A newsletter from West providing Westlaw® search tips for corporate counsel and staff

Would you make the same argument the same way to every judge on the bench? Would you make the same settlement offer regardless of the judge assigned? Of course you wouldn't.

That's why—before the arguments fly—you want any information available that might reveal the judge's philosophy, approaches, and potential biases. Especially regarding cases and positions like yours.

Here are a few resources on Westlaw that can help you build a strategy the moment a judge is assigned.

Westlaw Profiler® Type the judge's name in the First and Last Name text box of the Profiler-Profiles of Attorneys and Judges database (PROFILER-WLD) search template, e.g., robert freedman, and click Search Westlaw. (You do not need to use connectors.)

Depending on the judge, you may retrieve biographical information and links to documents on Westlaw involving (or authored by) the judge. These may include trial pleadings, motions, memoranda, and affidavits; expert testimony; petitions, motions, and filings; verdict and settlement summaries; appellate briefs; judicial opinions and orders; Andrews litigation reporters; entries in the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary; law reviews and journals; dockets; and other materials.

To have Westlaw notify you if and when the judge's Profiler information changes, click Add to Profiler Alert at the bottom of the Links tab. Then modify the settings as needed at the Profiler Alert: Complete Profile Entry page and click Save.

Litigation History Reports
A Westlaw Profiler document may also contain links to litigation history reports—easy-to-read tables and statistics that summarize and categorize the judge's litigation history by caseload, attorney or law firm appearing, party or industry involved, or case type.

You can use the Advanced Filter feature to streamline your litigation history report so as to highlight the litigation attributes, e.g., case types or parties, of most interest to you. After you finish filtering the report, click Document List on the Links tab; a list of rulings and court dockets is displayed with the same filters you applied to the report.

News materials: People in the Headlines shortcut
Newspapers, magazines, radio and television broadcasts, and other news sources may be useful sources of a judge's candid comments, writings, and other evidence of the judge's approaches and views. An easy way to retrieve news publications pertaining to a specific judge is to use the People in the Headlines shortcut in the left frame of the tabbed Business and News page. Just type the judge's name, e.g., cheryl aleman, in the People in the Headlines text box (you do not need to use connectors) and click Go.

If the judge has a common name, use Locate to narrow your search result to documents containing the term judge or justice or the court name (e.g., Broward County).

Other potentially useful sources for information about a judge include the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary (AFJ), Legal Newspapers (LEGALNP), and Text and Periodicals-All Law Reviews, Texts, and Bar Journals (TP-ALL) databases, as well as state trial court orders. If you have questions or need search assistance, call the West Reference Attorneys at 1-800-REF-ATTY (1-800-733-2889).