UNIFORM METHOD OF LEGAL CITATION

……………………………………………………………………

An Assignment submitted to
Nims School of Law,
NIMS UNIVERSITY, Rajasthan, JAIPUR
In partial fulfillment of LL.M– I Semester (IPR & CYBER LAW)) one year
program
For the degree of
MASTER OF LAWS

SUBMITTED BY SUBMITTED TO
Ms. Shobha Chauhan Dr. Manish Kumar Singh, HOD, Assistant
LLM (I Sem.) Professor
NIMS school of law , JAIPUR
(RAJASTHAN)

NIMS SCHOOL OF LAW

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INTRODUCTION

Legal citations, in general, are used to identify the source of information supporting a particular

point in a legal document (such as a motion, a brief, or a decision). Citations that refer to court

decisions identify where a particular decision has been published in a reporter; they are laid out

in a specific and consistent manner so that a reader can easily find the text of the decision in a

reporter. The typical form of a citation to a decision includes:

The names of the lead parties (in most cases, the plaintiff or appellant versus the defendant or

appellee),

A number representing the volume of the reporter,

An abbreviation of the name of the reporter,

A second number providing the first page of the decision, and

In parentheses, an abbreviation for the court and the year the decision was issued.

For example, the citation Stearns v. Ticketmaster Corp., 655 F.3d 1013 (9th Cir. 2011), identifies

a decision in a case between an appellant, named Stearns, and an appellee, named Ticketmaster

Corporation. The citation indicates that the decision was published in volume 655 of the Federal

Reporter, Third Series (identified by the abbreviation “F.3d”), beginning on page 1013. The

citation also shows the decision was issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth

Circuit (abbreviated as 9th Cir.), in 2011.

During a legal proceeding, a ‘legal citation analysis’ – i.e. using citation analysis technique for

analyzing legal documents – facilitates the better understanding of the inter-related regulatory

compliance documents by the exploration of the citations that connect provisions to other

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provisions within the same document or between different documents. Legal citation analysis

involves the use of a citation graph extracted from a regulatory document, which could

supplement E-discovery – a process that leverages on technological innovations in big data

analytics.Main path analysis, a method that traces the significant citation chains in a citation

graph, can be used to trace the opinion changes over the years for a target legal domain.

A reference properly written in “legal citation” strives to do at least three things, within limited

space:

Identify the document and document part to which the writer is referring

Provide the reader with sufficient information to find the document or document part in the

sources the reader has available (which may or may not be the same sources as those used by the

writer), and

Furnish important additional information about the referenced material and its connection to the

writer’s argument to assist readers in deciding whether or not to pursue the reference.

Consider the following illustration of the problem faced and the trade-off struck by “legal

citation.” In 1989, the Supreme Court decided an important copyright case. There are countless

sources of the full text opinion. One is Lexis+, where the following identifying material appears

prior to the opinion. If a lawyer, wanting to refer to all or part of that decision, were to include all

of that information in her brief (with a similar amount of identifying material for other

authorities) there would be little room for anything else. In addition, readers would have an

impossible time following lines of argument past the massive interruptions of citation.

BLUEBOOK (19th ed.) CITATION FORMAT EXAMPLES (FOR FOOTNOTES)

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GENERAL RULES Times New Roman, Size 10, 1 line spacing, Justified.

• Add full stop after every footnote.

• Months should be written in abbreviated forms: Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., May, June,

• July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. Tables given at the end of the Bluebook should be referred

to for abbreviated forms.

• Eg. Abbreviations of geographical terms, periodicals, publishing terms etc.

1.BOOKS

Volume No. (if any) NAME OF AUTHOR, TITLE OF THE BOOK pg. cited

(Editors/Translators Name, edition cited year).

Eg:

2 FREDERICK POLLOCK & FREDERIC WILLIAM MAITLAND, THE HISTORY OF

ENGLISH LAW 205-06 (2d ed. 1911).

CHARLES DICKENS, BLEAK HOUSE 49-55 (Norman Page ed., Penguin Books 1971)

(1853).

Rules & Exceptions

Follow the font format as has been illustrated above,

for e.g. name of author must be in SMALL CAPS.

The first name must always be written before the surname.

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 For two authors, write both their names separated by „&‟.

In case of citing a book that has been edited, write „ed. or „eds. after the name of the editor.

