You can search for deposition transcripts using the search bar, which operates much like its DISCO Ediscovery counterpart, legal research software (such as Westlaw or Lexis), or Google.
CONTENTS
Search basics
The simplest way to search is by words or phrases of interest, coupled with quotation marks or other operators.
| Operator | Description | Example |
&, and |
Includes results with both terms |
contract & payment — Depositions that contain both contract and payment
|
[space], or |
Includes results with either term or field |
contract payment — Depositions that contain contract or payment
|
%, not |
Excludes term or field from results |
contract % payment — Depositions that contain contract but do not contain payment |
/n |
Proximity search, searching within n words, in any order |
contract /10 payment — Depositions that contain contract within ten words of payment, where the order is irrelevant1
|
+n |
Proximity search, searching within n words in the prescribed order |
contract +10 payment — Depositions that contain contract within ten words of payment, where payment must precede contract
|
“” |
Exact phrase intended2 |
“contract payment” — Depositions that contain the exact phrase contract payment
|
! |
Truncation search or root expander; can be used at the beginning or end of a term |
contract!
— Depositions that contain any term starting with contract, for example, contract, contracts, contractual, contracting, or contracted !contract
— Depositions that contain any term ending with contract, for example, subcontract |
* |
Wildcard search for single character |
contract*
— Depositions that have one, but only one, character after contract, such as contracts, but not contracted, contractual, or contract contract**
— Has two, but only two, characters after contract, such as contracted or contractor |
~ |
Fuzzy or approximate word search |
guaranty~
— Searches for guaranty, guarantee, garanty, and similar (mis)spellings |
Order of operations
Case Builder performs searches in the following order, going left to right within each group.
- Exact phrases: “ ”
- Groupings: ( )
- Proximity: /n, +n, /s, +s, /p, +p
- &, and, %, not
- [space], or
Fields
A search query that does not specify a field (i.e., “fieldless”) will search all the text of a case’s transcripts and annotation notes. Identify a field followed by parentheses to focus a search more specifically. Within the parentheses, you can use operators (such as & or quotation marks), and multiple fields can be searched simultaneously to narrow the results (such as date(2019) & isExpert(yes) & “carbon scrubbers”).
Common deposition fields
| Command | Description | Example |
text |
Text of a deposition (excludes page and line numbers) | text(“carbon scrubbers”) |
date3
|
Date the deposition was taken | date(1/1/2019) |
tag |
Tags applied to the document |
tag(contract or designation)
— Any deposition with the contract or designation tag |
note |
Inline annotation notes applied to the deposition as work product | note(carbon % oxygen) |
witness |
User-provided name of the witness |
witness(John)
— Depositions of witnesses with John as either the first or last name |
partyAlignment4
|
User-provided party alignment of the witness |
partyAlignment(Plaintiff)
— Any deposition that has been identified as affiliated with the Plaintiff |
isExpert5
|
User-provided; whether the witness is an expert in this case |
isExpert(yes)
— Any deposition that has been identified as an expert |
expertise |
User-provided; a brief description of what the witness’s expertise is |
expertise(accounting)
— Any deposition with accounting in the expertise description |
description |
User-provided; a brief description of the witness |
description(CEO)
— Any deposition with CEO in the witness description |
Less common deposition fields
| Command | Description | Example |
addedBy |
Tracks who added or uploaded the deposition to Case Builder |
addedBy(jones@lawfirm.com)
— Depositions added by jones@lawfirm.com |
addedDate |
The date that a deposition is uploaded to Case Builder |
addedDate(after 1/1/2019)
— Depositions uploaded after 1/1/2019 |
caseImpact |
The rating of a witness's estimated impact on the case |
— Depositions with witnesses with a helpful (or better) rating |
hasVideo |
Whether a deposition has a video |
hasVideo(yes)
— All depositions with videos |
pageCount |
Number of pages in the transcript |
pageCount(>100)
— All depositions that have more than 100 pages |
hasExhibit |
Whether the deposition has any related depositions of type exhibit |
hasExhibit(yes)
— Depositions that have exhibits |
exhibitCount |
Count of the exhibits related to the deposition |
exhibitCount(>5)
— Depositions with greater than five exhibits |
relatedDocCount |
Whether the deposition has any related, unclassified depositions |
relatedDocCount(<5)6
— Depositions with less than five related documents |
hasRelatedDoc |
Count of unclassified related depositions |
hasRelatedDoc(no)
— Depositions that have no related documents |
Work product modifiers
Tags and notes can be searched by dates added and users adding them, as well as by the user-appended “impact” evaluation that can be optionally applied to any tag.
| Syntax | Description |
tag(by laywer@lawfirm.com) |
Depositions tagged by lawyer@lawfirm.com |
tag(designation & by lawyer@lawfirm.com) |
Depositions tagged responsive by lawyer@lawfirm.com |
tag(damages % by lawyer@lawfirm.com) |
Depositions tagged damages by someone other than lawyer@lawfirm.com |
tag(by lawyer@lawfirm.com & on 10/16/2015) |
Depositions tagged by lawyer@lawfirm.com on 10/16/2015 |
tag(damages & by laywer@lawfirm.com & before 10/16/2015) |
Depositions tagged damages by lawyer@lawfirm.com before 10/16/2015 |
note(“carbon scrubber” & by lawyer@lawfirm.com & before 10/16/2015) |
Depositions with an annotation note containing “carbon scrubber” by lawyer@lawfirm.com before 10/16/2015 |
tag(damages & impact helpful) |
Depositions tagged damages with helpful impact |
-
An “s” for a sentence or a “p” for paragraph can be used in lieu of numbers (i.e., contract /p payment), and will search within 25 and 75 words, respectively.
- Note that without quotation marks a phrase will return each of the words by assuming an “or” was intended.
- All “date” fields support multiple formats (such as year, mm/yyyy, or dd/mm/yyyy), and also support modifiers, including before, after, or between, as well as >, <, >=, or <=.
- A capital letter is included here for readability, but Case Builder’s search is not case sensitive.
- “Is” or “has” fields are binary; the only accepted inputs are “yes/true” or “no/false”.
- Related documents include exhibits for depositions.