My experience using Westlaw Keycites at work is that they’re not primarily created by fishing a quote out of a holding, but instead by synthesizing a rule. If I want a summary, I read the Keycite; if I want a money quote, I root around in the case linked to the Keycite.
Have you seen different? I’m curious what area of law you practice and in what state, for comparison’s sake.
Yeah, I'd agree that most are synthesized. But I do frequently see headnotes that are verbatim or nearly verbatim slices from the text. Just grabbing a case at random: Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc., 39 Cal.4th 95 (2006). The 4th headnote reads:
> The federal system contemplates that individual states may adopt distinct policies to protect their own residents and generally may apply those policies to businesses that choose to conduct business within that state.
And the opinion reads:
> [T]he federal system contemplates that individual states may adopt distinct policies to protect their own residents and generally may apply those policies to businesses that choose to conduct business within that state.
Have you seen different? I’m curious what area of law you practice and in what state, for comparison’s sake.