New law students should first become familiar with the u. Some statespecific style manuals also provide guidance on legal citation. Citing cases bluebook guide guides at georgetown law library. Home legal citation guides and abbreviations research. Just select add annotation while finalizing your citation. This page provides bluebook a uniform system of citation, 19th ed. State court abbreviations bluebook quick reference akron law. Legal abbreviations gonzaga university school of law. The two most prominent citation manuals are the bluebook. In text means that the citation appears within the sentence the student is drafting about the law.
Price, bitner and bysiewicz, effective legal research. A uniform system of citation and the alwd citation manual. The bluebook requires subsequent history be included in the citation if the case was addressed by a higher court. Federal courts bluebook guide guides at georgetown law. In sum, combine the abbreviations on page 499 and the state abbreviations in t1 to indicate the court. If you prefer to search by state supreme court or court of appeals exclusively, click on the links in the left hand navigation bar for. Bluebook abbreviation michigan uniform abbreviation am. One citation sentence may contain multiple citations separated by semicolons. There are many permutations of citing to legal periodicals. The fastest way to collect all of the citation information for a case is to highlight the specific text you would like to cite and use the databases copy with citation.
Additionally, the chicago manual of style recommends its use for all citation. For additional guidance, consult the selective listing of sources provided on the introductory page of this legal citation guide as well, when citing law journal articles, textbooks, and other sources of scholarly teachings pertaining to international law. In all child custody cases, the welfare of the child and the childs best interest is the primary, paramount and controlling consideration of the court. Appellate law clerks citation handbook page 2 1 historical note. The central function of a legal citation is to allow the reader to efficiently locate the cited source. A uniform system of citation, a style guide, prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the united states. Reports the official reporter, and parallel citations to the unofficial reporters, supreme court. In court documents, the case name is underlined or italicized. The new rule brings kentucky practice more in line with the blue book and alwd styles, although citation to the lower appellate court is slightly at variance. Any information about state and court that is clear from the reporter name should be deleted from the parenthetica l. Be sure to consult the bluebook for specifics in general, cite to the authors, title of. International law sources law legal citation guide.
If required by your instructor, you can add annotations to your citations. For a case that occurred in 2010 in the united states district court for the eastern district of new york for example, the abbreviation will be e. State court abbreviations university of akron school of law. This research guide lists citation manuals and dictionaries of legal abbreviations to help you with these tasks. Bluebook rule 10 covers how cases should be cited in legal documents. Provide a court parenthetical only if the court is not indicated by the reporter. If a court of appeals case is published in the federal reporter, the bluebook dictates that you cite to it table 1, p. Information this list includes only the abbreviations for the states supreme court or court of last resort. Citing secondary sources sample bluebook citations. Westlaw or lexis is permissible only when the case is not published in book form. The style manual used by the new york state law reporting. Bluebook citation for legal materials purdue writing lab. Editors of the yale law journal have announced that the bluebook.
In academic writing, the case name is in normal type in footnotes and italicized in text. Common abbreviations legal citation research guides at. Supreme court abbreviations bluebook quick reference. Common bluebook citations for federal courts welcome.
If you prefer to search by state supreme court or court. In court documents briefs, motions and legal memoranda, a full case name. Below is a list of state supreme court and court of appeals abbreviations. On january 17, 1893, queen liliuokalani abdicated her thrown, ending the monarchy. Court document abbreviations table 8 of 17th edition this table gives suggested abbreviations for citations of court documents and legal memoranda not in the other forms of legal writing for the words most commonly found in the titles of court documents. Reporter containing cases from the ca supreme court. Citation to a case contained in an electronic service e. Additionally, the chicago manual of style recommends its use for all citation of legal material. Generations of law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, and other legal professionals have relied on the bluebooks unique system of citation in their writing. A citation to a court of appeals case in the federal reporter includes the. These regional reporters contain appellate case law from all 50 states plus the district of columbia. Introduction there is no one prevailing source for citation of legal authorities in documents filed in new york courts. West also publishes the california reporter and the new york supplement, which contain appellate case law. This means no court parenthetical is necessary for the u.
Outlines the basic structure of legal citations, including cases law, statutes, and administrative rules and regulations. West publishes seven 7 regional reporters as part of the national reporter system. Annual digest and reports of public international law cases, r21. It is a composite of those contained in the bluebook and the alwd guide to legal citation. As set forth more on the federal cases page of this guide, supreme court opinions will have a citation to the u.
The precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case. Our citation guides provide detailed information about all types of sources in mla, apa, chicago and turabian styles. Set out below is a table of words and their abbreviations with links to examples. In addition, abbreviate any state or smaller geographic unit included in a. For help with other source types, like books, pdfs, or websites, check out our other guides. A reference guide for attorneys, legal secretaries, paralegals, and law students this link opens in a new window citechecker. In some cases, it indicates that a word should not be abbreviated. A uniform system of citation is now available online. As harvard professor lawrence lessig has famously stated, code is law. Provide the case name, citation, court, decision date and docket or. The bluebook style guide is used in the american legal profession for citation of all relevant sources. University of chicago manual of legal citation the maroon book sources for abbreviations. In a diverse and rapidly changing legal profession.
The bluebook is a style guide for legal citation in the united states that is used by lawyers, scholars, judges, law students, paralegals, and others involved in the legal profession. Court document abbreviations table 8 of 17th edition this table gives suggested abbreviations for citations of court documents and legal memoranda not in the other forms of legal writing for the words most commonly found in the titles of court. Abbreviations to federal courts legal abbreviations libguides at. Accepted abbreviations for legal materials may be found in various publications, such as. For your legal research and legal writing classes you are to use the citation format used in documents being submitted to the court. Case name abbreviations table 6 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z. When filing legal documents with a court, court rules of citation apply. Abbreviations and howtos supreme court abbreviations search this. Citing cases bluebook guide guides at georgetown law. The first citation will be to the official reporter for the court, followed by a citation to the unofficial reporters. This list only includes abbreviations for states court of appeals. Outlines the basic structure of legal citations, including cases law.
Abbreviate the listed words wherever they appear in a partys name that is part of a citation. These tables give the various abbreviations for the u. Use citation sentences to cite sources and authorities that relate to the. Reporter containing cases from ca supreme court and courts of appeal.
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