Run the Citator
What this module teaches: a citator tracks a case’s history and how later courts have treated it — followed, distinguished, criticized, overruled — and boils that record down to a colored signal. The platforms brand it differently (KeyCite on Westlaw, Shepard’s on Lexis), but the signals work the same way, and so does the discipline for reading them. Here you’ll run two mock reports: one where the signal looks bad and part of the case is still good, and one where the signal looks clean and the work still isn’t done.
The signals
Every platform draws them a little differently. The families are stable.
Overruled, reversed, or disapproved. The strongest warning a citator gives — and still not the last word, because the treatment may reach only part of the case.
Criticized, distinguished, or limited by later courts. A yellow case may have been distinguished on facts nothing like yours — in which case it remains perfectly good authority for your situation. You only know by reading the citing opinion.
Followed, cited, discussed. Reassuring — and still a snapshot: signals are editorial calls made by the platform, and they lag the newest decisions.
Two parts of every report: the case’s history (what happened to this very case on appeal) and its citing references (what other courts have said about it since). Both matter; they answer different questions.
Report one — the bad signal that isn’t the whole story
Your memo cites Prewitt v. Stonegate LLC. You run it through the citator before filing.
Demonstration — fictional cases & jurisdictionPrewitt v. Stonegate LLC
History
No subsequent appellate history.
Citing references
- Disapproved of byOkafor v. Canyon Ridge Apartments
“A tenant faced with an unrepaired habitability defect may repair and deduct, or may withhold rent — but only after written notice and a reasonable opportunity to cure. To the extent Prewitt v. Stonegate LLC permitted withholding without notice, it is disapproved.”
- CitedDelgado v. Mesa Verde Apartments
- CitedVann v. Copper Sky Management
Assign the signal.
Now the question that matters. Read the Okafor snippet again, then answer for each point:
Report two — the clean signal that isn’t a finish line
Same memo, different citation: Marsh v. Golden Rentals, your heat-duty case.
Demonstration — fictional cases & jurisdictionMarsh v. Golden Rentals
History
No subsequent appellate history.
Citing references
- Followed byTinsley v. Vista Property Management
“As we held in Marsh, the duty to keep residential premises habitable includes providing adequate heat; once heat fails, the landlord must restore it within a reasonable time.”
- CitedOkafor v. Canyon Ridge Apartments
- CitedDelgado v. Mesa Verde Apartments
Assign the signal.