Lets take a tour through our orientation case the backstory caption 88 f. Bluebook is a style of referencing which is the most used legal citation system in the united states, used at the majority of us law schools. Citation practices and the bluebook cuny school of law. Presented by the academic achievement program october. There are currently three series of the federal supplement that are cited as f. There are also numerous registered marks that include bluebook or blue book.
Abbreviated reporter names can be found in table t1 of the blue book. Bluebook referencing is a uniform system of citing legal documents that are commonly used in the united states. Abbreviations may also be found for common words or legal phrases. In endnotes, citation sentences begin one space after a textual proposition. The indigo book was compiled by a team of students at the new york university school of law, working under the direction of professor christopher jon sprigman. Coalition of appalachian environmental engineers, decided. It reports only cases decided in the federal district court.
Csm for cases bluebooking and legal citation libguides. Abbreviations full case names are generally too long and include too much information to make a useful citation. Quotations of 50 or more words should be single spaced and indented on both sides. California style manual for many years, the california style manual has served as the official guide for styling citations to legal materials in documents filed with state courts in california. Appx this is where unreported circuit cases are published. Judicial opinions basic legal citation cornell university. Cases source in which the case can be found and pincites. Opinions issued prior to july 1, 2011 are not subject to the new system and will continue to be cited as they have been in the past. Apr 10, 2020 case reporters are published in series, which are designated by a series number 2d, 3d, 4th, etc.
Federal court of appeals cases are, just to make up a book and page number, 123 f. A212 1790 to 1920 mcls michigan compiled laws service. Generally, the given differences may be described as the white pages vs. Blue pages first section of rules for practitioners, organized as. Below is a basic list of very common abbreviations. The contraction technique takes the first three letters of a word plus the last letter.
Name of the case underlined or italicized and abbreviated according to rule 10. Effective january 1, 2008, however, california rule of court, rule 1. You can ignore more than twothirds of the book if all you need to do is to cite cases and statutes which covers most of the first year of law school, and a lot of litigation. Such citations and abbreviations are found in court decisions, statutes, regulations, journal articles, books, and other documents. United states district court for the district of connecticut is the full name, but only abbreviate the last part. Remember that every citation sentence must end with a period. Jul 19, 2019 however, it is an essential book that every lawyer should know how to use. Study 256 bluebook rules 1 11 flashcards on studyblue. The 2d indicates the second series of the federal supplement. Learning to properly format the case name and when and what words to abbreviate in the case name takes practice. Everything you wanted to know that the bluebook does not tell. All citations must include a pin cite, unless the citation is merely providing.
Common bluebook citations for federal courts welcome. District court for the southern district of new york, but f. Introduction bluebook guide guides at georgetown law. To obtain one of these opinions electronically use lexisnexis and copy the exact citation into the citation field on the appropriate page of the lexisnexis website.
Few books cause law students as much dread, pain, anger, and frustration as the bluebook. Parenthetical court and date include in the parenthetical. The 2d and 3d indicate the second and third series of the federal reporter. Us federal courts reported opinions, decisions and case law from justia. L ed united states supreme court reports, lawyers edition.
If you are writing a brief or memo, look at the blue pages, rule b10 or apply the citation rules of the jurisdiction. A uniform system of citation, is the style manual for citing to legal documents within the united states. However, it is an essential book that every lawyer should know how to use. When youre using only one party name for the short form citation, use the first party unless that party is a geographical or governmental unit or another party name that might cause confusion.
What does the blue paper in front of the blue book contain. It is essential for all legal practitioners especially students in their firstyear learning how to cite statutes and cases. Most of the bluebook, however, is irrelevant for many people who create legal documents. There are, of course, myriad books of a similar name reaching back several centuries. Numbers, including ordinals, are treated like capital letters. Navigating the bluebook quick references at front and back practitioners notes blue pages in front rules white pages in middle tables and abbreviations blue pages in.
