KeyCite boasts being 100 percent up to date. As soon as a case is on Westlaw, it is part of the KeyCite system. KeyCite claims to include one million unpublished decisions not found on Shepard's. It is nearly entirely put together by computer processing, untouched by human hands. I would like to see KeyCite on West's case law CDs, but West states it is not doing that because it wants to stay up to date.
West executives say their goal is to obtain half of that market in the next few years.
But for West, additional profit potential lies in quick online links to cases and other authority. West is in a unique position to be able to measure the market performance of KeyCite by comparing it to Shepard's usage on Westlaw, both historically and in real time. KeyCite is now available online through Westlaw by using either Westmate, West's proprietary software, or a Web browser. There should actually be some increased functionality through Web browser access because of the enhanced blocking and copying ease native to browsers. A Web browser may also offer increased functionality in combination with electronic mail.