While there is a general format for a bluebook short form case citations, there are other formats that can be used, as well, depending on preference and circumstance. It was originally compiled by a committee of law clerks representing each justice. There are also several house citation styles used by legal publishers in their works. This book is a reference guide that, believe it or not, will be just about the only book you take from law school into your practice as a lawyer. This research guide lists citation manuals and dictionaries of legal abbreviations to help you with these tasks. Citing cases bluebook guide guides at georgetown law. Not all parties are included in the case name portion of a citation. Oct 24, 2018 the date should reflect the date the case was decided, not the date the case was heard. 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 feature. Pennsylvania supreme court drops parallel citation requirement west publishing now thomson reuters took over publication of the pennsylvania reports forty years ago.
Generations of law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, and other legal professionals have relied on the bluebooks unique system of citation in their writing. If the edition is by another publisher than the original, provide such information in the citation. Citing case law sample bluebook citations libguides at. Beginning with volume 76, all supreme court decisions are published by west publishing company in wests hawaii reports. Citing cases bluebook guide guides at georgetown law library.
Such higher educational institutions specialized in studying law at cornell. Importantly, however, it documents the many respects in which contemporary legal writing, very often following guidelines set out in court rules or style guides, diverges from the citation formats specified by those academic texts. Federal courts bluebook guide guides at georgetown law. After you have provided a full citation to a source, you can do further citing using shortform citations. Basic bluebook citation for cases proficientwriters. A citation to a case in the united states reports includes the following five elements. International law sources law legal citation guide. Journal article a for consecutively paginated journals where the periodical is organised by volume and. 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.
Unofficial versions are printed by commercial publishers. Bluebook case guide bluebook citation generator legalease. The best free bluebook citation generator for books. For additional guidance, consult the selective listing of sources provided on the introductory page of this legal citation guide. Cases bluebook legal citation tarlton law library at. Bt2 jurisdictionspecific citation rules and style guides.
Generally, rule 4 will provide guidance for proper shortform citation of this type of authority, as is discussed under general shortform citation rules in this guide. Unlike the remainder of the bluebook, which is designed in a style and at a level of complexity commensurate with the needs of the law journal publication process, the bluepages provide easytocomprehend guidance for the everyday citation needs of firstyear law. In academic writing, the case name is in normal type in footnotes and italicized in text. In court documents, the case name is underlined or italicized. Consult court rules for required citation format, usually found in the jurisdictions rules of procedure. The indigo book offers a couple of important advantages to users, compared with the bluebook. Some of the local rules are simple modifications to the bluebook system, such as marylands requirement that citations to maryland cases include a reference to the official maryland reporter. The bluebook also has citation rules for legal memoranda and other practiceoriented materials the blue pages, which students in lrwa2 use for their memo assignments. Law school bluebook basics one of the books that all 1l law students are required to purchase is the bluebook. The bluebook has extensive rules for how to refer to the cited case in a shorter format. Note that the use of abbreviations in a case name depends on whether the citation is in a citation sentence or a textual reference. A professional system of citation is now used at about half of the law schools in the country including all three oregon law schools.
A parallel citation is an additional reference to a case that has been reported in more than one reporter. For more indepth information about the parts of a case citation, please see citations explained in tarltons finding a case guide. Other guides by uw law librarians about legal citation. If published in a reporter, cite just the year of the decision. There are lots of rules for legal citation, and bluebook is usually the choice of academic papers. Bluebook citation for llm students bluebook citation for. The most recent edition of the bluebook prescribes adding the name of the sponsoring entity. States may have had official reports at one time and then stopped publishing them. The chicago manual of style for all style, punctuation, and capitalization matters in written text as well as general rules of book making a uniform system of citation the blue bookfor citation forms in endnotes the elements of style by strunk and whitethe bible of the economical, careful writer. Published by fsu, this manual provides legal citation rules under fla. Citing il case law public domain citation format used for cases decided on or after 7111 generally you cite to the public domain citation if one exists. If the source is westlaw or lexis, and access to both is available, cite both services. Free in two different ways that are equally important.
Citus legalus is an automated bluebook citation generator for lazy law students. Legal writers generally use a parallel citation only where a local court rule or local custom demands that they do so. The index is probably the most important part of the book. This page will briefly covers the rules governing case citations.
