If a case has negative treatment identified by Westlaw, next to the case name, Westlaw will include a red, yellow, or blue striped flag. A red flag, as in the above sample, means a case is no longer good for at least one point of law. A yellow flag means that a case has some negative treatment but has not been reversed or overruled.
Full Answer
What does a yellow flag on my case mean?
A yellow flag indicates other negative treatment. These flags can be very helpful, but in order to confirm the validity of you statute, you also should review the statutory history provided by KeyCite, regardless of whether or not your case has been flagged.
What does a yellow triangle mean on a court case?
Similarly, cases with a yellow flag or yellow triangle should be used with caution because they may have been distinguished by other court rulings. Remember, that you need to take into account the jurisdiction of your case and the cases citing your case in order to determine if your case is still good law.
How do I know if my case has been cited?
Find the name of your case. Under the case name will be a list of other citations, which indicate that all of these other citations have cited or referenced your decision. Some of the citing references will have a letter next to them.
What does Blue H and green C mean on a citation?
Blue H: A blue H indicates that a case has some history but it is not known to be negative. Green C: A green C indicates that a case has some citing references but no direct or negative indirect history.
What does a red circle with a question mark on the Lexis citation mean?
A red circle with a question mark in it indicates that a statute has strong negative treatment.
When the citator reveals negative authority for your statute, must you read the material?
When the citator reveals negative authority for your statute, you must READ THE MATERIALS to determine the extent on which you can rely on the statute. When cases declare statutes invalid, frequently only a portion of the statute is at issue, with the remaining portions remaining valid and controlling.
Why is it important to validate your research?
As discussed in more detail in the section of this guide pertaining to Cases: Validating Your Research, it is critical that you validate your research to insure that the primary source authority you are relying upon is still good law. Statutes can get amended. Courts can declare statutes unconstitutional.
Do negative treatment cases compromise the validity of a statute?
Similarly, the other negative treatment cases do not compromise the validity of the statute under most circumstances. If you were to review the proposed legislation section of the report, you would see that there has not been much legislative activity on any of the pending bills.
What is BCite citation tool?
BCite is a citation analysis tool similar to KeyCite and Shepards, which gives you links to all cases citing your case. One of more courts cite to, discuss, or follow this opinion with approval. No courts have cited to this opinion. One or more courts differentiate this opinion on the law or the facts.
Is a red flag a good law?
There are differences between the citator symbols used by Westlaw and Lexis, but as a general rule, in either Westlaw or Lexis cases with a red flag or red stop sign may no longer be good law and should not be relied upon without doing further research. Similarly, cases with a yellow flag or yellow triangle should be used with caution because they may have been distinguished by other court rulings. Remember, that you need to take into account the jurisdiction of your case and the cases citing your case in order to determine if your case is still good law.
What is a citation check?
Cite check: A process through which one may determine whether a judicial decision is law on which one may base a legal argument. Good law: Law that is still operative and on which one may base a legal argument. Shepard’s:
What does "r" mean in a citation?
In the front of the Shepard’s book is a table that explains what the letters mean. For example, “r” means “reversed”, “o” means “overruled”, “d” means “distinguished”.
Does Shepherds cite a case?
Shepard’s has other features, which will be discussed in your Lexis training. It is worth mentioning here that Shepard’s also cites cases and other sources that are not necessarily binding. Shepard’s will, ideally, cite every case or source that has cited in the case you are Shepardizing. For example, if you Shepardize a New Mexico case, the case may have been cited by courts on the eastern seaboard as well as treatises and legal encyclopedias, and you will see these other citations in Shepard’s as well as those from other New Mexico courts. These other sources are not binding in your jurisdiction, although their treatment of your case may be illuminating.
KeyCite Overruling Risk: an overview
If you don’t see one of the flags listed above, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have nothing to worry about. In fact, there is a chance that the case was implicitly overruled, even if it wasn’t explicitly overruled.
Instantly see the most negative treatment
Whether case has a red flag, a yellow flag, or it has been implicitly undermined in some way, the most negative treatment will be displayed next to the flag or KeyCite Overruling Risk icon at the top of the document.
Investigating negative KeyCite history
If you wish to view the negative history associated with a case, you can click on the KeyCite flag/icon or the “Negative History” tab.
View the history of the case
You can also click the “History tab” to view the direct history of a case and related references. The left column in the History tab includes the cases in the direct history and the related references. The History tab also displays the direct history of the case in a graphical view on the right side of the page.
What to do after finding appropriate legal authority?
After finding appropriate legal authority and ensuring that a case is good law, you may wish to further interpret the case you are viewing especially in light of a particular client’s needs.
What does a red flag mean in a case?
red flag warns that the case is no longer good law for at least one of its issues. A red flag can also mean that a case has negative indirect history.
How to search for a keycite?
At the top of any page, click KeyCite in the grey toolbar to display the KeyCite screen . Type a citation in the Enter citation prompt box and click Go, or click on KeyCite by Title, enter the party name(s) and jurisdiction in which you wish to search, and click Go.
What is the editorial process used for Keycite?
The editorial process used for KeyCite is rigorous and thorough. Thomson Legal & Regulatory legal editors analyse the direct and indirect history of a case. As a negative treatment is discovered, yellow or red status flags are assigned to the decisions. A sophisticated computer program then augments the editorial process by scanning cases for citations.
How to view keycite history?
To view the KeyCite history across the full width of the screen, click the full-page view icon on the KC History tab. To return to split-page view, click the split-page view icon on the right side of the document header. Browsing Documents in KeyCite Results.
