Open

About Top Search

The Top Search is the simplest way to search for a matter in SmartAdvocate. It can be found at the top center of nearly every screen in SmartAdvocate.

Open

The Top Search is not available in the Intake Wizard or Contact Card screens.

Cases Radio Buttons

Select from Open, Closed, or All.

For most parameters, selecting Open will return everything not formally Closed, including cases without a status, and for some parameters, it will also return non-case contacts.)

Dropdown menu

Select the search parameter from the dropdown menu.

The default is Case # / Plaintiff. See User Dropdown Menu | User Preferences to change the default.

Case # / Plaintiff

This search parameter is the initial default for Search, although you can change the default parameter in User Preferences. (See User Preferences for details.) Using this parameter will search for cases where at least one plaintiff OR the case number in SmartAdvocate matches the provided search string.

What qualifies as a match?

The search is not case-sensitive. For basic text or numeric searches (i.e. those without wildcards or commas), the search will return all cases where either a plaintiff organization's name, a plaintiff individual's last name, or the case number begins with the provided search string. To search both the last and first name of a plaintiff, use a comma to separate the two, putting the last name first. Spaces immediately before or after the comma do not matter. Both the last and first name can be partial (however, it will need to be the beginning of the respective names). You can search by first name only by starting the search string with just a comma.

For more flexibility in searching, you may use wildcards. These are symbols that represent either a single unknown character, or an unknown number (possibly zero) of unknown characters. The underscore character ("_") can be used in place of a single unknown character, and the asterisk character ("*") can be used in place of an unknown number of unknown characters. You may freely combine wildcards as needed. These wildcards are especially helpful if you aren't sure of the spelling of a name or want to search by a part of the name that is not at the beginning.

Case # Exact Search

If your search string exactly matches an existing case number, you will be redirected to the Case Summary page for that case instead of the search results. Note that this only occurs under this specific circumstance; it will not happen if wildcards are used or if the string exactly matches a plaintiff name, even if there is only one result from the search.

Case # / Name (under construction)

Claim #

Using this parameter will search for cases where an associated claim number matches the provided search string.

What qualifies as a match?

The search is not case-sensitive. For basic searches (i.e. those without wildcards), the search will return all cases where a claim number associated with the case contains the provided search string. For more flexibility in searching, you may use wildcards. These are symbols that represent either a single unknown character, or an unknown number (possibly zero) of unknown characters. The underscore character ("_") can be used in place of a single unknown character, and the percent character ("%") can be used in place of an unknown number of unknown characters. You may freely combine wildcards as needed. These wildcards can be helpful if you aren't sure of individual digits in the number.

Case # / Client (under construction)

Case # / Defendant

Using this parameter will search for cases where at least one defendant matches the provided search string.

What qualifies as a match?

The search is not case-sensitive. For basic text or numeric searches (i.e. those without wildcards or commas), the search will return all cases where either a defendant organization's name or a defendant individual's last name begins with the provided search string.

To search both the last and first name of a plaintiff, use a comma and a space to separate the two, putting the last name first. You must put exactly one space after the comma. If you are not using wildcards, you will need to write the entire last name before the comma, but the first name can be partial (however, it must be the beginning of the defendant's first name).

For more flexibility in searching, you may use wildcards. These are symbols that represent either a single unknown character, or an unknown number (possibly zero) of unknown characters. The underscore character ("_") can be used in place of a single unknown character and the asterisk character ("*") can be used in place of an unknown number of unknown characters. You may freely combine wildcards as needed. These wildcards are especially helpful if you aren't sure of the spelling of a name, want to search only by first name, or want to search by a part of the name that is not at the beginning.

Defendant Insurance Code (under construction)

Date Of Birth

Using this parameter will search for cases where at least one plaintiff's date of birth is between the dates selected, and furthermore will search for all other contacts whose date of birth is between the dates selected.

Selecting Dates

When you select "Date of Birth" in theTop Search, the input field will become two Date-widget drop down fields.

Note: Do not leave either field blank, and do not choose a year earlier than 1800 (which may cause an error). If you want to search all D.O.B.s before a certain date, using the year 1800 in the first field should be more than sufficient to cover all relevant contacts.

Handling the Results

The search results will include all instances where a plaintiff's date of birth falls in the selected range. If you chose to search in All cases, however, rather than just Open or Closed ones, the results will also include any other contacts whose date of birth fall in that range. The results for plaintiffs will include all relevant case information, in particular a case number if there is one. The results for other contacts will only include the date of birth and the name of the contact.

Docket / Index # (under construction)

Date Of Incident

Using this parameter will search for cases where the date of incident is between the dates selected.

Selecting Dates

When you select "Date of Incident" in the Top Search, the input field will become two Date-widget drop down fields.

Do not leave either field blank, and do not choose a year earlier than 1800 (which may cause an error). If you want to search all D.O.I.s before a certain date, using the year 1800 in the first field should be more than sufficient to cover all relevant incidents. If you want to search for a specific date, rather than a range, enter that date into both dropdown fields.

