LegalCite Beta
Hotkeys are key combinations you press to initiate LegalCite’s automation processes. All hotkeys can be customized in settings.
Press Control + Space or press the Cite Button to initiate any one of the following functions: - Grab Document - Write Citation - Grab Quote and Document - Write Quote and Citation - Leap to Document
LegalCite will determine which action you would like to perform based on the context.
Press Control + Shift + C or Control + Space to grab a document. It’s held in your virtual assistant’s hand (the “Doc in Hand”), ready to have its citation written, and it is stored in your current book of authorities.
A small blue box will briefly appear in the top left corner of your screen with the first few words of the document’s title, to confirm that the document has been obtained.
If LegalCite is unable to grab the document, a red error box will appear in the top left corner instead. If this happens, click the webpage to ensure it is the active window and try again. If it still does not work, you may be on an unsupported webpage.
Grabbing non-CanLII documents or extremely long documents (such as the Criminal Code or Income Tax Act) may take a second or two, depending on your computer’s processing power. During this time, a small dark blue box will appear in the top left corner of your screen indicating that LegalCite is working. During this time, it is best not to press any keys or click the mouse. The blue success indicator should appear shortly.
Press Control + Shift + V or Control + Space to write the citation of the current Doc in Hand (the last document grabbed or selected from the book of authorities). You can change how this citation is formatted in the settings.
LegalCite currently supports the following websites: CanLII: canlii.orgCanLII Connects: canliiconnects.orgSupreme Court of Canada: decisions.scc-csc.caFederal Court of Appeal: decisions.fca-caf.gc.caFederal Court: decisions.fct-cf.gc.caOffice of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada: reports.fja-cmf.gc.caJustice Laws: laws-lois.justice.gc.caBC Laws: bclaws.caAlberta Queens Printer: qp.alberta.caManitoba Laws: web2.gov.mb.ca/lawsOntario e-Laws: ontario.ca/lawsLégis Québec: legisquebec.gouv.qc.caNew Brunswick Justice and Office of the Attorney General: laws.gnb.caNewfoundland and Labrador Office of the Legislative Counsel: assembly.nl.ca/legislationLexis: advance.lexis.com (LegalCite Plus)WestlawNext: nextcanada.westlaw.com (LegalCite Plus)
If you grab a document from any other website, LegalCite will take an educated guess at the citation elements, and you can edit the fields afterwards.
Select any text in a webpage and press Control + Shift + Q or Control + Space to pick up that selection and grab the documents it is in.
Press Control + Shift + W or Control + Space to write the most-recently grabbed quote and its citation.
Quoted text is cleared of all source formatting (font, colour, size, bold, italics, underline etc.) so that it integrates cleanly with the document you are drafting. Always check to ensure you are not losing essential formatting such as underlining or italics that form part of a court’s decision.
You can change how the quote and citation are formatted in settings. The four options are: 1. Inline citation after the quote 2. Citation on new line after the quote 3. Citation before the quote 4. Footnote citation (only available in Microsoft Word)
LegalCite will automatically detect the pinpoint for the citation, but in some cases, such as where the case does not have clear paragraph numbers or the same text is located multiple times in the document, a window will pop up for you to confirm the number.
On the rare occasion where a case does not have paragraph numbers but has a numbered list at some point in the decision, LegalCite may mistakenly identify the last list number before the quotation as the paragraph number. Please always double-check your citations as they are entered.
Select a citation written anywhere and press Control + Shift + D or Control + Space to automatically open the document in CanLII.
You only need to select the citation (eg “2020 SCC 5” or “RSO 1990, c H.19” ), not the whole document title.
If you select a citation with a pinpoint reference (eg “2020 SCC 5 at para 95”), you will be brought directly to that paragraph or section of the document.
This function works automatically for all statutes, regulations, and cases with neutral citations. When you first start using LegalCite, non-neutral citations will bring you to a search page in CanLII, where the document is likely to be the first result. However, after you grab a document, LegalCite will remember all that document’s citations, and from then on you will be able to leap to it using any of its parallel citations, even if you delete the document from your book of authorities.
If you attempt to leap to a case that you have previously grabbed from a non-CanLII source, and have never grabbed from CanLII, you will be brought to the case in the previously-used non-CanLII source.
Press Control + Shift + Z while on a CanLII webpage to leap to a specific pinpoint within the document.
A green box will appear in the top left corner, and you can type the pinpoint number there. If there is no activity for 7 seconds, the green box will disappear.
For cases, enter a paragraph number. CanLII does not support pinpoint leaping on some older cases, including those with page numbers.
For legislation, you can leap to sections by entering just the number, and subsections by entering the subsection in parentheses — eg. 45(3). You can omit the end parentheses if you wish — eg. 45(3.
CanLII does not support pinpoint leaping to divisions smaller than subsections.
For many Rules documents, such as the Rules of Civil Procedure, you cannot leap to a Rule by typing the rule number itself if it is subdivided into smaller rule-segments. Instead input the first segment number (eg. for Rule 21, you may have to input 21.01).
Press Control + Shift + P to save a document as a PDF.
Either the official PDF will be downloaded or the webpage will be printed as a PDF, depending on your settings and the formats available for that document.
If any documents are saved via print to PDF, you might have to confirm “Save as PDF” is selected when LegalCite comes to the first one. You will be alerted by a popup message if this confirmation is needed.
Unfortunately, due to Westlaw and Quicklaw’s systems, documents from these platforms cannot be downloaded automatically by LegalCite.
While the document is saving, please refrain from interacting with your computer, such as pressing keys or clicking, as doing so could interrupt the process.
If any errors occur, such as the process stalling, press Alt + A to abort the process and restart LegalCite.
Documents will be saved to your default output folder, which can be changed in settings.
Press Control + Shift + 1 to write only the hyperlinked pinpoint numbers for the Doc in Hand.
Press Control + Shift + U to copy text from anywhere and remove all formatting (font, colour, size, bold, italics, underline etc.) before placing it in the Clipboard.
You can paste it anywhere with the normal Windows paste function, Control + V.
Press Control + Shift + B to write the BOA reference anywhere, without writing a citation. This is useful for quickly adding in references to documentary evidence in your record.
The text can be changed in settings.
Press Alt + A to abort any ongoing process and restart LegalCite. This is useful if anything goes awry or LegalCite stalls while in the middle of a task.
LegalCite should restart within less than a second. The only thing that will be lost is the current Doc in Hand, which can be easily placed back in hand by selecting it from the Book of Authorities.
Press Alt + X to exit LegalCite.
To reopen LegalCite, click the shortcut in your Start Menu.