Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Searching for further assistance in your research? Need answers to your questions about the AAJ Exchange Web site? Below are some frequently asked questions (FAQ's) and their answers that will help you with navigating your way through the Exchange and answer some of your questions about the Web site.

What is the Exchange?
The Exchange is AAJ's case preparation and legal research service, available exclusively to AAJ plaintiff lawyers. The Exchange gives you access to thousands of court documents, depositions, names and contacts of lawyers handling similar matters, CLE speaker papers, Law Reporter documents, and expert information contributed by fellow AAJ members. The Exchange also offers special products and services, including "hot topic" litigation packets and customized research.

Who has access to the Exchange and its products?
The AAJ Exchange is a litigation support service for AAJ plaintiff lawyers. To access the Exchange, you must be a Regular, Sustaining, President's Club, or Life Member. Your AAJ membership must be current to search the Exchange.

If your AAJ membership has expired, you can renew or upgrade your membership today. Or call the Membership Department at 800-424-2725, ext. 611.

How much does it cost to search the Exchange?
As a Regular, Sustaining, President's Club, or Life Member, you can register and search the Exchange for free.

How do I register to search the Exchange Web site?
If you have registered on AAJ's Web site, www.justice.org, you can use the user name and password you already created to access the Exchange.

1. On the Exchange homepage (www.justice.org/exchange), click on "Search the Exchange."
2. At the "Sign-On" page, click on the first option for registering-"If you are an AAJ member and have never registered on www.justice.org, please register now."
3. At the "Online Registration for AAJ Members" screen, enter your last name, AAJ member id, and bar date. You can locate your member id on the mailing label of your TRIAL magazine, or you can contact the Exchange at 800-344-3023.
4. Create and enter a user name and password. Passwords must be at least 6 characters and no more than 12 characters. Your user name and password are case sensitive.
5. Once you have completed the registration, you can sign in to the Exchange.

How do I obtain my user name and password if I forgot it?
If you can't remember your user name, it can be sent to you via e-mail. At the "Forgot Your User Name?" screen enter your member id, and your user name will be sent to the e-mail we have on file.

If you can't remember your password, you can create a new one. At the "Forgot Your Password?" screen, enter your user name, and you will then be able to create a new password.

Can I see the document or parts of it before purchasing?
By clicking on "Preview Document," you can view a portion (the first 10%) of the document. By clicking on "View Highlighted Search Hits," you can view the first 25 words before and after your search query as it appears throughout the document.

When I preview or view a document, sometimes there are extraneious characters that show in the preview; what will the document look like when I purchase it?
When the PDF file is downloaded, the document text is clear and exact. Any character errors that appear in Preview and View do not appear in the PDF version of the downloaded document.

How do I access my online documents and how long will they be available?
All Exchange online products are available for immediate access, 24 hours a day. Once you have downloaded a document, you can access it online for 90 days at no charge. To access a document that you have downloaded, log in to the Exchange and select "My Profile" from the sidebar. On the "My Products" page, select the category and click on the document.

To quickly save the document to your computer, click the disk icon in the left-hand corner of the toolbar. You can also save the document by selecting "File" on the menu bar and clicking "Save A Copy."

How do I print my document?
To print the document, click the printer icon in the left-hand corner of the toolbar, or select "Print" on the menu bar and click "Print." At the "Print" menu, select "Print as Image."

I tried opening the CD-ROM that I received today and it's not working. What's happening?
All documents on CD-ROM are in PDF format and can be opened using Acrobat Reader. A copy of Acrobat Reader is included on the CD if you don't already have a copy on your computer. PDFs cannot be read in Word or WordPerfect.

How can I access the Document Libraries and download documents?
To access the Document Libraries, you must be a member of the respective Practice Section or Litigation Group. To join a Practice Section or a Litigation Group today, click on these links.

If you are having trouble accessing the document libraries, or have questions about the Sections or Litigation Groups, please contact Narecita Ibanez in Sections and Litigation Groups at narecita.ibanez@justice.org. Or call 800-424-2725 or 202-965-3500, ext. 306, or your group's chairperson.

