The first named plaintiff or petitioner and the first named defendant or respondent are listed as the case name. Federal court abbreviations bluebook quick reference. From the legal writing clinic writing tip of the week abbreviations in legal writing this tip covers some of the abbreviations you might use in the text of a legal document. This is a proposed citation style to adapt the bluebook to the unique needs of wikipedia. The volume for a reporter is given first, then the abbreviation of the title. Find out what is the most common shorthand of state name on abbreviations. A reference guide for attorneys, legal secretaries, paralegals, and law students. Empire state of the south georgia is the largest state in land area east of the mississippi and was the leading industrial state of the old south.
State abbreviations bb alwd ib state abbreviations 1. To be accepted for filing, business names must be different by at. If a states name is standing alone or in conjunction with a city or town in your text, spell out the entire states name. Abbreviations to regional reporters legal abbreviations. Case name abbreviations pennsylvania state university. Trademarks, service marks, collective or certification marks cannot be checked for name availability onlineplease call or visit our office for this service. The twoletter abbreviation for all 50 us states are listed here.
Each states name has an abbreviation table 10 that is incorporated into each states reporter system. Also abbreviate states and united states when they are in the name of the author of a book, article, report, letter, speech, and so forth. Bluebook questions possible not safe for honor code top. Omit prepositional phrases of location unless the phrase begins a party name, is part of the full name of a business, or the omission would leave only one word in the partys name. The indigo book was compiled by a team of students at the new york university school of law, working under the direction of professor christopher jon sprigman. This guide is designed to give a brief overview to some oftenoverlooked bluebook rules and some general tips on using the bluebook. The style manual used by the new york state law reporting bureau. Gary gulman on how the states got their abbreviations conan on tbs team coco. The abbreviations for the court and state are not included in the parenthetical due to rule 10. These tables give the various abbreviations for the u. See results from the blue book case name abbreviations quiz on sporcle, the best trivia site on the internet. State court decisions should only retain state commonwealthpeople. State courts bluebook guide guides at georgetown law library. Generally one partys name or a shorter version of the name may be used if the reference is unambiguous.
So at the very least, read rule 10 in its entirety before you dive into citing cases. The bluebook is the most commonly used system for legal citations in the united states, especially for legal scholarship, but also with modifications by local rules in judicial opinions and party briefs. Start your citation search within this section for practitioner legal writing. For abbreviations in citations and case names, follow the rules in the bluebook. This page is a list of state blue books the term state blue book typically refers to a state sponsored or state level government almanac. The databases err on the side of giving you more information rather than less and commonly provide multiple reporters and a court parenthetical even when its not. The correct abbreviations for the state and court can be found in t1.
Citing cases bluebook guide guides at georgetown law library. Oct, 2017 typically, the court and date are omitted and a pinpoint citation is given. Mar 27, 2020 west publishes seven 7 regional reporters as part of the national reporter system. General rules for short form case citation a short form citation may be used to identify a case that has previously been cited in full. You may omit the state information from the court and date parenthetical if the name of the reporter gives the name of the state. Find out what is the most common shorthand of kelley blue book on abbreviations. Steps used by the office of the minnesota secretary of state to standardize a business name prior to checking availability. Legal citation presented by elisabeth mckechnie mabie law library in common use in the u. Looking for the abbreviation of department of state. When talking of flexibility, the alwd manual is more flexible than bluebook. Bluebook questions possible not safe for honor code post by thuggishruggishbone tue may 11, 2010 11. Though there is no difference in spacing, one can come across difference in the abbreviations between alwd and bluebook.
Mar 27, 2020 all of the information you need to properly abbreviate state courts and state court reporters is in table t. Blue book case name abbreviations quiz stats by wademcdade2. The date should reflect the date the case was decided, not the date the case was heard. The following are lists of standard abbreviations for the major federal and california case reporters as well as for the u. However, the basic format of a case citation is as follows. Below is a list of state supreme court and court of appeals abbreviations. The abbreviation for the court is in the parenthetical after the name of the court. If you prefer to search by state supreme court or court of appeals exclusively, click on the links in the left hand navigation bar for. Cases bluebook legal citation tarlton law library at. Although the bluebook may not be the most exciting reading material, it is crucial that you understand all of the requirements for case citation if you want to work in the legal profession. Typeface conventions if only one party name is used in a short form case citation, the name is italicized. Gary gulman on how the states got their abbreviations conan. A uniform system of citation, a style guide, prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the united states.