If translated, write trans. after name of translator. If both, then first write editor’s name and then

translator’s name.

For more than two authors, editors or translators write the name of the author, editor or

translator that appears first followed by “ et al.” Do not add „p‟ or „pp‟ before the page number.

Just write the numerical.

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.

II. JOURNAL ARTICLE

For consecutively paginated journals (Where the periodical is organised by volume and page

numbers continue throughout the volume, it is a consecutively paginated periodical) Name of

Author, Title of Article, Journal volume no. ABBREVIATION OF JOURNAL Page on which

Article Begins, Page Cited (Year).

Eg. Charles A. Reich, The New Property, 73 YALE L.J. 733, 737-38 (1964).

Rules & Exceptions For two authors, write both their names separated by „&‟.

For more than two authors write the name of the author that appears first followed by “et al.”

For non-consecutively paginated journals (works appearing in periodicals that are separately

paginated within each issue) Name of Author, Title of Article, ABBREVIATION OF

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JOURNAL, date of issue as appears in the cover, at first page of work, page cited.

3 Eg: Barbara Ward, Progress for a Small Planet, HARV. BUS. REV., Sept.-Oct. 1979, at 89,

90.

III. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

Author‟s name, Name of Artcile/ news report, ABBRV. OF NAME OF NEWSPAPER, Month

Date, Year, at pg. no.

Eg. Ari L. Goldman, O'Connor Warns Politicians Risk Excommunication over Abortion, N.Y.

TIMES, June 15, 1990, at A1.

IV. INTERNET

(When an authenticated official or exact copy of source is available online, citation can be made

as if to the original print source without any URL info appended.) Name of the Author, Name of

article, INSTITUTIONAL OWNER OF DOMAIN

(Month date, year, time), URL. Eg: Eric Posner, More on Section 7 of the Torture Convention,

THE VOLOKH CONSPIRACY (Jan. 29, 2009, 10:04 AM),

http://www.volokh.com/posts/1233241458.html. Rules & Exceptions

Format for time as illustrated.

• Don‟t write available at or at before the URL.

• Write the entire URL as appears in the address bar of the browser, remove hyperlink.

• V. CASES
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a) U.S. cases: 4 First Party v. Second Party, Reporter Vol. No., Reporter Abbrv., First Page of

Case, Specific Page Reference (Year). Eg: Meritor Sav. Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 60 (1986).

• b) Indian cases: Case name, (year of reporter) Vol No. Reporter Abbreviation, First page (year

of decision if different from year of reporter (India, if not evident from context)

Eg: Charan Lal Sahu v Union Carbide, (1989) 1 S.C.C. 674 (India).

• Reporters that depart from this format shall be written in their own format. Eg: Jabalpur v.

Shukla, A.I.R. 1976 S.C. 1207 (India)

.• Rules & Exceptions: Do not italicise the case name.

• If there are more than one parties, list only the first party.

• Italicise the procedural phrases, for e.g., In re, Ex parte etc.

• VI. STATUTES

U.S. Law Official name of act, U.S.C. title number Abbreviation of Code cited, sections symbols

and span of sections containing statute (Date of Code edition cited).

Eg: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. §§

9601-9675 (2006).

b) U.S. Constitution Abbreviation of Constitution cited Abbreviation for Amendment No of

amendment cited, section symbol and no. of section cited. Eg. U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, § 2.

LA. CONST. art. X, pt. IV.

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c) Indian Law Act name, Act No., Acts of Parliament, Year of Volume (India, if not evident

from context).

Eg: The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1992, No. 13, Acts of Parliament, 1992 (India).

d) Indian Constitution

Eg: INDIA CONST. art. 1, cl. 2.

VII. SHORT FORMS DICKENS,

supra note 2. Reich, supra note 3, at 739. Id. at 740.

LEGAL CITATION GUIDES (US-BASED)

The Bluebook is the main citation manual for law in the U.S. This guide lists Bluebook

alternatives, but you should assume that Bluebook format is preferred by academic law journals

and law school writing programs.

The Bluebook

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 21st ed.

Compiled by the Law Review editors of Columbia, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and

Yale, this guide is the most widely used citation manual for law. It prescribes citation formats for

most U.S. law sources. It is not comprehensive for foreign law. For guidance citing sources not

addressed, see the Guide to Foreign and Legal Citation.

