PACER Docket Searcher—Search Logic and Boolean Operators

Contents

Using Search Terms
Search Operators
“Y not part of XYZ” Searches
Search Shortcuts

1. Using Search Terms

Single Search Term

Searching for a single search term will find docket entries that contain that term, even if it is part of a longer word.

Example: Searching for hearing will return a list of all docket entries that contain that word, including variations such as “hearings.”

Multiple Search Terms

Searching for multiple search terms without quotes will find docket entries that contain all search terms entered.

Example: Searching for attend hearing will return a list of all docket entries that contain both “attend” and “hearing,” in any order.

2. Search Operators

The words “and,” “or” and “not” are treated as operators—not search terms—unless they are enclosed in quotes.

And

Using and between multiple terms is the same as using spaces, and will find docket entries that contain all terms.

Example: Searching for attend and hearing is identical to searching for attend hearing .

Or

Using or between multiple terms will find docket entries that contain any individual search term.

Example: Searching for attend or hearing will return a list of all docket entries that contain either “attend” or “hearing.”

Combining And and Or — Parentheses

Whenever a search phrase contains both And and Or that phrase may be ambiguous, and if it is interpreted incorrectly will return incorrect results. To prevent this, use parentheses to group operators together whenever a search phrase contains both And and Or.

Note: Remember that a space is considered an And, so attend meeting or hearing is ambiguous, even though it doesn't include the literal word "And." Instead, this phrase should be entered with parentheses as shown below.

Example 1: Searching for attend (meeting or hearing) (the equivalent of attend and (meeting or hearing) )
will return a list of docket entries that contain “attend” and also contain either “meeting” or “hearing.”

Example 2: Searching for (attend meeting) or hearing (the equivalent of (attend and meeting) or hearing )
will return a list of docket entries that either contain both “attend” and “meeting” or else contain “hearing.”

Not

Using not before a search term will exclude results that contain that term.

Example: Searching for attend not hearing (the equivalent of attend and not hearing )
will return a list of docket entries that contain “attend” and do not contain “hearing.”

Note: Searching for attend not meeting hearing (the equivalent of attend and not meeting and hearing )
will return a list of docket entries that contain both “attend” and “hearing” and do not contain “meeting.”
To instead find a list of docket entries that contain “attend” and do not contain either “meeting” or “hearing,”
search for attend not meeting not hearing (the equivalent of attend and not meeting and not hearing ).

Note: The rules of the previous section still apply the same way, even when you’re using “not."

Quoted Phrases

Searching for a phrase in quotes will find all docket entries that contain the exact phrase, including spaces.

Example: Searching for "attend hearing" (including quotes) will return a list of docket entries that contain the exact phrase “attend hearing.”

3. “Y not part of XYZ” Searches

In certain situations, if you are searching for specific uses of a word that is commonly used in other ways, which you cannot distinguish with a traditional boolean (“and,” “or” and “not”) search, you may be able to narrow your results with a specialized “Y not part of XYZ” search. This type of search returns records that contain a search term, but only when that term is not part of a larger term.

Note: “Y not part of XYZ” searches are complicated to execute, as indexes must be created for each search term before the search can be run. These indexes are created automatically, but may cause these searches to run more slowly than the normal boolean searches described above.

Simple “Y not part of XYZ” Search

To perform an “Y not part of XYZ” search, use the format "[small term to find] not part of [large term to exclude]"

Example: Searching for "committee" not part of "creditors committee" would return the following docket entries:

Entries that contain either "debtors committee" or "security holders committee"
Entries that contain "debtors committee" or "security holders committee" and also contain "creditors committee"

but would not return the following:

Entries that only contain "creditors committee"

Compound “Y not part of XYZ” Search

To include multiple terms to exclude, simply enclose them in quotation marks and separate them with "and."

Example: "committee" not part of "creditors committee" and "creditors' committee" and "creditor committee"

Combining Boolean and “Y not part of XYZ” Search Terms

Searches may include both boolean (“and,” “or” and “not”) and “Y not part of XYZ” criteria, as long as they meet the following conditions:

The “Y not part of XYZ” search criteria must be the very last search terms entered
While multiple boolean criteria are allowed, a search may include only one set of “Y not part of XYZ” search criteria

Example: attend or hearing and "committee" not part of "creditors committee" and "creditor committee"

4. Search Shortcuts

Dash: -

When used immediately before a search term, a dash ( - ) is a shortcut for “not.”

Example: Searching for attend -hearing is identical to searching for attend and not hearing .

Alternative List: ( term1 , term2 , term3 )

Inside parentheses, a comma ( , ) is a shortcut for “or.”

Example: Searching for attend (meeting,hearing,presentation) is identical to searching for attend and (meeting or hearing or presentation) .

Combined Dash and Alternative List: -( term1 , term2 , term3 )

Dashes and Alternative Lists can be combined, which excludes all terms in the list.

Example: Searching for attend -(meeting,hearing) is identical to searching for attend and not (meeting or hearing) which is equivalent to searching for attend and not meeting and not hearing .

Abbreviated “Y not part of XYZ” Syntax: ( term <> large term 1, large term 2 )

The abbreviated syntax for an “Y not part of XYZ” search is
"([small term to find]<>[first large term to exclude],[additional large term to exclude])"

Example: Searching for (committee <> creditors committee, creditors' committee, creditor committee)
is identical to searching for "committee" not part of "creditors committee" and "creditors' committee" and "creditor committee" .

Note: the same conditions apply when using either the full or abbreviated “Y not part of XYZ” syntax:

The “Y not part of XYZ” search criteria must be the very last search terms entered
While multiple boolean criteria are allowed, a search may include only one set of “Y not part of XYZ” search criteria

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