LibGuides: Legal Citators: KeyCite

KeyCite Webinar by Matt Amon @ Westlaw

Amon Webinar on KeyCite

Westlaw

WESTLAW ADVANTAGE: KEYCITE

The most complete and accurate citation service available.

Instantly verify whether your case, statute, administrative decision, or regulation is good law, and get citing references

KeyCite combines our 125-year tradition of editorial excellence with our leading-edge technology to bring you the most current content.

Trace the history of a case, statute, administrative decision, or regulation to determine if it is good law
Retrieve all citing cases, statutes, proposed legislation, administrative decisions, and analytical sources related to your case
Identify weaknesses in your opponent's case with Table of Authorities precision
Receive instant notification of changes in the law with [KeyCite Alert]
Get a pictorial view of the direct history of a case with [Graphical KeyCite]

Current, accurate, and fast

The most current and accurate citator available
Our attorney-editors subject every case to rigorous, and fast, analysis you'll find a case's direct history within four hours of our receiving it, and overruled cases within 24 hours
With more than 1,500 direct history phrases, KeyCite uses the exact language of the courts

Visual symbols speed up your work

KeyCite's red and yellow warning flags tell you at a glance whether your document has negative history
Depth-of-treatment stars help you focus on the most important citing references

Integrated with Westlaw and the West Key Number System

Test after test shows that the West Key Number System is the most precise and accurate tool for finding on-point law
Integrated with up-to-the-minute coverage of cases, state statutes, USCA, regulations, more citing references, and comprehensive analytical sources

More complete

All federal and state cases in the National Reporter System
More than 1 million unpublished decisions
Full coverage of the USCA
Pending legislation
Statutes from all 50 states
The complete Code of Federal Regulations
More than 700 law reviews
Administrative and IRS decisions

About search terms
On other systems, if you don’t phrase your query using the same words as the authoring judge, you won’t retrieve relevant cases. For example, you use "renter" and the judge uses "tenant." Terms vary from judge to judge and you aren’t able to find what you need.

With Westlaw, this can’t happen. In both the headnotes and the case synopses, attorney-editors insert synonyms, antonyms, expanded legal meanings, terms of art, general terms, and other terms you're likely to use so your query delivers what you need.

Take a Closer Look

View a demo »
This brief video shows how to use KeyCite to quickly determine whether a case or statute is good law and retrieve citing references.

Product Support

Get a user guide »
Take advantage of all of the KeyCite features in Westlaw with help from this collection of quick reference guides.

Learn More

KeyCite Symbols »
Here's a visual guide to the KeyCite flags and icons that indicate the status of a case or statute at a glance.

KeyCite Alert »
Find out how to create KeyCite Alerts to monitor breaking legal developments and changes affecting your case.

Graphical KeyCite »
Learn how to open a diagram that instantly explains the direct history of your case.

KeyCite

Checking a Document in KeyCite

KeyCite is the citation research service from West. Using KeyCite, you can quickly determine whether a case, statute, administrative decision, or federal regulation is good law and find cases and other sources that cite it.

To check a document in KeyCite, do one of the following:

At the Home page, type a citation in the Check this citation in KeyCite text box and click GO. For details about entering a citation, see Tips for Entering a Citation.
At the Home page, click Check a Citation Using a KeyCite Template, type citation information in the appropriate text boxes, and click GO. See Checking a Document in KeyCite Using a Citation Template for details.
Click the KeyCite status flag, when available, at the top of a displayed document. See KeyCite Status Flags for details.

Note: You can also click KeyCite this headnote from the headnote of a displayed case; see Viewing Citing References from a Case Headnote for details.

The KeyCite result for the document you requested is displayed. When applicable, KeyCite status flags are displayed next to documents in the KeyCite result. You can click these flags to view the KeyCite results for those documents also. See KeyCite Status Flags for details.

Note: If you are having charges for this service billed to your Westlaw account, your KeyCite results are displayed in westlaw.com.

To view the full text of a document in your KeyCite result, click its hypertext link.

Legal Citators: KeyCite

KeyCite Webinar by Matt Amon @ Westlaw

Westlaw

The most complete and accurate citation service available.

KeyCite

Demo

Keycite Advantage

Using Key Cite