Guide to basic legal citations
Legal citation refers to a specialized system of notation used to reference legal authorities in a way that is both precise and understandable. This system allows writers to direct others to specific legal documents and sections effectively. Since legal writing, including that by attorneys and judges, heavily relies on such references, the use of abbreviations and unique terminology is common. While this shorthand can be challenging for non-experts to interpret, it significantly reduces the space occupied by frequent references. As one becomes more accustomed to reading legal texts, it becomes easier to trace an argument even when it is interspersed with numerous citations. Nonetheless, these citations are often ignored until the reader needs to investigate a reference further. The essence of any citation format is finding a balance between providing detailed information about a source and maintaining clarity and brevity in the text. Standardized abbreviations and symbols are used to strike this balance.
A well-crafted legal citation aims to achieve three primary goals within the constraints of concise writing:
- Clearly identify the specific document and section being referenced.
- Provide enough detail for the reader to locate the cited material, even if their resources differ from those of the writer.
- Include relevant context about the source and its role in the argument to help the reader determine whether further review of the material is necessary.
There are many similarities among the many legal systems of the world. This guide is focused on the American hybrid Common Law systems found in the United States Federal and State level jurisdictions, generally including
- Statutory laws,
- Court rules and opinions, and
- Agency rules and regulations.
- County, municipal, territorial, and tribal laws are not specifically included.
Each jurisdiction has systematically codified its legislative enactments (statutory laws) and administrative regulations with standardized methods of identification.
Each jurisdiction has a standard collection of court rules, including:
- Rules of trial procedure,
- Rules of appellate procedure,
- Local court rules,
- Rules of evidence,
Court rules for limited-jurisdiction courts (family court, juvenile court, small claims court, etc.)
Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in a series of books called Reporters or law reports or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case citations are formatted differently in different jurisdictions but generally contain the same key information. Before the digital age, appellate court opinions were published in book form, and access to trial court records involved a trip to the local courthouse.
A legal citation is a "reference to a legal precedent or authority, such as a case, statute, or treatise, that either substantiates or contradicts a given position. Where cases are published on paper, the citation usually contains the following information:
- Court that issued the decision
- Report title
- Volume number
- Page, section, or paragraph number
- Publication year
Legal citation style guides
ALWD ( Association of Legal Writing Directors) Guide to Legal Citation
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (online subscription or print)
LII / Legal Information Institute (online)
Harvard Law School Library Legal Style Guide (online)
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