Volume I, Chapter §10.7
Introduction to Citation Form

Citation Guides


§10.7    

Introduction
These are very helpful tools. Use them! Try reviewing them each time you pick up a book to do exercises or study citations.

Citation Rules of Thumb
This list is especially helpful if you forget how to use signals, such as supra, id., or infra. Pinpoint citation is mentioned, but don't worry. It is covered much more thoroughly in Volume II.

By the way, id. is the abbreviation for ibid. They mean the same thing. Id is used more frequently today.

Citation Examples
Again, very helpful. If you have to create a citation for one of these courts, having examples should assist you. Don't forget that there are also examples on the bottom of the Citations At-a-Glance Sheet.

It might not be a bad idea to print this page out so that you can keep it in your notebook for quick reference. Just click here.

Citations At-a-Glance Sheet
One of the most popular parts of the manual used by graduates of the program. It is almost like having the Bluebook at your fingertips. Consider printing this sheet and laminating it, maybe with the other citation guides above on the reverse page. Just a thought!

Click here for the sheet.

The most commonly needed abbreviations in the Bluebook are found on this page. This page may be used when you create citations on later exams.

The best way to explain this Citations At-a-Glance page is to describe it column by column.

State
(& Region and Federal Circuit)
There are three pieces of information in this column. The first is, obviously, the state. In parenthesis following each state is the Region that state is in, along with the Federal Circuit that state resides in. The regions are:

-Pacific Reporter (P.)
-Atlantic Reporter (A.)
-North Eastern Reporter (N.E.)
-North Western Reporter (N.W.)
-South Eastern Reporter (S.E.)
-South Western Reporter (S.W.)
-Southern Reporter (So.)

Highest Court Publication Abbreviation
(& Court Abbreviation)
The first abbreviation in this column represents the publication for the highest court in that state. The second column abbreviations represent court abbreviations. Sometimes the abbreviations are the same, sometimes they are different. But a court abbreviation in parenthesis on this page will appear as a court abbreviation in parenthesis in the citation.

Court of Appeals Publication Abbreviations
(& Court Abbreviation)
This is the same as the previous column, but for the Court of Appeals as opposed to the highest court.

Statutory Abbreviations
These are the Bluebook statutory abbreviations. Some lawyers use other abbreviations, so be flexible, but if you use the Bluebook form, no attorney will ever criticize it. Just tell him/her, "It's Bluebook!"

When you see an asterisk (*), that indicates that the publication is no longer published, but the volumes that were published still exist. As a student, though, and as a paralegal, you will never have to know what publications exist or don't exist.

Again, we have also provided State & Federal Citation Examples at the bottom of the page.

 

Commonly Asked Questions . . .*

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