Signals

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Signals – Rule 1.2

Signals can be broken into four types, those that: support the proposition, offer a useful comparison to other sources, indicate a contradiction, or indicate general background material to the proposition. See also order of signals.

Remember to underline all signals.

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Support – Rule 1.2(a)

(1) "No signal" is used when the authority cited, a) directly states the proposition, b) identifies the source of a quotation, or c) identifies an authority directly employed in the text (i.e. “the court in Example employed a strict scrutiny standard”).

(2) E.g. is used when a multitude of cases could be employed to state a proposition, e.g. a standard of review, so only a few are required.

(3) Accord can be used to refer to two or more other authorities that support the proposition too, but only when the text refers to an authority or quotation. (Often used for referring to extra-jurisdictional authorities referring to the same proposition).

(4) See is often unclear to writers. All that can be said is that “see” should be used when the proposition in the text is not directly stated in the cited authority, but there is a clear and inferential jump from the authority cited and the writer’s proposition. In other words, the authority does not blatantly support your position, but there is a clear (to varying degrees of certainty) inferential leap to your proposition.

(5) See also is used when a source has already been discussed used in conjunction with see and the writer wishes to add more authorities.  See also should be accompanied by parentheticals explaining how these additional sources are relevant or different.

(6) Cf. can be used to cite an authority that supports a different proposition, but still lends support to your textual proposition – and hence parentheticals explaining the analogy should always be present.

Comparisons – Rule 1.2(b)

Not used as much as support signals, but can be useful. When there are two lines of propositions that will offer support or illustrate a proposition (e.g. for jurisdictional reasons, varying or unclear opinions, or differing scholarship), then a writer can use compare and with.

Contradictions – Rule 1.2 (c)

(1) Contra should be used to indicate that a “no signal” signal is directly contradicted by another “no signal” authority.

(2) But see is used to show an authority that is clearly supporting a contradicting proposition to what would be used for a see signal.

Background Information – Rule 1.2(d)

See generally is a tool used to signal other materials that would provide helpful background material, e.g. materials that would help explain a non-legal aspect, like the science behind DNA testing.

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Order of Signals within a Cite – Rule 1.3

Within signals, follow the list in Rule 1.2 (i.e. no signal, then accord, etc), and for authorities within a string citation, follow Rule 1.4.

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