A lot of people go to law school hoping to change the world and make their mark on the legal field. What if we told you that you could accomplish that, even as a 1L?

Today we’re launching the WeCite contest: an opportunity for law students to become major trailblazers in the legal field. WeCite is a community effort to explain the relationship between judicial cases, and will be a driving force behind making the law free and understandable.

To get involved, all you have to do is go to http://www.casetext.com/wecite and choose the treatment that best describes a newer case’s relationship with an older case. Law student contributors, as well as the top contributing schools, will be recognized and rewarded for their contributions to WeCite.

Read on to learn why WeCite will quickly become your new favorite pastime and how to get started!

Why should I WeCite?

Reason 1: You're helping free the law.

Every WeCite you do helps others truly understand what a case or a statute means. Your efforts are added into the Casetext legal research resource and made accessible to the public, for free. Without a citator, researching judicial opinions can be confusing. How do you know the case you’re reading hasn’t been overturned or distinguished by a later opinion? With WeCite, you’re building a public resource (which you can use yourself in law school and in your legal career) that provides answers to those questions - for free.

Reason 2: Prizes.

The more you WeCite, the more free stuff you get. By WeCiting you can earn t-shirts, water bottles, gift cards to Amazon and local restaurants, and even free textbooks for next semester!

Reason 3: Professional opportunities.

Prizes you earn as you WeCite are designed to help you get ahead in your legal career. By contributing you can earn really unique professional opportunities like mentorship calls with legal entrepreneurs, the chance to be a Research Fellow, and other ways to really make the most of law school.

Reason 4: Bragging rights.

You can always check the WeCite leaderboards to see which students and which schools are killing it on WeCite. Those at the top of the pack will earn special prizes each week, and prove that they are the top students and the top school for contributions to legal research.

Reason 5: Study trick.

WeCiting is excellent practice for legal comprehension. The more you WeCite, the better (and faster) you’ll be at understanding judicial opinions and how they relate to each other. You’ll familiarize yourself with cases across different legal fields, and you’ll build an overall understanding of how caselaw evolves and how judges communicate through decisions.

Reason 6: It fits with your schedule.

There are no limits on how often you can WeCite, and no minimum number of WeCites you need to do (in fact, you’ll start earning prizes after your very first WeCite!). This means that you can stay up all night doing hundreds of WeCites, or just squeeze in a couple on your way to class.

Reason 7: It’s actually fun.

Seriously. Try it. It’s addicting. Think 2048 + Candy Crush + case law, but with prizes.

Sounds awesome! How do I get started?

First, go to the WeCite page: https://casetext.com/wecite.

When prompted, login with your law school email address. It’s really easy to make an account - basically all we need is your name and email (after you try your first WeCite).

A judicial decision will show up on your screen, with highlighted references to a prior case.

Just read the parts of the decision that discuss the highlighted case and choose which of the four case relationships applies (on the WeCite page, you can mouse over the question mark next to each option for descriptions of what they mean).

After identifying the case relationship, you’ll also have the option to add a brief explanation for bonus points. All you need to add here to earn bonus points is one sentence describing in plain language the relationship between the two cases.

All WeCites will be reviewed for accuracy by experienced attorney moderators, so don’t worry about ruining someone’s legal research with a wrong answer. That said, keep in mind that while you WeCite, you’re building a legal research tool that you, your peers, and legal professionals around the world will use, so don’t just answer randomly. If one looks tough, don’t worry -- just skip it! You’ll move on to the next one without penalty.

For more information on how to WeCite, check out the About WeCite page.

Start WeCiting!

Click here to start playing your new favorite game, earning prizes, and improving your legal research skills!