Question 1

How does the citation check work?

Accepted Answer

We extract every legal citation from your pasted text, then look up each one against OpenLaws — a database of 4.5 million statutes and 10.3 million court opinions covering 53 US jurisdictions. Citations that can't be matched are flagged for manual review.

Question 2

Why do I need to enter my email for the full report?

Accepted Answer

The tool is free, so we ask for an email in exchange for the full verification breakdown. You'll see the summary and first 3 citations immediately; the full per-citation detail unlocks after email. No signup, no credit card, no password.

Question 3

Does 'Not found' mean a citation is fabricated?

Accepted Answer

Not necessarily. It means OpenLaws didn't return a match — the citation could be fabricated, mis-cited, very obscure, from a municipal code, a foreign jurisdiction, a treatise, or an unpublished opinion. Always review 'Not found' citations manually before relying on them.

Question 4

Do you store the text I paste?

Accepted Answer

Lawless does not persist the pasted text anywhere in our systems — only aggregate counts (how many citations were found, how many verified) are recorded against your email. Your text is sent to our AI partner (Anthropic Claude) to extract citations; Anthropic's standard API policy applies. If you're handling privileged material and need stricter data-handling guarantees, please contact us before using the tool.

Question 5

What does it cost?

Accepted Answer

Free. This is a public utility we maintain as part of Lawless.ai, our AI-powered legal research platform. If you want research that verifies citations before you see them, start a free Lawless account — no credit card required.

Question 6

How accurate is it?

Accepted Answer

Accuracy depends on OpenLaws' coverage, which includes all 50 states, DC, and federal (US Code, CFR, all federal courts). Ambiguous citations (short forms, partial references) are flagged as 'inconclusive' so you can review them yourself.

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