other terms you entered. Terms separated by any symbols or punctuation are generally read as a phrase and the results include those terms together with any type of punctuation.

  

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