Understanding KeyCite and Shepard’s Symbols on Westlaw and Lexis

In legal research, you often hear “Use a citator to verify that the case or statute you are citing is still good law.”

But what exactly does this mean, and how can you tell?

A citator is a tool that will track the history of your case, and the status of the case. Both Lexis and Westlaw have citators. The Lexis citator is called Shepard’s and the Westlaw citator is called KeyCite.  Both Lexis and Westlaw use various symbols to indicate whether a case has been overturned, appealed, received some negative treatment, or positive treatment.

Westlaw’s KeyCite symbols are flags. A guide to the flags is below. If your case does not have a flag, it is still good law. If your case has a flag, click on it for an explanation on why it has that particular flag.

More informaton on how to keycite and Westlaw KeyCite symbols

Lexis’s Shepard’s signals are a variety of shapes. If your case does not have a symbol, it is still good law. A guide to the Shepard’s signals is below. If your case has a symbol, hover your cursor over it, or look under “Shepard’s” on the right side of the screen to see why it has that symbol.

More information on how to shepardize and Shepard's symbols

Posted Sept. 26, 2024 by Laura Dixon-Caldwell