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Can I preview a case to determine if it is relevant to my research?
Can I preview a case to determine if it is relevant to my research?

How to view excerpts from a case containing your search terms

Deborah Rummelhart avatar
Written by Deborah Rummelhart
Updated over a week ago

When you run a keyword search, you can view excerpts from a case containing your search terms. These excerpts or "preview paragraphs" show you where your search terms appear in a case. You can quickly review these preview paragraphs to determine whether a case is relevant and worth reading in full.

You can access "preview" paragraphs by taking the following steps:

Step 1: Run a keyword search by typing search terms and any optional Boolean operators into the search bar on the homepage:

Step 2: You will then be taken to the search results page, where you will be shown cases containing your search terms. Underneath the hyperlinked case title, you will see an excerpt from your case that shows you where your search terms appear in the case.

Please note that some cases have been summarized by other courts. If a case has been summarized by another court, you will see a "judge's summary" behind the hyperlinked case title, and the preview paragraph containing your search terms will appear beneath the judge's summary. This is shown in the example below; the preview paragraph (flagged in the red box) appears beneath a judge's summary:

Step 3: If there are multiple preview paragraphs containing your search terms, you will see arrows above the preview paragraph. Use the right arrow to advance to the next excerpt and the left arrow to go back to the previous excerpt:

If you need any assistance setting up a keyword search or navigating your search results, please contact us at support@casetext.com.

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