New KeySearch feature makes searching using the West Key Number System® even easier

How do you usually begin your case law research on Westlaw? Do you plunge right into a word search and hope to retrieve a case with relevant West key numbers to use in subsequent searches? If you’re like most attorneys, you know how valuable the West Key Number System is to successfully researching an issue, but you may not always know whether you’ve used the system as well as you could.

The new KeySearch feature, available exclusively in westlaw.com, gives you a precision search tool that makes key number searching easier than ever.

What does KeySearch do?

KeySearch is designed to help you find cases and secondary sources within a specific area of law. Choose your legal issue from an organized hierarchy based on the West Key Number System. KeySearch then creates a query for you using relevant key numbers and their underlying concepts. You can retrieve reported cases as well as documents that do not contain key numbers such as unpublished cases and law review articles.

How does KeySearch work?

KeySearch contains more than two dozen legal topics, such as bankruptcy, criminal justice and insurance, and thousands of subtopics, organized into a logical hierarchy.

You simply have to choose one of these topics or subtopics and the type of documents you want to retrieve, and KeySearch does the rest of the work for you.

To use KeySearch, complete the following steps:

Access KeySearch
To access KeySearch, click KeySearch on the toolbar.

Browse the KeySearch topics
After you access KeySearch, browse the list of topics and subtopics by clicking the closed folder icons in the right frame. You can also scan the list of topics and subtopics for specific terms by typing the terms in the text box in the left frame and clicking GO.

Select a KeySearch topic
To select the topic or subtopic that KeySearch will use to construct a query, click the open folder icon next to a subtopic or click the Search all of ... link at the top of the page.

Choose the sources you want to search
Once you have selected a topic or subtopic to search, use the drop-down lists that are displayed to select the sources you want to retrieve documents from.

You can also customize the KeySearch query to fit your fact situation by adding your own search terms in the Add search terms text box.

Run the KeySearch query
Click Search. KeySearch runs the query it creates in the sources you selected.

For additional help using KeySearch, call the West Group Reference Attorneys at 1-800-REF-ATTY (1-800-733-2889).