Westlaw or lexis is permissible only when the case is not published in book form. Jul 19, 2019 the precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case. Citation machine helps students and professionals properly credit the information that they use. In case the book is being published by more than one publishing house, write the name of the publisher cited after the name of the editor in sentence case. Both the style manual and new york rules cite the bluebook as a source of general rules on citation. Bluebook citation school of justice studies rasguides. Legal minds differ on whether the bluebook is subject to. Name of the case underlined or italicized and abbreviated according to rule 10. The citation may be followed by other parenthetical information, such as a brief explanation of the case s relevance or a quotation from that case. Since 2008, california rules of court have allowed citations in bluebook form as well as the states own style manual, but many practitioners.
In a diverse and rapidly changing legal profession, the bluebook continues to provide a systematic method by which members of the profession communicate important information to one another about the sources and legal authorities upon. This guide provides answers specifically to questions about the citation rules in the white pages, not the blue pages. Citeus legalus the automated bluebook citation generator. If you are writing a brief or memo, look at the blue pages, rule b10 or apply the citation rules of the jurisdiction. Bluebook citation to format legal documents and cases. United states jurisdictions that describes the available reports and citation rules for each jurisdiction. However, the basic format of a case citation is as follows. Cases bluebook citation 101 academic format research. Feb 20, 2020 the uniform system of citation, otherwise known as the blue book, contains an appendix t. Bluebook format is a uniform system of citation, commonly used in the legal documents or argumentative essays in law. If not reported in print, include the month, day, and year of the decision. The indigo book is a free implementation of the bluebook method, and is the preferred source for paralegal students at rasmussen college.
Legal minds differ on whether the bluebook is subject to protection. A reporter is a publication containing the opinions of a particular court or. These refer to the same case as reported in a different reporter. A uniform system of citation, a style guide, prescribes the most widely used. Home legal citation guides and abbreviations research. Pennsylvania supreme court drops parallel citation. The precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case. Also, please update the authors biographyaffiliation linda barris. Cases how to cite university of akron school of law. The uniform system of citation, otherwise known as the blue book, contains an appendix t. Ive worked with both, and for some reason, i prefer alwd to bb. It depends upon where the case was published as to what date information is provided. First, the indigo book is given to you free of charge.
Follow the rules of the bluebook andor alwd for formulating a case name in a citation. In citing the name of the case, one generally summarizes. Basic layout bluebook 101 library guides at university of. For brief format, use italics or underlining for a case name. Furthermore, many state courts have their own citation rules that take precedence over the bluebook for documents filed with those courts. A logical question to ask is, what is blue book format. Naturally, when it comes to ebooks distributed online, additional rules for internet sources will apply. The alwd manual is a restatement of legal citation.
Use hawaii for the westvolumes, including a parallel citation to the pacific reporter. The bluebook still requires the use and citation of printed sources where available see r. The date should reflect the date the case was decided, not the date the case was heard. Note that the use of abbreviations in a case name depends on whether the citation is in a citation sentence or a. When filing legal documents with a court, court rules of citation apply. This guide provides basic information on bluebook citation in the scholarly format. Apr 27, 2020 west publishing company volumes after 75 haw. Make sure your browser doesnt turn the url into a link since its formatting blue font, underlined does not conform to the bluebooks requirements. Books, reports, treatises bluebook legal citation tarlton law. It was most recently revised in october of 2019 to update the links to state rules and several other external resources. Bluebook citation 101 academic format if writing a scholarly article, you will need to provide correct attribution to your sources. A standard book citation consists of the following elements in order.
This may be followed by subsequent history of the case, e. This guide will help you with legal citation for the most common types of international law materials. Citus legalus the citation generator for lazy law students. Bluebook citation for legal materials purdue writing lab.
Professor barris is a professor of lawyering practice at florida coastal school of law. Bluebook rule 10 covers how cases should be cited in legal documents. This is followed, in parentheses, by the year or date the case was decided. The precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including. Provide the case name, citation, court, decision date and docket or index number. The bluebook requires you to cite to specific pages of the materials. Each authors full name should be given as it appears on the publication, but omitting any.
It explains widely accepted citation rules and provides helpful examples. Citation to a case contained in an electronic service e. If you need to include a pinpoint citation to, for example, a quotation or the holding of a case, add the page number after the first. The style manual used by the new york state law reporting bureau. In the case of a single edition, specify the year in parenthesis after the books title. Commercial databases should be cited in preference to other, general internet resources.