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Shepard’s® Citations Service

Is it good law?
Shepardize® and be sure.

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If you’re not using Shepard’s® Citations Service, you just might be missing something … like important support for your argument or a newly overturned decision. Shepardize® and be sure to count on the most comprehensive editorial analysis of case law, statutes, regulations, administrative decisions and more. And see what you need to know with exclusive, easy-to-use visual tools.


It’s good law made simple.

Uncover support that all other citators miss

Courts rarely overrule a case on every point of law. In fact, courts often rely on good points of law from overruled cases. Only Shepard’s can show you these “followed” points of law because only Shepard’s shows you both negative treatments plus true positive treatment from subsequent citing cases that other citators miss.

Shepard’s full spectrum of editorial analysis helps you uncover these splits of authority, so you gain additional support you can’t find elsewhere.

See every nuance clearly … and the big picture too

Shepard’s is constantly developing new ways to make sure you have the clearest, most complete picture of how courts treat a case over time.
Check out a few of our innovations:

Get vital Shepard’s and case facts—
right on your results screen

Only at the Lexis® service! Find Shepard’s case cards in case search results. The circular graphic covers Shepard’s treatment, including the number of citations for each treatment. (Select a color to move to the Shepard’s report filtered to that treatment.) Plus view the most cited headnote in the case and display the Reason for Shepard’s Signal language.

Look! Your on-point headnote is already Shepardized

Find your on-point issue in a case and quickly see how courts have treated it—in the same view. Now LexisNexis® headnotes include Shepard’s Signal™ indicators. Click a positive or negative treatment signal and move to the Shepard’s report—filtered to that headnote and that treatment. Available only at the Lexis® service.

Warning. Caution. Positive. But why?

Determine at a glance whether to take a closer look at an on-point case. The Reason for Shepard’s Signal™ feature shows you the citing reference that had the strongest influence on the Shepard’s Signal indicator—without leaving your full-text case.

See what citing references can’t reveal

Exclusive Shepard’s Graphical options show you citing decisions in a “grid view” so you can see citing trends across courts and time periods.

Analysis by Court maps out how courts have treated a case. This unique bird’s-eye view makes it easy to spot splits of authority—where the same case is overruled in part and followed on separate points of law.

The premier citator that courts ask for by name

Judges will ask you, “Did you Shepardize?” And with good reason:  Shepard’s is—and has been for generations—the best way to be confident your case is built on the best authority. One reason for confidence: our attorney-editors follow rigorous quality controls for case law and a strict 29-step editorial process.
More reasons to be sure with Shepard’s: