What is a Citation in Law? A Guide to Understanding Legal Citations
citation in law is a reference to a legal authority such as a court case, statute, regulation, or scholarly work. Citations serve the important purpose of crediting sources, allowing readers to verify the referenced material, and enabling consistent reference in legal writing and research.
Proper citation format is a fundamental component of legal writing. Lawyers, law students, judges, and paralegals must know how to construct citations correctly according to accepted style guides. The most common citation manual used in American law is The Bluebook.
What is a Citation in Law?
In law, a citation is a reference to a specific legal authority such as a court case, statute, regulation, treaty, book, or article. Citations are a critical part of legal writing and serve several purposes:
- Allowing readers to locate and verify the referenced source
- Providing background on legal reasoning and precedent
- Giving credit to sources relied upon in making legal arguments
- Establishing credibility by citing reputable authorities
Lawyers, judges, academics, and law students use citations extensively in court briefs, judicial opinions, law review articles, memoranda, contracts, and other legal documents. Understanding how to properly read and construct citations is essential for anyone in the legal field.
Why Are citation in law Used in Legal Writing?
Citations in legal documents serve several key functions:
- Credit Sources – Citations give proper credit to any source materials being relied upon or quoted. This avoids plagiarism.
- Find Sources – Detailed citations enable readers to efficiently locate the cited source to examine, verify, or learn more about it.
- Support Analysis – Credible citations lend authority and credibility to legal analysis and arguments.
- Establish Precedent – Judicial opinions must cite controlling precedents that guide the court’s ruling on points of law.
- Identify Examples – Citing examples illustrate how laws, regulations, or principles have been applied in practice.
- Provide Consistency – Standard citation formats allow for consistency across documents and uniform understanding.
In legal writing, thorough citation shows the strength of supporting law and precedent. Citations demonstrate meticulous research, credibility, and adherence to formats expected in the profession.
Key Components of a Legal citation in law
While citation formats vary, legal citations generally contain some combination of the following key pieces of information:
- Case name – The published name of the court case. Usually contains the surname of the first plaintiff/defendant.
- Source – Where the case is published – the official reporter, legal database, year, court, docket number, etc.
- Court – The court that decided the case.
- Year – The year the court handed down the decision.
- Pincite – The specific page number(s) referenced.
- Miscellaneous – Additional information like year of codification for statutes, edition for books, or parallel cites.
Citation Examples:
- Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) – Citation to the famous U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision Roe v. Wade from 1973.
- 18 U.S.C. § 1503 – Citation to Section 1503 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code.
- Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019) – Citation to the 11th edition of the Black’s Law Dictionary from 2019.
Purposes and Importance of Legal citation in law
Citations serve several key functions that make them indispensable to legal writing:
- Locating Sources – Citations contain all the information needed to precisely identify the referenced material in print or electronic resources. This allows readers to examine the original text if desired.
- Credibility – Citing respected authorities lends credibility to arguments and establishes thorough research. Extensive citations signal strong legal analysis.
- Precedent – Judicial citations explain the lineage and precedential value of case holdings. This provides background on how and why a court reached its decision.
- Attribution – Citations give proper credit to quoted or paraphrased sources. This avoids plagiarism and recognizes authors’ work.
- Efficiency – Short formatted citations are easier to read in legal documents than lengthy footnotes. Citations make the text more concise.
- Context – Judicial citations give context on what reasoning or arguments the court found compelling compared to those it rejected.
Overall, proper citation technique is the hallmark of a skilled legal writer. Formatting citations correctly shows attention to detail and the ability to work with sources.
The specific format of citations is determined by the jurisdiction, court rules, individual publisher, or stylistic guide being followed. However, all citations allow the source to be efficiently identified.
How to Read and Understand Citations
For anyone new to law, interpreting and reading legal citations can be challenging at first. But the formats follow consistent logical patterns that become easier with practice. Some tips for deciphering citations:
- Note the source type – Case, statute, constitution, regulation, etc. This provides context on where the citation comes from.
- Identify the jurisdiction – Federal, state, specialty court? This tells you where/how it applies.
- Recognize reporter abbreviations – U.S., F.2d, A.2d, etc. These indicate where cases are published.
- Read chronologically – Year and court come before page, docket number, etc. Citations move from general to specific.
- Highlight key pieces – Case name, year, source abbreviation, and page pinpoint are usually the most important. The other pieces provide supplemental details to locate the precise reference.
- Learn format conventions – Recognize patterns like court abbreviations, order of information, use of commas, periods, abbreviations, and parentheses. Consistent structure makes citations understandable.
With repeated exposure, interpreting citations becomes second nature for legal professionals. Gaining familiarity with common citation formats is critical
Examples:
- Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
- West v. Jones, 722 F. Supp. 7 (D. Mass. 1989)
Common Legal citation in law Systems
Various citation systems exist with different conventions and rules on formatting. Some examples of the most common legal citation styles include:
- Bluebook – The most widely used citation system in American law. Originally developed by law students, now published as The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Covers how to cite cases, statutes, books, periodicals, legal memoranda, and other sources. The current 20th edition has over 500 pages of guidance. Used by many law schools and legal professionals, especially for scholarly work.
- ALWD – Short for Association of Legal Writing Directors. The ALWD Guide to Legal Citation is considered an easier-to-use alternative to the elaborate Bluebook system. Now in its 7th edition, ALWD follows the Bluebook formatting but condenses the content and complexities. Popular with some legal writing programs.
- Maroonbook – Provides Bluebook-style guidance focused specifically on formats for court documents and legal memoranda. Published by the University of Chicago Law Review. A supplement rather than a stand-alone system.
- State Specific – Individual state court systems and bars sometimes publish their own citation rules tailored to local needs and conventions. For example, the California Style Manual covers California courts. New York has its own rules as well.
- Court-Specific – Individual courts at the federal and state levels often have their citation preferences outlined in internal style guides. These can supplement the Bluebook or other systems. Following a court’s local conventions shows attention to detail in filings.
So while the Bluebook remains the dominant force, alternative citation formats do exist. Legal professionals should consult the preferences of their state/court and tailor citations accordingly.
Statutes and Codes
Statutes, regulations, and codes are also commonly cited legal sources. Key elements include:
- Name of the act – Official name of the legislation.
- Volume number – Volume of the statutory code where it’s published.
- Abbreviation – Recognized abbreviation for the code.
- Section number – Specific section number being referenced.
Examples:
- Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101
- 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5
Secondary Sources
Treatises, law review articles, restatements, and other scholarly works are known as secondary sources. These are cited by:
- Author name – Last name, first initial format.
- Source title – Full title of book, article, website, or publication.
- Page number – Relevant page number(s) referenced.
- Year – Year of publication.
Examples:
- Brian Jones, Torts and Civil Liability, 34 Fordham L. Rev. 27 (2013).
- Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 224 (1981).
Why Follow Proper Citation Format in Legal Writing?
While citations serve an important purpose, the specific formatting matters as well. Proper citation format:
- Shows Attention to Detail – Carefully formatted citations signal a legal writer’s meticulousness and command of accepted conventions.
- Enables Verification – Standard formats allow sources to be efficiently located and cross-referenced.
- Provides Uniformity – Following a consistent style guide like The Bluebook allows for uniform citation approaches.
- Reflects Credibility – Proper citation reflects thorough research and shows credibility.
- Upholds Traditions – Citation formats uphold long traditions and expected professional standards in law.
- Avoids Plagiarism – Fully crediting sources demonstrates respect for intellectual property and avoids plagiarism allegations.
For these reasons, legal professionals must take care to correctly construct citations for all sources used, whether quoting directly or simply referring to relevant authorities. Attention to detail matters.
Common Citation Practices and Terms
Legal citations follow certain conventions and include some common terminology:
- supra, infra – Latin terms meaning above and below to reference sources cited earlier or later in the document.
- et seq. – Abbreviation for et sequences meaning “and the following ones” when citing multiple sequential pages, sections, or volumes.
- Id. – Abbreviation for idem meaning “the same” used to repeat the same citation without rewriting it.
- Signal – Introductory signal words like see, see also, accord, and contra are used before citations to indicate whether they directly support or differ from the stated proposition.
- Parentheticals – Explanatory information added after citations providing context, describing the relevance of the source, or explaining why it supports the proposition.
How to Master Proper Citation Formatting
Learning how to properly construct citations is a fundamental legal skill. Here are some tips for mastering citation formatting:
- Familiarize yourself with common sources – Know how to cite cases, statutes, regulations, secondary sources, and constitutions including their standard abbreviations and formats.
- Follow the Bluebook or ALWD – Use their formatting rules as reference guides until you have internalized patterns.
- Look at examples – Observe how citations appear in court opinions, legal briefs, journals, and reference materials like formbooks. Seeing proper citation techniques in use is instructive.
- Use citation generators carefully – Software can produce citations quickly but may need tweaking or formatting. Know the logic behind citations, don’t just mechanically insert what software spits out.
- Know when to deviate – Be prepared to adapt general formatting guidelines to specific court or publisher rules if applicable. There are always exceptions.
- Check, double check, triple check – Proofread carefully and cross-reference sources to ensure accuracy and conformance. Incorrect citations undermine credibility.
Mastering legal citation takes practice but is critical for anyone working in the law. Proper citation provides efficiency, and transparency, and enhances the strength of legal analysis.
Key Takeaways on Legal Citations:
- Citations reference specific legal authorities and allow them to be located and verified.
- Key components include information like case name, court, year, and incite page number.
- Proper citation technique demonstrates strong research skills and credibility.
- Various formatting systems exist but the Bluebook is most prevalent in American law.
- Understanding how to read and compose citations takes practice and is an essential legal skill.
- Citations contextualize legal reasoning, show attribution, and make writing more concise.
