Methodology

Cite11 verifies that citations exist and resolve to the case named; it does not report whether a case is still good law.

What a check does

Cite11 takes the case citations in a document and checks each one against CourtListener's public case-law and docket record. For each citation it confirms that the case exists, that the citation address (volume, reporter, page) actually resolves to the case named, and, for a quotation attributed to the citation (see Quotations below), that the quoted language appears in that opinion's text. Each citation is reported as one of:

• Verified — all of the above hold.
• Case confirmed — the case is confirmed by name, court and year, but no reporter citation is on file to check the page against. This includes unpublished decisions found in the public record and cases cited only by docket number that were found on their docket.
• Belongs to a different case — the citation or docket number exists, but it is another case. The row names that case.
• Could not be verified — with the specific reason: for example the court or reporter is outside what the public record covers, an unpublished decision is not confirmed, no docket was found, or the citation could not be read.
• Not found — the public record was searched and holds nothing for this citation. It is a warning, not proof that the case does not exist.
• Not checked — search capacity was temporarily used up; try again later.

Quotations

Cite11 checks a quotation that directly precedes a citation, a quotation in a parenthetical after a citation, and a quotation before “Id.” or a short-form citation. Each quotation is reported on its own line: found; Found — minor punctuation difference (the words match and only punctuation, hyphenation or spacing differs); Wording differs from the opinion; or Quote not checked (the opinion text was not available, or the citation has no opinion text to compare, such as a case cited only by docket number). Other quotations, including a second quotation before the same citation and any that follow the citation in the text, are not checked.

Cases cited only by docket number

A case cited by court and docket number alone (for example “No. 22-5229 (D.C. Cir.)”) is detected and checked against CourtListener's docket archive: the docket must exist in that court and share both parties with the case named. It is reported as Case confirmed on its docket, never as Verified: a docket confirms that the case exists, not what was decided, and no quotation is compared. A citation to a filing (for example a complaint) is confirmed the same way and says it is a filing. No docket found is reported under Could not be verified, because the archive does not hold every docket.

Unpublished decisions

Unpublished decisions (the Federal Appendix, and Westlaw or Lexis-numbered decisions) are often missing from the public record. Cite11 searches for them by name, court and date and on the docket archive. When it cannot confirm one, the row reads Not confirmed, never Not found, with the reason and what to do next. The Westlaw or Lexis number itself cannot be checked publicly.

Pinpoints and statutes

Pinpoint pages are shown as the document gives them. They are not checked against the opinion. Statute and regulation citations are listed with a link to the official text, one entry per section (for example §§ 2201(2), 2202); their content is not checked.

No AI

No AI is used anywhere in Cite11 when a report is produced. Every finding is produced by fixed rules and record matching, and the report's Summary is generated from the results above it by fixed rules.

What a check does not do

A verified result means the citation exists and points where it says it points. It does not mean the case is still good law: Cite11 does not check whether a case has been overruled, reversed, or superseded, and it does not check subsequent history at all. It also does not judge whether the case supports the proposition it was cited for — that is a legal judgment, not a record lookup, and it stays with the lawyer. Only case-law citations are checked.

Coverage

Citations are matched against Cite11's copy of CourtListener's public record and, where that is not enough, CourtListener's citation-lookup service (documentation), its search, and its docket archive. Checks run against CourtListener's public database as of the date on the report. Not every court and reporter is covered, and very recent or unpublished decisions may not be indexed yet. A citation that falls outside confirmed coverage is reported as such, not guessed at — and is not the same as a citation reported not found.

Not legal advice

A Cite11 report is a record of what the public record shows on the date of the check. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace independently confirming any citation that matters in your own primary-source research.