The scrunched technique is used when various letters of the word are chosen as the abbreviation. Quotations of fifty or more words are always intended left and right, singlespaced, without quotation marks, and justified. Omit all other parties besides the first listed in the case name. Always check the blue pages in the back of the bluebook table 1 to ensure that the spacing of reporters is correct. Generally, there are no spaces between unilateral capitals, which are single letter or numerical abbreviations, such as 2d or s. The heavy abbreviation system all words in case names, other than the first word of either partys name, is abbreviated if it is listed in table 6 on pages 30203 of the. Blue pages are mostly used in briefs, motions, memoranda, and opinions. In case the book is being published by more than one publishing house, write the. If you see a case is published in the federal appendix, that case is not precedent. State the correct bluebook citation for the following assuming that you are citing it in a textual sentence to a federal judge.
Citation format examples for footnotes general rules times new roman, size 10, 1 line spacing, justified. Illinois courts have implemented a system of publicdomain case citation for opinions issued on or after july 1, 2011. But if you begin a new sentence after a citation, that new sentence will be two spaces after the citation. Because each reporter series begins with volume 1, it is important to include the correct series designation in your citation if your case appears in a second, third, fourth, or later series. To cite to a case in the federal supplement, list the following six elements in order. Cases bluebook guide libguides at university of illinois. The following information regarding the bluebook citation format is an adapted. Finally, if anyone is familiar with this, i pulled this from bluebook rule 10.
The idea of italicizing or bolding certain important words is not able. Do not include a space between two capital letters. A citation to a district court case in the federal supplement includes the following six elements. However, the general spacing rules found in both bluebook rule 6. Cases argued and determined in the united states district courts, united states court of international trade, special court, regional rail reorganization act and rulings of the judicial panel on multidistrict litigation. Includes decisions of the federal district courts from 19311998. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. This lack of spacing violates the bluebook rule against combining abbreviations of more than one letter. In the rest of the text, capitalize nouns referring to people or groups only when they refer to specific persons, offices, or bodies. All citations must include a pin cite, unless the citation is merely providing the. So use the information they provide, and transform that information into an appropriate blue book. As men of law rely upon a great number of various sources, legal citation also covers the usage of signals that present. The federal supplement is a case law reporter published by west publishing in the united states that includes select opinions of the united states district courts, and is part of the national reporter system. Though west is a private company that does not have a legal monopoly over the court opinions it publishes, it has so dominated the industry in the u.
An apostrophe is used before the last letter but no period. All homework solutions offers a guide on how to go about bluebook referencing. But spaces are used when the citation includes abbreviations longer than a single letter. Abbreviations longer than a single letter, such as supp. The indigo book isnt the same as the bluebook, but it does implement the same uniform system of citation that the bluebook does. Federal courts bluebook guide guides at georgetown law library.
That is, you can get the opinion either from the hsse library or on line using lexisnexis. When citing a case, including a parenthetical and then including a citing to, it would be correct to end it in triple parentheses all of the time, correct. Unfortunately, the publishers rarely use blue book form. Bluebook case guide bluebook citation generator legalease. Common mistakes bluebook citations libguides at william s.
Federal cases how to read a legal citation lawguides. When abbreviating courts and reporters, you may notice some funny spacing. Federal courts bluebook guide guides at georgetown law. Assume that the authority is being cited in citation sentences in a brief to the united states supreme court unless. Introduction bluebook guide guides at georgetown law library. In footnotes, signals may be used as the verbs of textual sentences. United states district court cases are reported in the federal supplement. This book, available in the law librarys practical skills collection, will help you learn bluebook citation. Westlaw has the pdfs for all regional reporters and for the lower federal cases f. You may obtain a copy of opinions from this reporter in the same fashion as for the federal supplement.
The following information regarding the bluebook citation format is an adapted version of the style and formatting guidelines found in the bluebook, 20th ed. Cases bluebook guide libguides at university of illinois law. A citation that follows a block quotation should not begin at the left margin but be intended, doublespaced, and placed below the blockquote. Always check the blue pages in the back of the bluebook table 1 to.
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