Cite Check

Verify that every citation in your document is real, correctly formatted, and still good law.

Cite Check scans your document or research output and verifies every legal citation against CourtListener's database of 50M+ citations. It catches hallucinated references, formatting errors, and stale law before they reach a filing.

What Cite Check verifies

Each citation is evaluated across three dimensions:

1. Existence check (anti-hallucination)

Confirms that the cited case actually exists in the CourtListener database. This is the primary defense against AI-hallucinated citations -- if the case name, volume, reporter, or page number does not match a real case, Cite Check flags it immediately.

2. Format accuracy

Validates that the citation string matches the correct format for the referenced case:

• Correct reporter abbreviation.

• Correct volume and page number.

• Correct year and court designation.

Minor formatting errors (e.g., wrong year, incorrect reporter) are flagged so you can fix them before filing.

3. Good law status

Determines whether the cited case is still good law:

• Overruled -- a higher court has explicitly overruled the holding.

• Reversed -- the decision was reversed on appeal.

• Distinguished -- later courts have limited the holding to its facts.

• Negatively treated -- subsequent cases have criticized or questioned the reasoning.

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Running Cite Check

1

Open Cite Check

Navigate to the Cite Check tool from the Research surface or trigger it from within the Drafting Assistant on an open document.

2

Submit content

Paste text, select a document from your Matter, or let Cite Check scan the document currently open in the Drafting Assistant.

3

Review results

Cite Check returns a result for every citation found. Each citation receives one of three statuses:

Status	Meaning
Pass	The citation exists, is correctly formatted, and the case is still good law.
Warning	The citation exists but the case has been distinguished or received some negative treatment. Review recommended.
Fail	The citation does not exist in the database, has a formatting error, or the case has been overruled or reversed.

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Reading the results

Each citation entry in the results panel shows:

• The citation string as it appears in your text.

• The matched case (or "No match found" for hallucinated citations).

• A status badge (Pass, Warning, or Fail).

• A short explanation of any issues detected.

Click a result to expand it and see the full case details, including subsequent history and treatment.

A Pass status means the citation is real and the case has not been overruled, but it does not guarantee the case supports the proposition for which it is cited. Always read the opinion to confirm relevance.

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Common issues Cite Check catches

• Hallucinated cases -- AI-generated citations that reference cases that do not exist.

• Wrong reporter or volume -- transposed numbers or incorrect reporter abbreviations.

• Outdated law -- cases that were good law when cited but have since been overruled.

• Parallel citation mismatches -- official and unofficial reporters that do not align.

Run Cite Check as a final step before filing any brief, motion, or memorandum. It takes seconds and prevents the most damaging research errors.