How do you cite an unpublished opinion from Westlaw or Lexis?
The case you need is on Westlaw or Lexis, but it was never published in a reporter, so there is no volume and page to cite. What goes into the citation instead, and is there anything else to check before you file?
If your court has its own form for unpublished decisions, reply below with the rule so others can compare.
The team’s answer
Short answer. Give the case name, the docket number, the database number with a star page, and a parenthetical with the court and the full date of decision. Add any label the court's rules call for, such as "(summary order)" or "(unpublished)." Then answer two questions the citation itself can't: may you cite the decision in the court you are writing to, and do you have to attach a copy?
The pattern [Convention]
[Name], No. [docket number], [year] WL [document number], at [star page, such as *2] ([court] [month day, year]).
From the Second Circuit:
Loucks v. Kijakazi, No. 21-1749, 2022 WL 2189293, at *2 (2d Cir. June 17, 2022) (summary order).
[House style] Keep the docket number, court and date even though the WL number would find the case on Westlaw. Those three facts let a reader with no subscription find the decision on the court's site or another database. The WL number and star page then take subscribers straight to the passage.
Labels some courts ask for [Jurisdiction-specific]
Second Circuit: a summary order is cited to the Federal Appendix or to an electronic database, with the notation "summary order." 2d Cir. R. 32.1.1(c).
Tenth Circuit: an unpublished decision with no Federal Appendix cite gets an "unpublished" parenthetical. 10th Cir. R. 32.1(A).
Iowa: an unpublished opinion needs its docket number plus a citation to a readily accessible electronic database, if there is one. Iowa R. App. P. 6.904(2)(a)(2).
If you read it on Lexis [Convention] Use the same pattern with the Lexis number and the Lexis star page. A Lexis number is shaped differently (a year, a court code, LEXIS and a serial number), and its star pages are Lexis's own.
[House style] Stick to one database number, the one you actually read, unless a court rule or a particular reader wants both. Never pair a Westlaw number with Lexis star pages or the reverse; the pages won't match.
Before you file
[Requirement] A federal court of appeals can't bar or limit citations to a federal decision labeled unpublished or nonprecedential, as long as the decision came out on January 1, 2007 or later. Fed. R. App. P. 32.1(a). How much weight the decision carries is set by the issuing court's own rules.
[Requirement] In a federal court of appeals, when no publicly accessible electronic database has the decision, you must file and serve a copy along with the brief or paper that cites it. Fed. R. App. P. 32.1(b).
[Jurisdiction-specific] State courts write their own rules on citing unpublished opinions, and some limit it sharply. California's rule, for one, bars courts and parties from citing an unpublished Court of Appeal opinion in another action, apart from narrow exceptions such as law of the case and res judicata. Cal. R. Ct. 8.1115(a)–(b). Read the receiving court's rule before you rely on one.
If it is published later [Convention] Once the decision appears in a reporter, cite the reporter and drop the database number.
[Jurisdiction-specific] The Third Circuit makes that a rule for the argument section of a brief. 3d Cir. L.A.R. 28.3(a).
[House style] Look the passage up again and pinpoint the reporter page. Star pages and reporter pages break in different places, so one can't be converted into the other.
Short form [Convention]
Loucks, 2022 WL 2189293, at *3.
Common mistakes
Leaving out the docket number, so only subscribers can find the case.
Giving only the year in the parenthetical. The database number shows only a year, so spell out the full date.
Using a label your court doesn't use, or leaving off the one it does.
Treating "I may cite it" as "it is precedent."
Read more
The Looseleaf & Services chapter (its opening is free to read): https://citationcode.com/book/services (opens in a new tab)
Loucks and other Second Circuit citations, each checked against its source: https://citationcode.com/examples/how-to-cite-a-second-circuit-opinion (opens in a new tab)
Federal court rules on citations and filings, each linked to its official text: https://citationcode.com/court-rules/federal (opens in a new tab)