When you pull up a statute in Westlaw, if you see a red or yellow flag, that means that there is negative treatment for that statute. A red flag indicates that the statute has been amended, repealed, superseded, or held unconstitutional in whole or in part. A yellow flag indicates other negative treatment.
How do I find the negative treatment of a case?
Click the Negative Treatment tab. Look at the reasons why Westlaw says that the case has a red flag. If the reason is because of a statute, click into the statute to see how it impacts the case. If the reason is because of a case, look across to see the jurisdiction of the case.
How do I find negative references in Westlaw?
Westlaw also offers a "Negative Treatment" tab containing negative direct history and negative citing references. Clicking on the status flag next to the case name will also bring you to this Negative Treatment report. The Shepard's Report contains information about both subsequent history and subsequent citations for a case.
What are the types of negative treatment?
There are several types of negative treatment. Cases that have been reversed, overruled, or superseded are no longer good law and typically should not be relied upon.
How do I review a case in Westlaw edge?
When reviewing a case in Westlaw Edge, you should look for a KeyCite flag at the top of the document. Not every case will have one, but if it does, it means the case has some negative treatment — such as being overruled, superseded, or not followed by another court for some reason.
What does depth of treatment mean on Westlaw?
The depth of treatment bars in the Depth column indicate the extent to which the citing case discusses the cited case, and the headnote numbers in the Headnote(s) column indicate which headnotes in the cited case contain the points of law discussed by the citing cases.
How do you tell if a case is still good law on Westlaw?
To determine whether a case is still good law, you need to check the subsequent history of the case as well as subsequent citations to see how other cases have treated your case by using citators (Shepardizing on Lexis or KeyCiting on Westlaw).
What do Green quotes mean in Westlaw?
The Citing References tab list materials that listed your case. You can narrow the results to just cases, by jurisdiction, or by depth (how detailed your case was talked about). The green quotation marks mean that your case is directly quoted.
How do you know if a case has been overturned?
A red stop sign indicates that a case may have been overruled or reversed. An orange box with the letter "Q" inside means that the validity of a case may be in question, such as when a case is superseded.
What does a yellow triangle on Lexis mean?
A yellow triangle indicates that there may be some negative treatment but that the case has not been overturned. The red octagon indicates that the case has been overturned on at least one point of law. A full list of all the signals and additional help in using Shepard's is available in the Lexis Advance Help Guide.
What does it mean to Shepardize a case on Westlaw?
The term Shepardize means the process of checking a case's prior precedents. The term comes from the citation service called Shepard's, which up until the late 1990s was the only real game in town. Then Westlaw quit using Shepard's, Shepard's went to Lexis (Westlaw's main competitor), and Westlaw launched KeyCite.
What does Blue H mean in Westlaw?
WESTLAW® QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE A blue H indicates that the case or administrative decision has some history. A green C indicates that the case or administrative decision has citing references but no direct history or negative citing references or that the statute or regulation has citing references.
What does a yellow flag with a statute mean on Westlaw?
negative treatmentWhen you pull up a statute in Westlaw, if you see a red or yellow flag, that means that there is negative treatment for that statute. A red flag indicates that the statute has been amended, repealed, superseded, or held unconstitutional in whole or in part. A yellow flag indicates other negative treatment.
How do you read a case on Westlaw?
0:006:11Reading a Case on WestlawNext - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipRecord for that particular case. So if we look at this really quickly you'll notice that theMoreRecord for that particular case. So if we look at this really quickly you'll notice that the citation is at the very top it also indicates what court heard this case and you have your plaintiff.
What does Distinguished mean in Westlaw?
In law, to distinguish a case means a court decides the legal reasoning of a precedent case will not wholly apply due to materially different facts between the two cases.
What tool should be used to see if a case has been overturned?
The major tool that is used by legal researchers to check the status of a case is called a case citator.
What does it mean when a judge vacates a decision?
If you then want a new trial, you must ask the judge to vacate (cancel) the judgment against you. You must have a good reason for not going to your trial, like you were not properly served or you had a serious emergency.
What does treatment mean in citations?
Treatment: This column indicates how the subsequent cases have treated the cited case ( i.e., the case that you KeyCited). If the treatment is negative, this column will include a "Negative" notation.
How to determine if a case is still good law?
To determine whether a case is still good law, you need to check the subsequent history of the case as well as subsequent citations to see how other cases have treated your case by using citators (Shepardizing on Lexis or KeyCiting on Westlaw).
What is a reference in a case?
Citing References include all cases that cite to this case. Citing References also include other materials such as secondary sources and court documents, but to ensure that a case is still good law, you only need to check the cases.
Can you cite unpublished opinions?
For instance, the case might be bad law on a different issue, the case itself might have been overturned, or the case may simply be unpublished (in some jurisdictions, court rules indicate that you cannot cite unpublished opinions).
Does Westlaw have a negative treatment tab?
Westlaw also offers a "Negative Treatment" tab contain ing negative direct history and negative citing references. Clicking on the status flag next to the case name will also bring you to this Negative Treatment report.
Flags
Some cases will have flags in front of the name. Green flags mean the case has received positive treatment from other cases and is good law. Yellow flags mean the case has received some negative treatment from other cases. Part of the case maybe overruled. Look at the negative treatment tab and the distinguished by to read the other cases.
Negative Treatment
Under the negative treatment tab, you can see other cases that have talked about your case in a negative way. The Depth column on the right side shows the how detailed your case was talked about. Only one bar means the case was cited but not talked about in detail. Three or four bars means there is a paragraph or more about your case.
History
Under the history tab, there is a graph showing you a visual of your case.
Citing References
The Citing References tab list materials that listed your case. You can narrow the results to just cases, by jurisdiction, or by depth (how detailed your case was talked about). The green quotation marks mean that your case is directly quoted.
Table of Authorities
The Table of Authorities tab shows you a list of cases your case used to make its argument. The treatment, depth, and quoted columns will show you in how much detail the cases were used in your case's arugment.
What does the signal next to a case mean?
Note: the signals next to the cases in this list indicate the citing case status, not the status of your case, the cited case.
What to do if the reason is because of a case?
If the reason is because of a case, look across to see the jurisdiction of the case. You need only look at cases that are binding in your jurisdiction.
Where to look for a strong depth of treatment source?
For a case, look at the citing references underneath a specific headnote, within a specific jurisdiction, for a strong depth of treatment source.
Does citing a statute automatically disqualify a case?
This does not automatically disqualify a case or statute from use. If the citing reference is from a binding jurisdiction, read it to see if your point of law is affected and if so, how.
What are the negative treatment cases?
Other types of negative treatment include other cases distinguishing, disagreeing with, or criticizing your case. These types of negative treatment tend to not invalidate your case, but you should still evaluate these negative treatment cases to see if they compromise your reliance on the original case. For example, there might be a case that distinguishes your original case, and the distinguishing case is more factually similar to your issue than the original case. In that circumstance, you probably would not want to rely on the original case.
When you see references to cases that include this kind of negative treatment that does not tend to invalidate your case, should?
Accordingly, when you see references to cases that include this kind of negative treatment that does not tend to invalidate your case, you should READ THE CASES to determine the extent to which you want to rely on your original case.
How to know if a case has been overruled?
When you pull up a case in Bloomberg, there are indicators, referred to as "operators," that appear next to the case name. A red box with a minus sign in it indicates that the case has been overruled in full or in part. An orange box with a circle in it indicates that the case has been superseded by statute. A yellow box with a triangle in it indicates that the case has been criticized. A blue box with a slash in it indicates that the case has been distinguished. For more information about these and other operators, see Bloomberg Law Citator, BCite Operators.
How to determine if a case is still good law?
Determining whether your case is still good law requires reviewing the citator report to see if your case was reversed, overruled, or superseded. It is also possible that your case could be so roundly criticized or so thoroughly distinguished by other cases that you may not want to rely on it. To determine the validity of your case, you must review those cases that offer negative treatment of your case.
What happens if Westlaw has no flag?
If there is no flag, then Westlaw has not identified any negative treatment for the case. When you pull up a case that has been flagged, in addition to the "History" tab, you also should click on the tab marked "Negative Treatment" to get the full negative history report.
How to review Westlaw case history?
For all cases that you think you may rely upon, you should click on the "History" tab to review the case history. This is important, even if there is no negative treatment (discussed below), as the case history can identify important case information, such as whether there may be an appeal pending.
What does a red stop sign mean in Lexis?
A red stop sign indicates that a case may have been overruled or reversed.
How to check the validity of a Westlaw statute?
One of these tab is "History." When you click on the History tab, select the catagory "Validity" to see materials that may effect the validity of your statute.
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.
What is the history tab in Westlaw?
When you are in a statute in Westlaw, there are tabs that appear immediately toward the top of the document that give you information about the statute. One of these tab is "History.". When you click on the History tab, select the catagory "Validity" to see materials that may effect the validity of your statute.
What is a keycite in Westlaw?
Citators: Shepard's & KeyCite. KeyCite® is the citator in Westlaw. KeyCite, quite literally, flags statutes that are not good law. When you pull up a statute in Westlaw, if you see a red or yellow flag, that means that there is negative treatment for that statute.
How to see pending legislation?
To see the pending legislation for your statute, select "Pending Legislation" from either the statute or the Shepard's report. Review the list of pending legislation to see if any have been passed or seem likely to pass. For such bills, click on the links provided to read the text of the bill to determine how it will/may effect your statute.
What does the red circle on a Lexis citation mean?
A red circle with a question mark in it indicates that a statute has strong negative treatment. An orange box with the letter "Q" inside means that the validity of statute may be in question, and a yellow triangle means that a statute has other negative treatment. For more information about these and other signals, see the Lexis Advance Help Guide on Shepard's Signal ™ Indicators.
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.
Overview
There are two main case law citators to verify the status of your case - on LexisNexis, it is Shepards and on Westlaw it is Keycite. Keyciting and Shepardizing are also a method for finding other cases and secondary sources relevant to your topic.
KeyCite & Shepards Symbols
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.
Bloomberg Law
BCite is a citation analysis tool similar to KeyCite and Shepards, which gives you links to all cases citing your case.
CALI Lesson on Using Citators as Finding Tools
Available to Law Students only (see a reference librarian if you do not have a CALI activation code).
Why do attorneys need to make sure that earlier cases cited are still “good law”?
Because of the use of precedence (earlier, preceding cases), attorneys need to make sure that the earlier cases cited are still “good law.”
What happens if an appeals court reverses a lower court decision?
If an appeals court reverses the judgment of the lower court, it may “remand” (send back) a case to the trial court for further action. Please note that you will probably not see a revised opinion published by the lower court. You can assume that the change was made by the lower court.
What to do if you are unsure about this or any other question when briefing a case?
If you are unsure about this or any other question when briefing a case, please contact your instructor for clarification.
Do you need to cite a case that criticized the case you are briefing?
The citing opinion disagrees with the reasoning/result of the case you are Shepardizing, although the citing court may not have the authority to materially affect its precedential value. You will need to give the citation of the case that criticized the case you are briefing.
Can you use KeyCite in Westlaw?
While "Shepardizing" (the brand name service) may only be done in Nexis Uni, the same task may be done in Westlaw by using KeyCite.
