If you're a legal professional, online research is a critical part of your job. And while Google is the go-to search engine for many people, it can be a little tricky to get to the results you need. That's why we've put together this list of tips to help you get the most out of Google search.

Tip 1: "Quotation Marks"

The most well-known Google search trick, put quotation marks around words to search for exactly that phrase. 

For example:

"Legal research"

Gives you: all results containing the term "Legal research", but not results containing only "Legal" or "Research".

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Tip 2: - Hyphen

To exclude a term from a search, enter a hyphen followed by the word you want to exclude.

For example:

legal -research

Gives you: all results containing the term "legal", but not results containing the term "research".

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Tip 3: site:

To only include results from a specific website, add "site:" to your search.

For example:

"legal operations" site:legal.io

Gives you: all results containing the term "legal operations", limited to the legal.io domain.

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Tip 4: OR and |

Search for A or B. This will return results related to A or B, or both. The pipe (|) operator can also be used in place of “OR.”

For example:

"First amendment" OR "1st amendment"

Gives you: all results containing the term "First Amendment" or the term "1st amendment". Using quotes (see tip 1) ensures that no results are returned for "First", "1st" or "amendment".

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Tip 5: filetype:

Only show results that correspond to a certain filetype. E.g., PDF, DOCX, PPT, etc.

For example:

"legal operations" filetype:pdf

Gives you: all results containing the term "legal operations" of the filetype pdf.

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Tip 6: Two periods ..

Use two periods (..) to search within 2 number ranges.

For example:

"Amlaw 100 2020..2022"

Gives you: all results containing the term "Amlaw 100 2020", "Amlaw 100 2021" and "Amlaw 100 2022".

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Tip 7: Define:

Legal professionals love a good definition. Use the "define:" operator to get Google to display a definition for a term. 

For example: 

define:constitution

Gives you: a structured card with a definition of the term "constitution".  

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Tip 8: intitle:

Find pages with a certain word (or words) in the title.

For example: 

intitle:DSAR

Gives you: any results containing the term “DSAR” in the title tag.

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Tip 9: The asterisk *

The asterisk operator is used for a single word wild card. When you put * in a search, Google will try to fill in the appropriate word in relation to the phrase or word. 

For example: 

"Constitutional *"

Gives you: results for "constitutional law", "constitutional monarchy", "constitutional convention", etc

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Tip 10: Parenthesis ( )

Parenthesis can be used to group multiple search operators while controlling how the search is executed.

For example: 

"constitutional (law OR amendment)"

Gives you: results for "constitutional law" and "constitutional amendment".

See it in action

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Overall, Google Search is a powerful tool that can be used to find the information you need quickly and efficiently. With a few tips and tricks, you can maximize your search results and get the most out of this valuable resource.

While there are many other more specific legal research tools, developing a good command of Google search operators is a solid investment that is bound to yield benefits for years to come.