Verify every citation in four minutes
2026-10-13 · Method
A repeatable routine for checking any authority an AI produces — existence, currency, proposition, pin cite — and recording it in a ledger a court or client can follow.
To verify a citation produced by AI, open the primary source and confirm four things in order: that the authority exists, that the citation is correct and still good law, that the passage stands for the proposition it is cited for, and that you have the right pin cite. Then record the claim, the source and whether it is authority or reasoning in an authority ledger. If you cannot open the source, the citation does not go in.
Why four checks, in this order
Each check catches a different failure. Existence catches the fabricated case. Currency catches the overruled one. Proposition catches the real case cited for the wrong point — the most common error. The pin cite catches the passage that says something slightly different from your summary.
The routine
| Check | Question | If it fails |
|---|---|---|
| Existence | Can I open it in a primary source? | Delete it |
| Currency | Is it still good law? | Find the current authority |
| Proposition | Does it decide this point? | Distinguish or replace |
| Pin cite | Does the paragraph say this? | Quote the real words |
Record it — the ledger is the deliverable
The ledger — claim, source, type, confidence, pin cite — is what turns checking into something you can prove. It is the page you show opposing counsel, or your insurer, if a question is ever raised. Tools like Clearbrief exist for litigation teams for the same reason: the record is the point.
Give the model the source and ask for [AUTHORITY] / [REASONING] labels on every sentence, then audit the reasoning lines yourself. The labelling prompt is a control, not a flourish.
Written for legal professionals. Not legal advice. Always verify every authority and let a named lawyer sign off.