Guidelines for using abbreviations in formal writing. Find out what is the most common shorthand of department of state on. State court abbreviations bluebook quick reference. Difference between alwd and bluebook difference between. Bluebook questions possible not safe for honor code post by. Blue book case name abbreviations quiz stats by wademcdade2 play quizzes adfree. Although case name searches are possible with all online services, use of the case cite delivers more accurate results, particularly if the parties have common names or are frequent litigants. As noted above, the court is omitted if it is the highest court in the state. State court decisions should only retain statecommonwealthpeople. However, the shortened name must be unambiguous and readily identify the case being referred to.
Jul 14, 2016 gary gulman on how the states got their abbreviations conan on tbs team coco. Appeals courts usually have an abbreviation of appeals in their reporter title. Containing the laws, general and permanent in their nature, relating to or in force in the district of columbia. I made a failing grade on a united states map when i was a sixthgrader 1964 because i used an informational document from the post office to label the states. Reporters for courts of last resort usually contain only the state abbreviation e.
Jul 19, 2019 the abbreviations for the court and state are not included in the parenthetical due to rule 10. All of the information you need to properly abbreviate state courts and state court reporters is in table t. The bluebook is the most commonly used system for legal citations in the united states, especially for legal scholarship, but also with modifications by local rules in judicial opinions and party briefs this proposal covers citations to united states legal materialsu. Ap suggests spelling out the names of alaska, hawaii, and all states with five or fewer letters. Listed below are some guidelines to help you choose the proper abbreviation. Any information about state and court that is clear from the reporter name should be deleted from the parenthetica l. Jul 19, 2019 the precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case. The english rules section on hyphens in the blue book and our website discusses compound words.
However, in some instances the term refers to the state s legislative manual a common predecessor to many presentday blue books, or even a simple directoryroster of government services and officials. I must start by thanking the law reporting bureau of the state of new york for inviting me to write the foreword for the 2012 style manual. Use the name of the state if citing to a case not decided by that states state court. The case name segment of a case citation serves a very different function from the rest. Citing a decision involving a state to cite a state, use either the word state, commonwealth, or people, depending on which appears on the title page, if citing to a case decided by that states state court. Omit prepositional phrases of location unless the phrase begins a party name, is part of the full name of a business, or the omission. According to rule 1, to check whether a compound noun is two words, one word, or hyphenated, you may need to look it up in the dictionary. State court cases may be published in an official state reporter by the state. Some of the bluebook abbreviations are seen to include apostrophes whereas alwd does not include it. West publishes seven 7 regional reporters as part of the national reporter system. Bluebook questions possible not safe for honor code. State courts bluebook guide guides at georgetown law. The associated press stylebook, the usage guide for most united states newspapers, counsels the use of abbreviations for most state names, when appended to a city name for example, santa ana, calif.
The webs largest and most authoritative acronyms and abbreviations resource. Citing cases bluebook guide guides at georgetown law. United states postal abbreviations for states, military, commonwealths, and territories. Related guides princes dictionary of legal abbreviations. A compound word is formed when two or more words are combined to form a new word such as flowerpot. For example, under the entries for arizona you have. Name of the case underlined or italicized and abbreviated according to rule 10. West also publishes the california reporter and the new york supplement, which contain appellate case law from california and new york.
It depends upon where the case was published as to. In this post, we will summarize all of the ap stylebook state abbreviations rules. This page provides bluebook a uniform system of citation, 19th ed. I am so pleased to recognize our outstanding state reporter, bill hooks, who succeeded to the position in june 2009. The page number of the volume on which the case first appears is next. Only use state as a party name when citing opinions within that state. These regional reporters contain appellate case law from all 50 states plus the district of columbia.
Minnesota secretary of state name availability guidelines. Bt2 jurisdictionspecific citation rules and style guides. Word ways use single let ters as units to construct words. The lists indicate how many series have been published for each reporter and which courts or states are covered by each reporter. The style manual used by the new york state law reporting. The case name abbreviations, which are often different from those required by the bluebook. Oct, 2017 state court decisions should only retain state commonwealthpeople. Case name abbreviations table 6 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z. Gary gulman on how the states got their abbreviations. I hate the post offices twoletter state abbreviations. Citing cases bluebook rules dulaneybrowne library at. Check the availability of a business name online at when checking name availability consider the following. This guide is not a substitute for the bluebook, but rather a source to be used to locate rules in the bluebook bluepages p. The precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case.
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