The Bluebook Online, by personal, fee-based subscription

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The library does not have institutional access to the Bluebook online. You may purchase

individual subscriptions from this page.

Bluebook Aids

Users Guide to the Bluebook by Alan Dworsky 2020 revised for 21st ed.

Introduction to Basic Legal Citation by Peter Martin

Bluebook Citation for LL.M. Students (HLSL Guide)

Bieber’s Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations Reversed

Provides more comprehensive list of abbreviations for legal publications than the Bluebook and

better guidance for online sources like press releases, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.

Bluebook Alternatives

ALWD Guide to Legal Citation, 7th ed.

From the Association of Legal Writing Directors, this alternative to the Bluebook follows

Bluebook-prescribed format but provides more examples and requires more bibliographic

information for some sources.

(The Maroonbook) The University of Chicago Manual of Legal Citation

Created as a practical alternative to the Bluebook, the Maroonbook sets general guidelines and

encourages the use of common sense when devising non-prescribed citation formats.

The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style by Bryan Garner 4th ed.

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Covers citation format but also style guidance for punctuation, capitalization and grammar. 3d

edition available at same call number.

Universal Citation Guide (Harvard login)

Authored by the American Association of Law Libraries, this legal citation guide suggests a

vendor-neutral format to facilitate the citation of online legal sources.

The Indigo Book: An Open and Compatible Implementation of A Uniform System of Citation

Free citation manual similar to the Bluebook system of legal citation.

Foreign and International Citation Guides

UCIA, Universal Citation in International Arbitration

Covers citation formats for international arbitration including International Court Decisions,

supporting documentary materials and arbitral proceedings.

Bluebook Foreign Jurisdictions

Citation formats for materials of non-U.S. jurisdictions is available free online.

Guide to Foreign and International Legal Citations, 2d. Ed.

From the NYU Journal of International Law & Politics, this guide provides citation formats for

non-U.S. and International legal materials.

State Specific Legal Citation Guides

California Style Manual (Westlaw login)

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Uniform Maine Citations

Massachusetts SJC Official Reports Style Manual

New York Law Reports Style Manual

New York Rules of Citation

A Guide to South Carolina Legal Research and Citation

(Texas) Manual on Usage and Style (Texas)

Wisconsin Guide to Citation

Tax Citation Guides

Citation and Style Manual U.S. Dept. Of Justice Tax Division

The Canadian Tax Foundation Style Guide

TaxCite: A Federal Tax Citation and Reference Manual

The American Bar Association Section of Taxation and the Virginia Tax Review authored this

manual for citing tax-related documents. Tax materials are not comprehensively addressed by the

Bluebook.

U.S. Court and Government Citation Manuals and Style Guides

The Supreme Court’s Style Guide

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The style manual used by the Reporter of Decisions of the U.S. Reports. It is not prescriptive to

brief-writers, but the style suggestions are worth noting.

7th Circuit’s Requirements and Suggestions for Typography

Fed. Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 32, Form of Briefs, Appendices, and Other Papers

(Lexis login)

U.S. GPO Style Manual: An Official Guide to the Form and Style of Federal Government

(Harvard login)

LEGAL CITATION GUIDES (OTHER COUNTRIES)

Citation Guides for Foreign Law

Guide to Foreign and Legal Citations, 2nd ed.

Editors from the New York University School of Law’s Journal of International Law and Politics

have prepared this citation manual focusing on foreign jurisdictions and international law.

HOLLIS Search for Legal Citation Manuals

Add a jurisdiction on the second line to search for citation manuals for a specific jurisdiction.

International Citator & Research Guide: the Greenbook

Four volumes currently available of planned 6-volume reference work focused on foreign and

international legal materials.

Jurisdiction-Specific Citation Guides

Australian Guide to Legal Citation

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Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (McGill Guide)(Germany) Abkürzungsverzeichnis

der Rechtssprache

(Great Britain) Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations

(Great Britain) OSCOLA: Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities

(Great Britain) How to Cite Legal Authorities

(India) Standard Indian Legal Citation

Order a copy of the working draft.

(New Zealand) Style Guide

(Quebec) Références Législatives, Jurisprudentielles et Doctrinales: Guide Pour le Droit

Québécois.

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