KEYCITE ®

INSTRUCTIONAL AIDS SERIES

Contents

• Introduction

• Cases: KeyCite History

• Cases: KeyCite Citing References

• Limiting KeyCite Citing References

• Table of Authorities

• KeyCite for Statutes

• KeyCite Alert

West’s Instructional Aids Series

Introduction

KeyCite is West’s citation research service available to you on Westlaw®

• KeyCite tells you whether a case, statute, federal regulation, or federal administrative decision is GOOD LAW.

• KeyCite provides links to other cases, administrative decisions, and secondary sources that mention or discuss the case, statute, federal regulation, or federal administrative decision.

Introduction

Use KeyCite to Be SureIt is critical in legal research to:

• Find the relevant cases, statutes, federal regulations, and federal administrative decisions to support your legal argument

• Determine that a case, statute, federal regulation, or federal administrative decision is still good law and therefore can be used as the basis of your legal argument

Introduction

KeyCite for CasesA case can be

• Reversed by a higher court

• Overruled at a later date

• Superseded by statute

• Criticized without being overruled

• Cited favorably by other courts, thereby strengthening its authority

Introduction

KeyCite for StatutesA statute can be

• Repealed

• Amended

• Renumbered

• Subject to pending legislation

• Declared unconstitutional

• Preempted by federal law

Introduction

Careful practitioners know that failure to consult KeyCite or a similar service can be considered legal malpractice.

In Newhouse v. McCormick, the court rejected Newhouse’s argument, which relied on Morris v. American Can Corp., a case that had been remanded and then reversed. As a result, Newhouse’s conduct was termed “frivolous” and “vexatious”, attorney fees were awarded to McCormick and the Court declared Newhouse eligible for Rule 38 sanctions.

Had Newhouse checked Morris in KeyCite, Newhouse wouldhave seen the red flag which indicates that the Morris can not not be relied upon for at least one point of law it discusses.

KeyCite

Reversed in Part, Vacated in Part

Case in Point

KeyCite is

• Accurate - All information added to KeyCite undergoes rigorous analysis by West Group attorney-editors.

• Current - Direct History is added within one to four hours of receipt of a case; over-rulings are identified by attorney-editors within 24 hours of receipt; and citing cases are added as soon as they are added to Westlaw.

• Easy to Use - As you retrieve and read relevant materials, status flags and other symbols provide critical information.

KeyCite is Comprehensive• KeyCite covers:

• All federal and state cases reported in West’s National Reporter System®

• More than 1 million unreported cases and cases predating the National Reporter System

• More than 700 secondary sources, such as ALR® articles, Am Jur® 2d sections and law reviews

• The United States Code Annotated® (USCA®)

• Statutes from all 50 states

• Code of Federal Regulations

• Patents

KeyCite covers decisions of:

• National Labor Relations Board

• Environmental Protection Agency

• Board of Immigration Appeals

• Tax Court

• Federal Communications Commission

• Office of the Comptroller General

• Patent and Trademark Office

• Board of Federal Contracts Appeals

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

• KeyCite also covers IRS materials, such as• Revenue Rulings• Revenue Procedures• Technical Advice Memoranda• Private Letter Rulings

KeyCite is Comprehensive

Cases: KeyCite History

Use KeyCite History to Determine Whether Your Case Is Good Law

KeyCite History includes:

• Direct History of the case, which traces your case through the appeals court(s)

• Negative Indirect History, which includes cases outside the direct history of the case that might have a negative impact on the validity of your case

Cases: History

KeyCite for CasesStatus flags give you an instant indication of whether your case

is good law

Red Flag - Your case is no longer good law for at least one of the points it contains.

Yellow Flag - Your case has had some negative history but hasn’t been reversed or overruled.

Blue H - Your case has some history.

Green C - Your case has citing references but no direct or negative indirect history.

Cases: History

A red flag means

• In the Direct History of the case, the case has been

– reversed by a higher court

– vacated by a higher court

– remanded by a higher court to lower court for reconsideration

OR

• In the Negative Indirect History, the case has been

– overruled by another court at the same level in the same jurisdiction

– superseded by statute as stated in a case

Cases: History

KeyCite for Cases

– disagrees without overruling

– has factual distinctions

– although negative it is from another jurisdiction

– in some other way expresses dissatisfaction with the case without invalidating the case

A yellow flag means another case in the Negative

Indirect History of the case

Cases: History

KeyCite for Cases

Direct History

• Traces a case as it moves through the appeals courts

• Integrates the full litigation history into a single display

• This result shows how the Floyd v. Waiters case moved through the appeals process

Cases: History

• Lists cases outside the direct appellate line that may have a negative impact of the validity of your case

• Can be so strong that it overrules or otherwise invalidates your case

• Can have little affect because it is such mild disagreement or because it is from outside the jurisdiction.

