January 2002

Volume 4 Number 1

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Law Unit Offers Free Access To Keycite Service

Denise Jernigan, Law Unit Head

The CSL Law Unit has contracted for public access to WestGroup's KeyCite™ citation research service. This exciting new product allows researchers to check the accuracy and reliability of cases and laws mentioned in their legal briefs and other publications. It also provides the researcher with a list of all subsequent mentions of the citation in later cases or articles.

Specialized status flags warn if a case has been reversed or overruled and if a statute section has been amended or repealed by a recent session law. The service checks citations for both state and federal sources and can be customized to limit results to particular jurisdictions.

Lawyers and legal researchers use citation checking services to make sure that the cases they are relying on to prove a point at law have not been overturned or reversed by another case. They can also use the list of cases which point back to their original case to get a sense of how broadly the original case has been referred to in their circuit or across the country. KeyCite™ history notes will provide the official lower court citation for all appellate level cases as well.

Historical notes for statutes describe any legislative changes which affected the section cited, noting all amendments and renumbering.

There is a warning flag for any pending legislation which may affect the statute under consideration, and a list of citations to any court cases or secondary sources which have mentioned the statute section.

KeyCite™ can be accessed via password at any of the public Internet terminals at the State Library. The law librarians in the Law/Legislative Reference Unit are happy to introduce users to this new service.

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