Bluebooking 102Wordsmith Workshop

Whether you write extensively or the bare minimum, much legal writing uses the Bluebook citation format.

As a uniform system, utilizing the Bluebook format ensures that your writing, and more specifically your citations, is universally intelligible.

Thus, understanding how to correctly cite each source based on the Bluebook format may be vital to your legal writing career.

• Rule 4. Short Citation Forms

• Rule 10. Cases

• Rule 11. Constitutions

• Rule 12. Statutes

• Rule 13. Legislative Materials

• Rule 14. Administrative and Executive Materials

• Rule 15. Books, Reports, and Other Non-periodic Materials

• Rule 16. Periodical Materials

• Rule 18. The Internet, Electronic Media, and Other Non-print Resources

• Rule 21. International Materials

Major Rules with Common Mistakes

Fonts and Formatting•SMALL CAPS (R.2): To change any text in a Microsoft Word document (whether Mac or PC) to SMALL CAPS (as required by several citation formats), simply click Control + D and select “small caps” from the menu that pops up.

Fonts and Formatting•“Quotations” (R.5): If a quotation has fifty (50) or more words, it should be indented without quotation marks. If it has forty-nine (49) or fewer words, it “should be enclosed in quotation marks but not otherwise set off from the rest of the text.”

Fonts and Formatting• Italics (R.2.1(a)): Particularly in reference to case names, please remember that there is a difference in how you cite cases in the body of your writing as opposed to a footnote. In-line citations are italicized while footnote citations are not, i.e. Roe v. Wade vs. Roe v. Wade. Note also, however, that the short form of case citations requires italics for the case name.

Rule 4 ~ Short Citation Forms• 4.1. Id.

– Id. “may be used in citation sentences and clauses for any kind of authority except internal cross-references.

– Id. is used in both court documents/legal memoranda and law reviews. In the former, use id. only “when citing the immediately preceding authority” IF “the immediately preceding citation contains only one authority.” Similarly, with law review footnotes, use id. “when citing the immediately preceding authority within the same footnote or within the immediately preceding footnote when the preceding footnote contains only one authority.”

– Remember, “the period at the end of ‘id.’ is ALWAYS italicized.”

4.1. Id.•Example (see Bluebook, 19th ed., pp. 72-73 for more):–1. Chalfin v. Specter, 233 A.2d 562, 562 (Pa. 1967).

–2. Id. at 563.

Rule 4 ~ Short Citation Forms• 4.2. Supra

– Supra is used when referring to an authority fully cited previously in the article or document. Typically, the supra form “consists of the last name of the author of the work, followed by a comma and the word ‘supra.’” Also, remember to “indicate any particular manner in which the subsequent citation differs from the former” – such as page number, section number, etc.

– Note that the Bluebook lists several types of sources that should NOT use a supra reference, including cases, statutes, etc. Supra is, however, extremely appropriate when referencing articles, books, reports, etc. previously cited in full.

– Finally, “[i]ndicate the footnote in which the full citation can be found.”

4.2. Supra•Example (see Bluebook, 19th ed., pg. 74 for more examples):–27. Reich, supra note 16, at 6.

Rule 10 ~ Cases• Format Full: R.10

– In Text: Meritor Sav. Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 60 (1986).– Footnote: Meritor Sav. Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57, 60 (1986).

• Format Pin Cite: – In Text (B4.2): Meritor Sav. Bank, 477 U.S. at 62. (Please note that

the actual Bluebook says to underline the case name. Here at AMSL, however, the RWA department requests that you italicize the case name instead.)

– Footnote (R.10.9): Meritor Sav. Bank, 477 U.S. at 62.

Rule 11 ~ Constitutions• Format Full:

– In Text (B6): U.S. Const. amend XIV, § 2. – Footnote: (R.11) U.S. CONST. amend. XIV, § 2.

• Format Pin Cite: – There is no short citation form (other than id.) for constitutions.

Rule 12 ~ Statutes• Format:

– In Text: 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (2006).– Footnote: 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (2006).

• Pin Cite:– In Text: same as footnote citation– Footnote (R.12.10): 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

Rule 15 ~ Books, Reports, and Other Nonperiodic Materials• Format:

– In Text (B8): A. Leo Levin et al., Dispute Resolution Devices in a Democratic Society 77 (1985).

– Footnote (R.15): A. LEO LEVIN ET AL., DISPUTE RESOLUTION DEVICES IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY 77 (1985).

• Pin Cite:– In Text (B8.2): Levin et al., supra, at 80.– Footnote (R.15.10): Levin et al., supra note #, at 80.

Rule 16 ~ Periodical Materials• Format:

– In Text: Same as R.16– Footnote (R.16):

– Journal: Charles A. Reich, The New Property, 73 YALE L.J. 733, 737-38 (1964).

– Magazine: Robert J. Samuelson, A Slow Fix for the Banks, NEWSWEEK, Feb. 18, 1991, at 55.

– Newspaper: Seth Mydans, Los Angeles Police Chief Removed for 60 Days in Inquiry on Beating, N.Y. TIMES, Apr. 5, 1991, at A1.

• Pin Cite:– In Text: same as R.16.9– Footnote (R.16.9): Reich, supra note #, at 739. (Note, if there is no

author, use the title of the piece.

Rule 18 ~ The Internet, Electronic Media, and Other Non-print Resources• Format:

– In Text (B10): Asahi Shimbun, A-Bomb Disease Ruling, Japanese L. Blog (Mar. 27, 2009, 9:29 PM), http://japaneselaw.blogspot.com.

– Footnote (R.18.1(a)): Asahi Shimbun, A-Bomb Disease Ruling, JAPANESE L. BLOG, (Mar. 27, 2009, 9:29PM), http://japaneselaw.blogspot.com.

• Pin Cite:– In Text (B10.2): Shimbun, supra.– Footnote (R.18.8): Shimbun, supra note #.

Beneficial Websites• Online Citation Generator: http://citeuslegalus.com/

• How to Cite: http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/index.htm

• Online Bluebook: www.legalbluebook.com

• Interactive Citation Workbook: http://www.lexisnexis.com/store/catalog/booktemplate/productdetail.jsp?pageName=relatedProducts&core=&parent=cat80002&catId=cat80116&prodId=40365