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Legal citations must be verified before use. This page covers all citation-related endpoints: parsing citations from text, extracting them from documents, verifying they exist, and retrieving full content.

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Verify citations

Check if a citation refers to a real case. Essential for catching AI hallucinations.
Endpoint
POST /legal/v1/verify

const result = await client.legal.verify({
  text: 'The Court held in Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000)...'
});

console.log(result.summary);
// { total: 1, verified: 1, notFound: 0, multipleMatches: 0 }

for (const citation of result.citations) {
  if (citation.status === 'verified') {
    console.log(`✓ ${citation.case.name}: ${citation.case.url}`);
  } else {
    console.log(`✗ ${citation.original}: not found`);
  }
}

​
Response

{
  "summary": {
    "total": 1,
    "verified": 1,
    "notFound": 0,
    "multipleMatches": 0
  },
  "citations": [
    {
      "original": "531 U.S. 98",
      "span": { "start": 32, "end": 43 },
      "status": "verified",
      "verificationSource": "courtlistener",
      "confidence": 1,
      "normalized": "531 U.S. 98",
      "case": {
        "id": 118365,
        "name": "Bush v. Gore",
        "shortName": "Bush",
        "court": "scotus",
        "dateDecided": "2000-12-12",
        "parallelCitations": ["121 S. Ct. 525", "148 L. Ed. 2d 388"],
        "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/118365/bush-v-gore/"
      }
    }
  ]
}

​
Verification statuses

StatusMeaning
verifiedCitation matches a real case in CourtListener (~10M cases)
not_foundNo match found — likely hallucination or typo
multiple_matchesMultiple possible matches — review candidates array
Each citation also includes verificationSource and confidence. CourtListener returns confidence: 1.0, while heuristic fallback uses a score based on the source verification signals.

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Parse citations from text

Extract and parse Bluebook components from citation text. Use when you have text and need structured citation data.
Endpoint
POST /legal/v1/citations

const result = await client.legal.citations({
  text: 'See Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), overruled by Dobbs v. Jackson, 597 U.S. 215 (2022).'
});

for (const citation of result.citations) {
  console.log(`${citation.normalized}`);
  console.log(`  Volume: ${citation.components.volume}`);
  console.log(`  Reporter: ${citation.components.reporter}`);
  console.log(`  Page: ${citation.components.page}`);
  console.log(`  Found: ${citation.found}`);
}

​
Response

{
  "citations": [
    {
      "original": "410 U.S. 113",
      "span": { "start": 17, "end": 29 },
      "components": {
        "caseName": "Roe v. Wade",
        "volume": 410,
        "reporter": "U.S.",
        "page": 113,
        "year": 1973,
        "court": "scotus"
      },
      "normalized": "410 U.S. 113",
      "found": true
    }
  ]
}

​
Extract citations from URL

Fetch a document and extract all citations from it. Use when you have a URL and want to analyze what it cites.
Endpoint
POST /legal/v1/citations-from-url
Key difference from citations: This endpoint fetches content from a URL and categorizes citations by type (cases, statutes, regulations). The citations endpoint parses text you provide and returns Bluebook components. 
const result = await client.legal.citationsFromUrl({
  url: 'https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/118365/bush-v-gore/'
});

console.log(`Total citations: ${result.totalCitations}`);
console.log(`Cases: ${result.citations.cases.length}`);
console.log(`Statutes: ${result.citations.statutes.length}`);
console.log(`Regulations: ${result.citations.regulations.length}`);

// Most-cited authorities
for (const cite of result.citations.cases.slice(0, 5)) {
  console.log(`${cite.citation} (${cite.count} times)`);
}

​
Response

{
  "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/118365/bush-v-gore/",
  "title": "Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000)",
  "totalCitations": 15,
  "citations": {
    "cases": [
      { "type": "usReporter", "citation": "478 U.S. 109", "count": 3 },
      { "type": "federalReporter", "citation": "772 F.2d 1444", "count": 1 }
    ],
    "statutes": [
      { "type": "usc", "citation": "3 U.S.C. § 5", "count": 2 }
    ],
    "regulations": []
  },
  "externalLinks": ["https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/5"]
}

​
Citation types

TypeDescriptionExample
usReporterUS Supreme Court531 U.S. 98
federalReporterFederal Circuit Courts123 F.3d 456
stateReporterState Courts123 Cal.App.4th 456
uscUS Code42 U.S.C. § 1983
cfrCode of Federal Regulations29 C.F.R. § 1910.134

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Get full text

Retrieve the full content of a legal document with optional highlights and summary.
Endpoint
POST /legal/v1/full-text

const doc = await client.legal.fullText({
  url: 'https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/118365/bush-v-gore/',
  highlightQuery: 'equal protection',
  maxCharacters: 50000
});

console.log(doc.title);
console.log(`Length: ${doc.characterCount} chars`);

// Relevant passages
for (const highlight of doc.highlights) {
  console.log(`> ${highlight}`);
}

​
Parameters

ParameterTypeDescription
urlstringURL of the legal document
maxCharactersnumberMax characters to return (1,000-50,000, default 10,000)
highlightQuerystringQuery to highlight relevant passages
summaryQuerystringQuery to generate a focused summary

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Resolve jurisdictions

Convert jurisdiction names to IDs for filtering searches and verification.
Endpoint
POST /legal/v1/jurisdictions

const result = await client.legal.jurisdictions({ name: 'california' });

for (const j of result.jurisdictions) {
  console.log(`${j.name} (${j.id}) - ${j.level}`);
}
// California (california) - state

// Use in search
const cases = await client.legal.find({
  query: 'wrongful termination',
  jurisdiction: 'california'
});

​
Available jurisdictions

IDNameLevel
us-federalUS FederalFederal
us-scotusUS Supreme CourtFederal
californiaCaliforniaState
new-yorkNew YorkState
texasTexasState
…All 50 statesState

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Common patterns

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Verify AI output before display

async function safeDisplayCitation(aiGeneratedText: string) {
  const result = await client.legal.verify({ text: aiGeneratedText });
  
  if (result.summary.notFound > 0) {
    // AI hallucinated — find a real alternative
    const search = await client.legal.find({ 
      query: extractTopic(aiGeneratedText) 
    });
    return { warning: 'Citation corrected', cases: search.candidates };
  }
  
  return { verified: true, citations: result.citations };
}

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Build a citation checker

async function checkBrief(documentUrl: string) {
  // Extract all citations from the brief
  const extracted = await client.legal.citationsFromUrl({ url: documentUrl });
  
  // Verify each case citation
  const results = [];
  for (const cite of extracted.citations.cases) {
    const verification = await client.legal.verify({ text: cite.citation });
    results.push({
      citation: cite.citation,
      count: cite.count,
      verified: verification.summary.verified > 0
    });
  }
  
  return results;
}

​
Get full context for a verified citation

const verification = await client.legal.verify({ text: '531 U.S. 98' });

if (verification.citations[0].status === 'verified') {
  const fullDoc = await client.legal.fullText({
    url: verification.citations[0].case.url,
    highlightQuery: 'holding'
  });
  
  console.log(fullDoc.highlights); // Key passages about the holding
}