To access and Search the Document Libraries:

1. On the Exchange homepage (www.justice.org/exchange), click on "Search the Exchange,"
   and sign in.

2. After you have logged in, select "Document Libraries" from the sidebar.

3. At the "Document Libraries" page, highlight your group's name and click "Search" to view all the documents for your group.

4. For a more specific search, enter your search term or phrase and highlight the name(s) of your group. Click "Search."

5. You may select "View" to see more details of your document, then"Preview Document" to view the first 10% of the document; or "View Highlighted Search Hits" for a more detailed summary of the entire document.

To Download Your Section or Litigation Group's Documents:

1. To download a document from your group's library at no charge, select "Download Now."

2. When you have selected the documents you desire, select the "Save" button in Adobe Reader to save the document to your computer.

What are the Gold and Platinum Plans and how do I become a subscriber to one of these plans?
The Exchange Value Plans offer savings on Exchange products and services such as Litigation Packets, Court Documents, Similar Matters, Case Abstracts, Law Reporter Documents, and Research Services. For an annual fee of $95, the Gold Plan offers the AAJ member significant discounts on Exchange products and services. For an annual fee of $995, the Platinum Plan provides members free access to most Exchange databases and products, plus substantial discounts on all other products. Learn more about the savings available to you.

Why do I get an error message when I enter my credit card information?
You must enter your credit card information exactly as it appears on the card and without spaces or dashes. If your credit card expiration date is near, you may want to check your new credit card for the current expiration date.

Why do I get a blank page after I choose "Legal Research Exchange?
The AAJ and Exchange Web sites support newer versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape. For optimal use, please use Internet Explorer 5.0 or greater, or Netscape 5.0 or greater.

What does it mean if I get errors on my page or an invalid security certificate?
If you see this message, it means you may have a disk cache error or that your Internet browser is an older version than recommended. You will need to clear your cache before proceeding on the Web site or upgrade to a newer browser. The instructions for clearing your cache for various browsers are below.

Internet Explorer 5.0/5.5 Users (Windows)
To clear your Disk Cache, follow these steps:

1. Select "Internet Options" from the "Tools" menu. The "Internet Options" dialog opens.
2. Locate the "Temporary Internet Files" section of the "General" tab.
3. Click on the "Delete Files" button.
4. Click "OK."
5. Hit the "F5" key to refresh your browser.

Internet Explorer 6.0 users (Windows)
To clear your Disk Cache, follow these steps:

1. Select "Internet Options" from the "Tools" menu. The "Internet Options" dialog opens.
2. Locate the "Temporary Internet Files" area of the "General" tab.
3. Click on the "Delete Files" button.
4. Click "OK."
5. Hit the "F5" key to refresh your browser.

Internet Explorer 5.0/5.1 users (MAC)
To clear your Disk Cache, follow these steps:

1. Select "Preferences" from the "Edit" menu. The "Internet Options" dialog opens.
2. Select the "Advanced" link in the "Web Browser" section.
3. Under the "Clear Cache" area, click "Empty Now" button.
4. Click "OK."

Netscape Communicator 6.0/7.1 (Windows or MAC)
To clear your Disk Cache, follow these steps:

1. Click "Edit" in the browser tool bar.
2. Then, click "Preferences."
3. In the "Preferences" section, you will see several items in the "Category" window.
4. Click "Advanced."
5. Click "Clear Memory Cache" and "Clear Disk Cache."
6. Below the "Clear Disk Cache" button, verify that the "Compare the page in the cache to the page on the network," is highlighted on "Every time I view the page."
7. Click on "Proxies" in the category window. Make certain that the proxies are set to "Direct connection to the internet."

AOL users
To clear your Disk Cache, follow these steps:

1. Open your browser. From the menu bar, select "My AOL" and choose "Preferences."
2. Click on the "WWW" icon. In the "Internet Zone" section, if any setting other than "Custom" is selected, JavaScript is already enabled already. If "Custom" is selected, you must make sure that JavaScript is enabled.
3. Click on the "Settings" button.
4. In the "Security Settings" section, scroll down to the "Cache" section.
5. Click "Clear Cache" button.
6. Close the "Internet Options" window.

How do I contact the Exchange if I have more questions?
If you have questions or comments about the Exchange, please contact us at 800-344-3023 or at 202- 965-3500, ext. 615, or via e-mail at exchange@justice.org.