Pre-publication Citation Audit Checklist.

PRE-PUBLICATION CITATION AUDIT CHECKLIST
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Matter: __________________________________________
Document: ________________________________________
Drafted by: ______________________________________
Date drafted: ____________________________________
Audit performed by: ______________________________
Date of audit: ___________________________________

PHASE 1 — INVENTORY (do this once per document)
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[ ] 1.1 List every cited authority in the document.
        Include cases, statutes, regulations, treatises, and bar
        opinions. Do not skip ones that look obvious or that you
        believe were already verified.

[ ] 1.2 For each citation, record:
        - Cite-as-given (verbatim from the document)
        - Pin-cite or page reference (if any)
        - The proposition the citation is offered to support

[ ] 1.3 Identify which citations were AI-assisted in any way:
        - Found by AI (e.g., CoCounsel research, Westlaw AI search)
        - Drafted by AI (the AI suggested the cite to support a point)
        - Reformatted by AI (the AI restated a real cite)

PHASE 2 — VERIFY EACH CITATION
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For each citation, complete the following. Do NOT skip any.

[ ] 2.1 The case (or statute / regulation) exists.
        Search a primary-source database (Westlaw, Lexis, Cornell LII,
        CourtListener, Justia). The result must include:
        - Party names
        - Court
        - Reporter / citation
        - Year

[ ] 2.2 The citation format is correct.
        The volume, reporter, page, court, and year should match the
        Bluebook or jurisdiction-specific citation format.

[ ] 2.3 The pin-cite (if any) is real.
        Open the case and confirm that the cited page exists and that
        the cited language appears at that page.

[ ] 2.4 The case stands for the cited proposition.
        Read the relevant portion of the case (headnotes are a starting
        point; the actual reasoning controls). The proposition should
        actually appear in the case, not be inferred or invented.

[ ] 2.5 The case has not been overruled or abrogated.
        Run KeyCite (Westlaw) or Shepard's (Lexis) on every case relied
        upon. Negative treatment that the AI did not flag is itself a
        red flag.

PHASE 3 — STATUTORY AND REGULATORY VERIFICATION
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[ ] 3.1 Each statute citation links to the current version on Cornell
        LII or eCFR.

[ ] 3.2 Each regulation citation reflects the current CFR text, not a
        repealed or amended version.

[ ] 3.3 Effective dates are correct. Where the matter requires applying
        the law as it stood at a specific time, the version cited
        matches that time.

PHASE 4 — DOCUMENT-LEVEL REVIEW
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[ ] 4.1 Every quotation is verbatim from the source.
        Open the source and confirm word-for-word match.

[ ] 4.2 Every paraphrased proposition is supported by the cited
        authority.

[ ] 4.3 No citation in the document is unaccounted for in this audit.

PHASE 5 — RED FLAGS
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If any of the following are present, escalate to the supervising
attorney before filing:

[ ] 5.1 An AI-assisted citation that I could not independently verify.

[ ] 5.2 A pin-cite to a page that does not exist or does not contain the
        cited language.

[ ] 5.3 A case that supports a different proposition than the one cited.

[ ] 5.4 A case that has been overruled or abrogated for the cited point.

[ ] 5.5 A "quotation" that does not appear verbatim in the source.

PHASE 6 — SIGN-OFF
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[ ] 6.1 I have personally verified every citation in this document
        against a primary-source legal-research database.

[ ] 6.2 I have not relied on AI output to confirm any citation.

[ ] 6.3 I am prepared to defend every citation under Rule 11 (FRCP) /
        Rule 3.3 (Model Rules of Professional Conduct).

Signature: _______________________________________
Date: ____________________________________________

This completed checklist is filed with the matter as part of the firm's
audit trail. Retention period: per firm records retention policy.