CASE CITATION

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Model

Party Name v. Party Name, Volume Number Reporter Page (Court Year) (parenthetical).

Example

United States v. Legault, 323 F. Supp. 2d 217 (D. Mass 2004) (Jonas, J., dissenting) (noting historical examples).

Typeface

Court Docs:-

Only the Party Names are underlined (excluding the comma). Remember every citation sentence must end with a period point.

Law Reviews:-

Do not underline party names, but italicize procedural phrases

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Party Name - Rule 10.2

The aim is to abbreviate party names to enable easy but unambiguous citation.

For example:-

Science Accessories International Corporation v. American Research & Development a division of Textron, Inc., Summagraphics Corp., Albert Whetstone, Edward Snyder, and Stanley Phillips

becomes

Sci. Accessories Int'l Corp. v. Am. Research & Dev.

The main abbreviation rules (though not all) are as follows:-

(1) Omit all party names from either side of the "v" apart from:- (a) the last name of the first person listed, or (b) all company or organisation names apart from the first one. Remove all redunant business designations.

For example:- Xanadu Corp. v. Smith not Xanadu Corp., Inc. v. John F. R. Smith.

Note that under Rule 10.2.1(h) the "Inc." was removed as being redunant.

(2) Omit words indicating muliple parties (e.g. et al) or parties' procedural status (e.g. Petitioner).

(3) Omit "State of", "Commonwealth of" and "People of." But if the party is the state in which the court resides, then use "State", "Commonwealth" or "People" only.

For example:-

State v. Moore, 23 Ill. 458 (1990) or John v. Florida, 23 U.S. 234 (1990).

Note that in the first example the case is in the Illinois Supreme Court, thus State replaces Illinois. In the second example the case is in the U.S.. Supreme Court, thus the name of the state, here Florida, is the name of the party.

(4) Omit "City of", "Town of", etc. unless these phrases begin a party name.

(5) Abbreviate party names per Rule 10.2.1 and Table 6 (note only use Rule 10.2.1(c) abbreviations for citation clauses).

(6) Abbreviate geographic names according to Rule 10.2.1(f) and Table 10 (note again, only use Rule 10.2.1(f) abbreviations for citation clauses).

(7) Do not abbreviate the United States when it is a party.

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Volume Number - Rule 10.3

The volume of the case reporter as noted on the reporter spine or inside cover.

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Reporters and Reporter Abbreviations - Rule 10.3.1-2

Which Reporter? - Rule 10.3.1

(1) Unless local court rules state otherwise, always cite to the regional reporter (Rule 10.3.1). For example, Massachusetts Rules of Appellate Procedure require citation to the official reporter.

(2) If a case/opinion is not in the regional reporter, then use the sources/reporters suggested in Table 1 (consult the appropriate jurisdiction). If a decision is not in a regional, state or topic specific reporter, then, and only then, can you use a commercial databases like Westlaw and Lexis (Rule 18.1.1) or slip opinions (Rule 10.8.1(b)). See Electronic Resources.

What are the Reporter Abbreviations?

(1) Regional

A.     = Atlantic

N.E.  = North Eastern
N.W. = North Western
P.     = Pacific
So.   = Southern
S.E.  = South Eastern
S.W. = South Western

(2) Federal

F.          = Federal Reporter (federal courts of appeals cases)
F. Supp. = Federal Supplement (federal district court cases)
U.S.       = United States Reports
S. Ct.    = Supreme Court Reporter
L. Ed.    = United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyers' Edition

For other federal courts (e.g. bankruptcy), see Table 1.

(3) States

Each state's name has an abbreviation (Table 10) that is incorporated into each state's reporter system. Reporters for courts of last resort usually contain only the state abbreviation (e.g. Cal. = California Reports, or Mass. = Massachusetts Reports). Appeals courts usually have an abbreviation of "appeals" in their reporter title. For everything else, consult Table 1 for the appropriate reporter abbreviations.

(4) Other Elements

2d = Second Edition (Note – there is no space before or period after the "d").

3d = Third Edition (as above).

(5) Remember to eliminate spaces between single capitals - which includes number/letter combinations for circuits or editions (Rule 6.1).

For example:- N.E.2d, S.D.N.Y.2d, Fed. Cir. or D. Conn.

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Page - Rule 3.2

(1) When first citing a case provide the page on which the case begins.

(2) A pinpoint cite is required when the proposition you are supporting comes from a particular sentence(s)/page(s) of a case. You cannot cite merely to the first page unless you are talking about the case in general.

(3) If you wish to use a pinpoint cite when first citing a case, then add the page after the first page number. This is true even if both are the same page.

For example:-

United States v. Legault, 323 F. Supp. 2d 217, 220 (D. Mass. 2004).

United States v. Legault, 323 F. Supp. 2d 217, 217 (D. Mass. 2004).

(4) Once you have given the full citation, subsequent short forms (Rule 10.9) can be used, but always add the pinpoint cite (e.g. Legault, 323 F. Supp. 2d at 220).

(5) For multiple pages (Rule 3.2(a)), only retain the last two digits if the first are identical. Use a dash to separate the pages (e.g. 190-92 or 199-201 or 188, 190-93).

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Court - Rule 10.4

(1) Each citation should include the court of decision in the parenthetical unless the court is obvious from the citation.

(2) Regional reporters abbreviations never indicate a court, so always indicate the court when you are only using a regional reporter.

For example:-

Smith v. Jones, 23 N.E.2d 256, 345 Mass. 222 (1990).

Smith V. Jones, 23 N.E.2d 256 (Mass. 1990).

Note, in the first example the parallel cite indicates the case is from the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Thus, there is no need to indicate the court in the parenthetical. In the second example the citation is ambiguous as to the court, thus the court is indicated in the parenthetical.

(3) Abbreviations for each state name and/or court are found in Table 1.

(4) Remember to eliminate spaces between single capitals - which includes number/letter combinations for circuits or editions, e.g. S.D.N.Y.2d, Fed. Cir. or D. Conn. See Rule 6.1.

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Parentheticals - Rules 1.5 - 1.6

Parentheticals are only added after a citation to; a) provide additional information that may help to understand or explain the cited proposition, or b) indicate weight or author of an opinion.

Explanatory Parentheticals – Rule 1.5

If information is not appropriate in the text but would help a reader to understand a citated proposition, then it should be added into a parenthetical. Further, explanantory parentheticals should either:-

(1) Begin with a present participle, or

(2) Consist of a direct quote

A short statement can be used instead of the present participle (though the Rule is unclear as to when). Never start a present participle with a capital letter. If a quote is a full sentence or reads as a full sentence, then begin with a capital letter.

For example:-

Smith v. Jones, 345 Mass. 222 (1990) (questioning the relevancy of DNA evidence).

Smith v. Jones, 345 Mass. 222 (1990) ("[E]ach author clearly infringed...").

Smith v. Jones, 345 Mass. 222 (1990) ("The author clearly infringed...").

Weight of Authority Parentheticals – Rule 10.6

Information regarding the weight of authority with regard to an opinion may be indicated in a parenthetical, but only if it is relevant.

For example:-

Smith v. Jones, 345 Mass. 222 (1990) (per curiam).

(Lochlann, J., dissenting).

(en banc).

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Last updated, May 2007