E-mail

Using this parameter will search for cases where at least one plaintiff's email address matches the provided search string, and furthermore will search for all other contacts whose email address matches the provided search string.

What qualifies as a match?

The search is not case-sensitive. For basic searches (i.e. those without wildcards), the search will return all plaintiffs and other contacts whose email address contain the provided search string. For more flexibility in searching, you may use wildcards. These are symbols that represent either a single unknown character, or an unknown number (possibly zero) of unknown characters.

The underscore character ("_") can be used in place of a single unknown character, and the percent character ("%") can be used in place of an unknown number of unknown characters. You may freely combine wildcards as needed. These wildcards can be helpful if you aren't sure of the top-level domain (e.g. .com or .net) or want to find all addresses belonging to the same domain name (i.e.: "%@gmail.com" will find any email addresses using the gmail domain).

Handling the Results

If the search is set to search in either Open or Closed cases, the search results will only include instances where a plaintiff's email address matches the provided search string. In order to include search results that include both plaintiffs and all other contacts whose email matches the string, it is necessary to search in All cases.

The results for plaintiffs will include all relevant case information, particularly a case number if there is one. The results for other contacts will only include the email address and the name of the contact. The contact will always be listed under the Plaintiff/Contact column, regardless of the role or roles the contact may have within the SmartAdvocate system.

Drivers License #

Using this parameter will search for cases where an associated driver's license number matches the provided search string.

What qualifies as a match?

The search is not case-sensitive. For basic searches (i.e. those without wildcards), the search will return all cases where a driver's license number associated with the case contains the provided search string.

For more flexibility in searching, you may use wildcards. These are symbols that represent either a single unknown character, or an unknown number (possibly zero) of unknown characters. The underscore character ("_") can be used in place of a single unknown character, and the percent character ("%") can be used in place of an unknown number of unknown characters. You may freely combine wildcards as needed. These wildcards can be helpful if you aren't sure of the exact license number.

Phone #

Using this parameter will search for cases where at least one plaintiff's phone number matches the provided search string, and furthermore will search for all other contacts whose phone number matches the provided search string.

What qualifies as a match?

For basic searches (i.e. complete phone numbers), the search will return all plaintiffs and other contacts whose phone number exactly matches the provided search string. The field for entering phone numbers provides you with the structure of a phone number, i.e. (__) ___-___. If any of these ten digits is left blank, it is automatically treated as an underscore wildcard character, which means it will match any digit. It is not possible to use the percent wildcard character when searching phone numbers. You may leave as many digits blank as you wish, in any positions, but cannot leave the entire phone number blank. This can be helpful if you aren't sure of an individual digit, or of the area code. You could also use blank digits to retrieve all contacts within a given area code.

Handling the Results

The search results will include all instances where a plaintiff's phone number matches the provided search string, but also all other contacts whose phone number matches the string. The results for plaintiffs will include all relevant case information, particularly a case number if there is one. The results for other contacts will only include the phone number and the name of the contact.

Employing Organizations

If a contact is employed by an organization, that organization's phone number will automatically be listed in the contact's contact card as an Organization type phone number (if it is not already separately listed among the contact's phone numbers, i.e. under Work Phone). However, the contact will not be in the search results if the organization's phone number matches the search string. (The organization itself will be in the results.)

Plate #

Using this parameter will search for cases where an associated automobile license plate number matches the provided search string.

What qualifies as a match?

The search is not case-sensitive. For basic searches (i.e. those without wildcards), the search will return all cases where a license plate number associated with the case contains the provided search string.

For more flexibility in searching, you may use wildcards. These are symbols that represent either a single unknown character, or an unknown number (possibly zero) of unknown characters. The underscore character ("_") can be used in place of a single unknown character, and the percent character ("%") can be used in place of an unknown number of unknown characters. You may freely combine wildcards as needed. These wildcards can be helpful if you only have a partial plate number.

Policy #

Using this parameter will search for cases where an associated insurance policy number matches the provided search string.

What qualifies as a match?

The search is not case-sensitive. For basic searches (i.e. those without wildcards), the search will return all cases where an insurance policy number associated with the case contains the provided search string.

For more flexibility in searching, you may use wildcards. These are symbols that represent either a single unknown character or an unknown number (possibly zero) of unknown characters. The underscore character ("_") can be used in place of a single unknown character, and the percent character ("%") can be used in place of an unknown number of unknown characters. You may freely combine wildcards as needed. These wildcards can be helpful if you aren't sure of the exact policy number.

SSN #

Using this parameter will search for cases where at least one plaintiff's social security number matches the provided search string, and furthermore will search for all other contacts whose social security number matches the provided search string.

What qualifies as a match?

