Certavi verifies legal citations against live federal and state court databases.
2 free lookups per day · Full brief verification for $29/filing
The cost of filing unchecked
Sixth Circuit · March 2026
$15,000 per attorney + double costs
20+ fabricated citations in one filing. Both attorneys of record were individually sanctioned and required to pay the opposing party's fees. The panel wrote that a fake opinion is not existing law.
D.N.J. · April 2026
Monetary sanctions + 2 CLE courses
A paralegal substituted Third Circuit citations for non-Third Circuit cases. The citations had been bad law for decades. The signing attorney reviewed only an early draft and never checked the final version.
These are just two of the cases we know about. See more on Why Certavi
Database coverage
Every citation is verified against live legal databases. We start with the largest free federal database and are adding premium sources as integrations go live.
Federal case law — the largest free legal database
Premium case law + statutes
Case law, codes, and secondary sources
Federal court filings and docket records
Free case law search
Our hybrid engine extracts every citation from your brief — case law, statutes, regulations, and quoted passages.
Each citation is cross-referenced against CourtListener using deterministic database queries. No AI in the verification loop.
You review results, certify them, and download a signed certificate — proof of due diligence, ready for the file.