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

 

You can search by a bankruptcy debtor's name in Lexis^® CourtLink^® in the Litigant field and the Keywords field.

Litigant Field
Search Tips for the Litigant Field
Keywords Field
Search Tips for the Keywords field

 Litigant Field

The Litigant field searches the terms that are entered using a segment search. You cannot enter wildcard characters or use connectors in this field. Take the following steps to search by a debtor's name in the Litigant field:

1. Select a court or courts from the within drop-down.
2. Enter the debtor's name in the Litigant field.
   Note:  Leave out initials, middle names, or abbreviations.
3. Uncheck the Creditor box.
4. Click Search. 

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 Search Tips for the Litigant Field

Ampersands (&)
When searching for a debtor name that has an ampersand in its name such as AT&T, omit the ampersand when searching for their name in the Litigant field. Enter the terms in the Litigant field with a space where the ampersand would be:  at t. 
Note:  The ampersand is not the equivalent of the word AND.

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 debtor's name together without any intervening terms. 

Carets (^)
The caret operates as an OR connector.

Hyphens (-)
Hyphens are ignored unless in between 2 spaces.

Individual Debtor Name
Avoid searching for common last names with no other criteria.

Middle Initials
Avoid using middle initials whenever possible because the court may not have entered a middle initial. 

Noise Words
Noise words are ignored. 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 debtor names together with no intervening terms. 

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 Keywords Field

Take the following steps to search by a debtor's name in Dockets in the Keywords field:

1. Select a court or courts from the within drop-down.
2. Enter defendant-litigant(xxx) in the Keywords field. 
   Note:  The xxx is the debtor's name.
3. Click Search.

Take the following steps to search by a debtor's name in Court Documents in the Keywords field:

1. Select a court or courts from the within drop-down.
2. Enter name(xxx) in the Keywords field.nbsp;
   Note:  The xxx is the debtor's name.
3. Click Search.

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 Search Tips for the Keywords Field

Generally
The Keywords field uses Lexis^® search logic. You can construct Natural Language or Terms & Connectors searches. You can also utilize wildcards and segments. Put your search terms in quotation marks to look for an exact phrase when running Natural Language searches.
 

Using 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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