For basic searches (i.e. complete social security numbers), the search will return all plaintiffs and other contacts whose social security number exactly matches the provided search string. The field for entering social security numbers provides you with the structure of a social security number. If any of these nine digits is left blank, it is automatically treated as an underscore wildcard character, which means it will match any digit. It is not possible to use the percent wildcard character when searching social security numbers. You may leave as many digits blank as you wish, in any positions, except that you may not leave the entire social security number blank. This can be helpful if you aren't sure of an individual digit, or only know the last four digits.

Handling the Results

The search results will include all instances where a plaintiff's social security number matches the provided search string, but also all other contacts whose social security number matches the string. The results for plaintiffs will include all relevant case information, particularly a case number if there is one. The results for other contacts will only include the social security number and the name of the contact.

UDF (under construction)

VIN # (under construction)

Input Field

The Input Field works alongside the Dropdown menu.

1. Select the parameter from the dropdown menu.

2. Enter the search criteria related to the parameter set in the dropdown menu.

Magnifying Glass Icons

There are two magnifying-glass icons: (Search in this window) and (Search in new tab).

Select Enter instead of selecting either of the buttons to get the search results. See User Dropdown Menu | User Preferences to change the default.

Question Mark Icon

The question mark icon provides search help. 

About Search Results (under construction)

When you search for a matter using the Quick Case Search, the search results will be provided to you in the form of a table where each row contains information from an individual result. The information is separated into a series of columns, each of which relates to a particular category of information. The available columns vary slightly depending on which parameter you used for the search, but most of them will be available for any parameter. The columns that are available for all parameters are:

1. Case Number: The number of the case in the SmartAdvocate system, sometimes followed by an icon of an arrow pointing down and to the left. Clicking the number itself will open the case summary for that case number in a new tab; clicking the icon instead, when it is available, will open the case summary in the tab in which you are currently working.

2. Incident Date: The date of the incident.

3. Plaintiff/Contact: The name of the plaintiff or contact returned by the search. This column's behavior varies a little depending on the search parameter. In some cases, it can return any contact at all; in others, it will return only the primary plaintiff in the case matching the search; in still others, there will be a separate row in the results for each plaintiff matching the search. Clicking the name will open the contact card for that contact in a new tab.

4. Defendant: The name of the defendant. When searching using the "Defendant" parameter, this will return a separate row in the results for each defendant matching the search; otherwise, it will contain only the primary defendant in the case matching the search. Clicking the name will open the contact card for that defendant in a new tab.

5. Case Type: The case type as recorded in the SmartAdvocate system upon case creation, or as edited thereafter. This column will not show the case subtype.

6. Action: This column often contains three icons: Add Note, Add Telephone Message, and Generate Barcode. Clicking any of these icons will open a window (a pop-up for Add Note or Add Telephone Message, a new tab for Generate Barcode) where you can perform the respective action for the case associated with that search result row. Depending on the nature of the table you are in, additional actions may be available as well.

7. Case Status: The current primary case status as recorded in the SmartAdvocate system.

8. Attorney: The staff member(s) with an attorney-type role in the case. Attorney-type roles include Primary Attorney, Managing Attorney, Attorney, and sometimes Case Manager. This column's behavior varies a little depending on the search parameter. In some cases, it will contain all attorneys in the case matching the search; in others, it will return a separate row for each attorney in the case matching the search. Clicking the name has no effect.

9. Docket No: The docket number(s) associated with the case. When searching using the "Docket #" parameter, this will return a separate row in the results for each docket number matching the search; otherwise, it will contain all docket numbers associated with the case matching the search. If more than one docket number matches the search, they will be separated by a semi-colon.

10. State: The state in which the case is being litigated. This column is unrelated to the state in which the office handling the case is located.

For each parameter, there are one or two additional columns that will only be available when searching by that parameter. In most cases, the column will simply be the parameter itself (e.g. phone number). A few cases are less simple. The additional columns available for each parameter are as follows:

1. Plaintiff / Case #: Additional Plaintiff, Paralegal. Additional Plaintiff contains all plaintiffs in the case other than the one in the Plaintiff/Contact column. Paralegal contains all staff members with a paralegal-type role in the case. Paralegal-type roles include Primary Paralegal, Paralegal, and Intake Paralegal. In neither of these columns does clicking the name have any effect.

2. Claim #: Claim No. The claim number matching the search.

3. Date of Birth: DOB. The date of birth matching the search.

4. Date of Incident: No additional columns (Incident Date is already available for all parameters).

5. Defendant: Paralegal. See Paralegal under Plaintiff, above.

6. Docket / Index #: Court, Judge. Court contains the court at which the docket matching the search is located. Judge returns a separate row for each judge or clerk associated with the docket matching the search. Clicking the name has no effect.

7. E-mail: Email. The email address matching the search.

8. Phone #: Contact No. The phone number matching the search.

9. Plate #: Plate No. The license plate number matching the search.

10. Drivers License #: License No. The driver's license number matching the search.

11. Policy #: Policy No. The insurance policy number matching the search.

12. SSN #: SSN. The social security number matching the search.

The search results page includes a summary to the upper left of the table, which lists your search parameter, search string, and the total number of results returned.

Related Pages