I have received many messages, asking how this was resolved, and so am
posting again.
A fellow law-libber sent me the name of a West Senior Principal
Attorney Editor, who was extremely helpful and told me that Westlaw's
policy is to retain any "not for citation" designation made by a
court, and that, for these two cases, that designation should have
been retained. She acknowledged that Westlaw made a mistake, and took
the citations so she can have them corrected.
Attorneys who cite cases from Westlaw are relying reasonably on the
cases as published by a reputable publisher. However, mistakes do
happen. I think the lesson to be learned is that it's a good idea to
check the original document, a simple and inexpensive process.
I'd like to add that several Westlaw people came forward to offer help
in response to my initial posting. I appreciate their responsiveness,
their acknowledgement of a mistake, and their apologies. I have no
particular affection for (or dislike of) Thomson West / Westlaw, but
feel they responded well to my message.
Beth Greenfield
________________________________
From: Greenfield, Elizabeth (NJ)
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 2:35 PM
To: Law-lib (law-lib@ucdavis.edu)
Subject: Westlaw policy for publishing decisions
We have a question about Westlaw's handling of two decisions, but no
one I can reach seems to know the answer. The very helpful reference
attorney I spoke with really tried to help but couldn't.
The facts: The federal court in N.D. Cal. issued two decisions very
clearly marked "NOT FOR CITATION". If you pull the cases on Lexis,
you'll see that they are similarly marked "NOT FOR CITATION". However,
when you pull them on Westlaw, not only are they not so marked, but,
in fact, above the captions, it reads "Cite as .....".
These decisions are in different cases and were issued four months
apart by two different judges
So what we need to know -- today -- is Westlaw's policy for handling
decisions marked as not for citation. If anyone can enlighten me, I'd
love to hear from you. (Hello, West?)
Thank you - Beth Greenfield
Elizabeth A. Greenfield
Information Resources Manager
LATHAM & WATKINS LLP
One Newark Center, 16th Floor
Newark, NJ 07101-3174
Direct Dial: +1.973.639.7281
Fax: +1.973.639.7298
Email: elizabeth.greenfield@lw.com
http://www.lw.com <http://www.lw.com/>
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