• For general information: use one or two words without quotation marks.
  
  Example: bankruptcy
  
  
• For more specific information: use three or more words.
  
  Example: bankruptcy exemptions Chapter 11
  
  

• Word order affects results ranking:
  
  Use dog show to get more results that focus on dog shows
  
  Use show dog to get more results that focus on show dogs
  
  

• To find an exact phrase, use quotation marks, like this:

"principal residence exemption"

This will return only documents containing that exact phrase.

• Good: "summary disposition" motion
  Why: This will retrieve documents that contain variations on the phrase, including "motion for summary disposition" and "summary disposition motion."
  
  
• Not so good: "construction lien waiver"
  Why: This will not return documents that say "waiver of construction lien."

• The search ignores common words, and you do not need to use connectors, such as and, or, of, in, or the to get good results.
  
  Example, if you search for change of custody in divorce , the search engine will ignore of and in and will try to find documents that most closely meet the context of your search terms.
  
  
• Do not use connectors common to LexisNexis®, Westlaw®, or other commercial search engines; doing so may give poor search results.

• The search ignores capital letters. The search results will be the same whether you type in bankruptcy chapter 11, bankruptcy Chapter 11, or BANKRUPTCY CHAPTER 11 .