1. KEYCITE ®
INSTRUCTIONAL AIDS SERIES

2. Contents Introduction Cases: KeyCite History
West’s Instructional Aids Series
Contents
Introduction
Cases: KeyCite History
Cases: KeyCite Citing References
Limiting KeyCite Citing References
Table of Authorities
KeyCite for Statutes
KeyCite Alert

3. Introduction

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

5. Use KeyCite to Be Sure It is critical in legal research to:
Introduction
Use KeyCite to Be Sure
It 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

6. KeyCite for Cases A case can be Reversed by a higher court
Introduction
KeyCite for Cases
A 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Superseded by statute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

7. KeyCite for Statutes A statute can be Repealed Amended Renumbered
Introduction
KeyCite for Statutes
A statute can be
Repealed
Amended
Renumbered
Subject to pending legislation
Declared unconstitutional
Preempted by federal law

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

9. 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.

10. Reversed in Part, Vacated in Part
KeyCite
Case in Point
Reversed in Part, Vacated in Part
Had Newhouse checked Morris in KeyCite, Newhouse would
have seen the red flag which indicates that the Morris can not
not be relied upon for at least one point of law it discusses.

11. 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.

12. 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

13. KeyCite is Comprehensive
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 covers decisions of:
National Labor Relations Board
Environmental Protection Agency
Board of Immigration Appeals
Tax Court
Federal Communications Commission
Office of the Comptroller General

14. Cases: KeyCite History

15. Use KeyCite History to Determine Whether Your Case Is Good Law
Cases: 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

16. Cases: History
KeyCite for Cases
Status 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.

17. KeyCite for Cases 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

18. KeyCite for Cases A yellow flag means another case in the Negative
Cases: History
KeyCite for Cases
A yellow flag means another case in the Negative
Indirect History of the case
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

19. Direct History Cases: 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

20. Negative Indirect History
Cases: History
Negative Indirect 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.

21. Cases: KeyCite Citing References

22. 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

23. Citing References
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

24. 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

25. Depth of Treatment Stars
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.

26. Cases: Limiting KeyCite Citing References

27. Applying KeyCite Limits
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

28. 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.

29. Table of Authorities

30. 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.

31. Access the Table of Authorities service by
clicking the Table of Authorities link on the Link for tab in the left frame.

32. KeyCite for Statutes

33. 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.

34. KeyCite History for Statutes
A red flag indicates that the statute has been
Recently amended
Repealed
Ruled unconstitutional
Preempted

35. 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

36. KeyCite History for Statutes includes
Statutes: History
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

37. 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.

38. KeyCite Alert

39. 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, address, or wireless device.

40. Use KeyCite to ensure that you have solid foundations for your legal arguments. KeyCite is: Current Accurate Easy to Use Comprehensive

41. We hope that you have found this lesson helpful.
Thank You…
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 WESTLAW.
If you have feedback on the Instructional Aids Series, please contact Erin Jensen.