Negative Indirect HistoryCases: History

Cases: KeyCite Citing References

Cases: KeyCite Citing References KeyCite Citing References result lists other cases and legal materials

that cite your case. They include

• Cases

• Federal agency decisions

• Federal Register

• Law review articles

• ALR articles

• Am Jur 2d sections

• Restatements

• Treatises

• Briefs

Citing References to the case can be positive or negative. They can strengthen or weaken the case.

KeyCite lists the citing references in the following order:

•Negative citing cases

•Positive citing cases

•Administrative materials

•Secondary sources, such as ALR articles, Am Jur2d sections, law review articles, and treatises

•Briefs

Citing References

Graphic symbols in a KeyCite Citing References result instantly indicate which citations will be the most useful.

• Depth of treatment stars help you determine how extensively your case is discussed in a citing case or administrative document.

• Quotation marks indicate that some language from your case is quoted word for word in the citing case.

• The letters HN followed by one or more number indicates the number(s) of the headnote(s) discussing the legal issue(s) for which your case was cited. HN:3,4

Examined

This case contains an extended discussion of your case, usually more than a printed page.

Discussed

This case contains a substantial discussion of your case, usually more than a paragraph but less than a printed page.

Cited

This case contains some discussion of your case, usually less than a paragraph.

Mentioned

This case contains a brief reference to your case.

Depth of Treatment Stars

Cases: Limiting KeyCite Citing References

Cases: Locate Limits

Applying KeyCite Limits

• You can apply limits to the Citing References within your current view.

• You can apply the following limitations, or filters, to your result:

– Document Type (Case, Statute, Secondary Source, etc.)

– Headnotes

– Locate

– Jurisdiction

– Date

– Depth of Treatment

More About KeyCite Locate

• KeyCite Locate allows you to narrow your KeyCite result to the citing references that contain certain terms.

• If your KeyCite display contains more than 2,000 citing references, you will need to first limit your results by other criteria.

Table of Authorities

Table of Authorities

• The Table of Authorities service provides a list of cases cited in your case.

• KeyCite flags in the Table of Authorities allow you to quickly determine whether you are relying on a case with a hidden weakness.

• Table of Authorities is a KeyCite related service which includes KeyCite symbols.

Table of Authorities

Access the Table of Authorities service byclicking the Table of Authorities link on the Link for tab in the left frame.

Table of Authorities

KeyCite for Statutes

KeyCite for Statutes

• KeyCite History indicates whether the statute is GOOD LAW.

• KeyCite Citing References lists cases, pending legislation, administrative materials, and secondary sources that discuss or cite the statute.

• Notes of Decisions (annotations) are the headnotes from cases that significantly interpreted or applied the statute.

KeyCite History for Statutes

A red flag indicates that the statute has been

• Recently amended

• Repealed

• Ruled unconstitutional

• Preempted

KeyCite History for Statutes

A yellow flag indicates that the statute

• Has pending legislation

• Has been renumbered

• Has been transferred

• Contains an editor’s amendment note

• Was limited on constitutional or preemption grounds or its validity was otherwise called into doubt

KeyCite History for Statutes

KeyCite History for Statutes includes• Updating documents (recently passed public laws) that have

amended or repealed the statute

• Pending legislation (bills) that may affect the statute (available for USCA and most state statutory codes)

• Credits, also called Text Amendments , that are public laws that have enacted, amended, or renumbered a statute

• Historical and Statutory Notes, also called Editor’s Notes, that describe the legislative changes that have affected the statute

Statutes: History

KeyCite Citing References for Statutes

• KeyCite Citing References are legal documents that discuss or mention your statute.

• Citing references include

• Pending legislation

• Notes of Decisions (annotations) in USCA

• Cases on Westlaw that do not appear in Notes of decisions (for example, unreported cases or cases too new to have headnotes)

• Administrative materials

• Secondary sources, such as ALR articles, Am Jur 2d sections, law reviews, and treatises.

KeyCite Alert

KeyCite Alert• KeyCite Alert is a service that automatically

monitors the status of cases, statutes, federal regulations and federal administrative regulations and sends updates to you when there has been a change that might affect the validity of these documents.

• KeyCite Alert results are delivered to a destination you select, such as printer, fax machine, e-mail address, or wireless device.

Use KeyCite to ensure that you have solid foundations

for your legal arguments.

KeyCite is:

Current

Accurate

Easy to Use

Comprehensive

We hope that you have found this lesson helpful.

If you have more Westlaw education or training needs, please contact your Academic Account Manager or call the Reference Attorneys at 1-800-WESTLAW.

If you have feedback on the Instructional Aids Series, please contact Erin Jensen.

Thank You…