Language models write citations from memory, and memory is where invented and misquoted law comes from. Lawsmith does not ask the model to be careful. It makes the rule mechanical: a citation stands only when a quotation from the official text stands behind it, and the check is done by software that does not rely on the model.
The rule
- Only official text is supplied. For each document and state, the drafter is given statutes, court rules, regulations and official forms from the state's own publisher, as Lawsmith saved them. Each saved text carries the date it was read and a SHA-256 fingerprint of its words.
- The drafter must quote before it cites. Before it writes the document, it lists each authority it intends to cite, with the source it comes from and an exact passage of 20 to 400 characters copied from that source.
- Every quotation is checked. The server confirms that the named source was one of those supplied, that the quoted words appear in its text character for character, and that the section cited is the section the words sit under. A quotation that fails any of these is refused.
- Every citation in the draft is matched. As the document streams out, each citation in it, in the document and in the notes for counsel, is compared with the checked list. A citation without a checked quotation behind it is marked
[VERIFY: citation not matched to supplied source text]where it appears. The model cannot turn this off: a missing or malformed list marks every citation. - Case law is never quoted from memory. Court decisions are not among the supplied texts, so any case the drafter names reaches you marked for verification.
The ways of citing it recognizes
The check only protects you if it recognizes a citation however it is written: the Bluebook form, the local short form, and the plain sentence a lawyer or a model writes. Each form below is run through the check on every release with nothing quoted behind it, and the release fails if any one of them passes unmarked. 104 forms are tested across the 13 jurisdictions Lawsmith offers, federal law and case reporters.
| Where | Forms tested |
|---|---|
| New Jersey | N.J.S.A.; N.J. Stat. Ann. §; N.J.S.; Court rule, R.; Court rule, Rule; N.J. Ct. R.; N.J.A.C.; Section with colon |
| New York | EPTL; EPTL §; Bluebook, Est. Powers & Trusts Law; McKinney's; General Obligations Law; Real Property Law; RPAPL; Domestic Relations Law; CPLR; NYCRR; N.Y.C.R.R. §; Comp. Codes R. & Regs. |
| District of Columbia | D.C. Code §; D.C. Official Code; DCMR; Superior Court rule; Domestic Relations rule |
| Virginia | Va. Code Ann. §; Code of Virginia §; Virginia Code Section; Section of the Code of Virginia; Bare section with statute number; Administrative Code, VAC; Va. Admin. Code; Rules of the Supreme Court; Va. Sup. Ct. R. |
| Maryland | Md. Code Ann., Est. & Trusts §; Article short form; Md. Rule; COMAR |
| Pennsylvania | Pa.C.S. §; Pa.C.S.A. §; Pa.C.S. without §; P.S.; Pa. Code; Pa.R.C.P.; Pa.R.C.P. No.; Pa. R. Civ. P. |
| Connecticut | Conn. Gen. Stat. §; C.G.S. §; General Statutes §; Practice Book § |
| Massachusetts | G.L. c. §; M.G.L. ch. §; Mass. Gen. Laws ch. §; Mass. R. Civ. P.; CMR |
| Delaware | Del. C. §; Del. Code Ann. tit. §; Family Court rule |
| Ohio | R.C.; Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §; ORC; Civ.R.; Ohio Adm.Code |
| Texas | Tex. Est. Code Ann. §; Texas Estates Code Section; Tex. Prop. Code §; Tex. R. Civ. P.; Tex. Admin. Code; TAC |
| California | Cal. Prob. Code §; Probate Code section; Civil Code section; Code of Civil Procedure section; Code Civ. Proc., §; Family Code section; Rules of Court; rule of the California Rules of Court; Cal. Code Regs. |
| Florida | Fla. Stat. §; § first, Fla. Stat.; section, Florida Statutes; Fla. R. Civ. P.; Fla. Fam. L. R. P.; Fla. Admin. Code R. |
| Federal | U.S.C. §; U.S.C. without §; Bankruptcy Code section; section of the Bankruptcy Code; Fed. R. Bankr. P.; Local Bankruptcy Rule; C.F.R. §; INA §; INA without §; section of the INA, lowercase; Internal Revenue Code section; I.R.C. §; Agency form |
| Case law | Case name and reporter; In re Estate of; Intermediate reporter, N.J. Super.; New York Appellate Division; California Reporter; Westlaw citation; Ohio neutral citation |
What it leaves alone
A draft refers to itself and to the property constantly, and marking those would bury the real flags. These, and sentences like them, are tested to stay unmarked:
- As provided in Section 3.2 of this Agreement, rent is due monthly.
- Article IV describes the trustee's powers.
- The Premises are Lot 12, Block 4 on the tax map.
- Exhibit A-1 lists the furniture.
- The unit is Apartment 4-B.
- Take I-95 north to the office.
A citation the attorney typed into the intake is the attorney's own and is not marked either.
What a match proves, and what it does not
A matched quotation shows that the cited source was supplied and contains these words. It does not establish that the passage supports the draft's use of it, that the law is current, or that nothing else applies. Counsel reads each passage.
Statements in a draft that cite nothing are not covered by this check; the drafting instructions tell the model to leave an unsupported legal requirement as a marked bracket rather than state it, and every draft still needs the attorney's review.
The proof that comes with each draft
Each finished draft can be downloaded with a one-page proof for the file. It lists every citation with the passage it quotes, the source, the date that text was saved and its fingerprint; every citation marked [VERIFY]; every blank and open question; and any quotation that was refused. It ends with a line for the reviewing attorney's name, the date and the minutes spent checking: the record some courts' AI certifications ask counsel to make, and that malpractice carriers advise keeping.
How this page is kept true
The list of forms on this page is the test suite itself. When a new way of citing turns up in a draft, it is added to the list, and so to the tests, before the fix ships. A form that fails is a release that does not go out.