By Bill Hartzer · Published · How this site is researched
A verification log is only as useful as the fields it records. This page lists the fields a contemporaneous source-verification log should carry, and the clause of the Expert Record Standard v1.0 that each field serves. The list is written for an expert who checks citations, quotations and web sources by hand and wants the record of that work to survive a deposition.
Two layers in every entry
Every field belongs to one of two layers. An observed field is something software recorded: when a page was fetched, how the server answered, whether the quoted words appear in it, and the fingerprint of what came back. Anyone with the same source can test it. A declared field is something the expert stated: that the source was read, that it says what the report says it says, or that it did not. Only the expert can make a declaration, and the log never presents one layer as the other.
The distinction matters because a log of clicks proves less than it appears to. That a page was opened at 14:02 shows that it was opened. It does not show that it was read or understood. Keeping the two layers apart lets opposing counsel test the observations on their own terms, and leaves the expert's statements where they belong, on the expert's signature.
Engagement fields
Recorded once per matter, at retention, before any report exists. These are the fields that Clauses 6, 7 and 8 ask an expert to settle in templates and folders rather than at the desk.
| Field | What it records | Layer | Clause |
|---|---|---|---|
matter_id | The engagement the log belongs to | Observed | 7 |
governing_rules | Standing orders, protective orders and engagement terms checked for rules on AI use | Declared | 6, 8 |
systems_inventory | Each AI system used on the matter, the account tier, and why it was chosen | Declared | 7 |
custody_statement | What leaves the expert's environment, who receives it, and on what retention terms | Declared | 6 |
team_roles | Who extracted the citations, who verified each one, and who signs the report | Declared | 2 |
log_opened_utc | When the log was opened, which should be the first day of the work, not the day of signing | Observed | 7 |
Document fields
Recorded once for each version of the report. A report that changes between draft and final is a different document, and a verification of the draft does not carry over to a sentence that was rewritten after it.
| Field | What it records | Layer | Clause |
|---|---|---|---|
document_sha256 | A SHA-256 fingerprint of the exact report version that was reviewed | Observed | 5, 7 |
document_version | Draft or final label, linked to the version before it | Declared | 7 |
extraction_method | The tool and version used to list the citations, so the same report yields the same list | Observed | 5 |
reverification_diff | Items added, changed or carried forward unchanged from the prior version | Observed | 3, 7 |
Item fields
Recorded once for each citation, quotation, figure or web address in the report. This is where most of the work is, and where Clause 3 and Clause 4 do their work. The order matters: the source an item will be checked against is named first, and the declaration comes after the check, never before it.
| Field | What it records | Layer | Clause |
|---|---|---|---|
item_text | The quotation, citation or figure exactly as it appears in the report | Observed | 3 |
item_location | Page, paragraph and footnote in the report | Observed | 3 |
item_origin | Found by the expert directly, or first surfaced by a named system | Declared | 3, 7 |
check_against | The independent source the expert names before adopting the item | Declared | 4 |
check_against_utc | When that source was named, which must come before the verification | Observed | 4, 7 |
url_original | The web address exactly as cited in the report | Observed | 3 |
url_final | Where that address resolved, with every redirect in between | Observed | 3 |
fetch_utc | When the source was retrieved, in UTC | Observed | 3, 7 |
http_status | How the server answered when the source was retrieved | Observed | 3 |
source_sha256 | A fingerprint of the page or file as it was retrieved | Observed | 3, 5 |
quote_found | Whether the quoted words appear verbatim in the retrieved source | Observed | 3 |
capture | A screenshot or archive file, its fingerprint, and whether the server or the expert's own browser made it | Observed | 3, 7 |
opened_utc | When the expert opened the source | Observed | 7 |
declaration | Verified, discrepancy found, or not checkable | Declared | 3, 4 |
declaration_utc | When the expert made that declaration | Observed | 7 |
discrepancy_note | What differed from the source and what was changed in the report | Declared | 3 |
Export fields
Recorded when the log is produced. A log that may be requested in discovery should be written to be handed over: complete, in UTC, with a manifest that lets anyone confirm that nothing in it changed after it was exported.
| Field | What it records | Layer | Clause |
|---|---|---|---|
event_history | Every action in the order it happened, append-only, in UTC | Observed | 7 |
hash_manifest | Fingerprints of the report, each capture, and the log itself | Observed | 5, 7 |
disclosure_statement | A category-level sentence or a full account, scaled to how far the work relied on a system | Declared | 8 |
limitations | A fixed statement that the log records review actions and declarations, and proves neither comprehension nor accuracy | Fixed text | 8 |
Where Clauses 1 and 2 fit
Clause 1, sequence, and Clause 2, non-delegation, govern how a conclusion is formed. A
citation log cannot observe that, and a log that claimed to would overstate itself. The log
supports both clauses indirectly. The item_origin field shows where an AI tool
first surfaced a source. The team_roles field shows who verified it. And no system
ever sets the declaration field: only a named person can mark an item verified.
Why the record may be produced
An expert's report must disclose the facts or data considered in forming the opinions, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(B), and the reliability of the basis is tested under Federal Rule of Evidence 702. Courts have begun ordering AI-related material produced, as the record of expert witness matters shows. A verification log kept to these fields is a record the expert can produce without editing it first, which is the point of keeping it at the time.
What the log does not do
It does not certify anything, and it does not make an opinion admissible. It records what was checked, against what, when, and by whom. Whether that is enough in a given matter is a question for counsel and the tribunal, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
Attribution line for the Standard: The Expert Record Standard v1.0, from The Expert Record by Bill Hartzer (Hartzer Press), theexpertrecord.com/standard/