Cameron Miranda
When writing a law review article, citations are inserted as footnotes, and case names are presented in regular typeface. However, there are specific guidelines for omitting certain words in case names. For instance, City of, County of, State of, Commonwealth of, and People of are generally omitted. Additionally, only State, Commonwealth, or People are retained if they appear before a party's name. When referring to a case in the text of an article, The can be omitted unless it is part of an established popular name. In cases with extremely long names, unnecessary words can be omitted for identification purposes, and The running head can be used as a guide for abbreviation.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Case name in brief format | Italicized |
| Case name in law review footnote format | Regular typeface |
| Case name in the text of a law review article | Italicized |
| Case name abbreviation | Only widely known acronyms |
| Procedural phrases | Omit all except the first and "ex rel." |
| Introductory or descriptive phrases | Include "Accounting of," "Estate of," and "Will of" |
| "State of," "Commonwealth of," and "People of" | Generally omit |
| "The" | Omit if not part of an established popular name |
| Location prepositional phrases | Omit unless removal would leave only one word in the party's name or if the location is part of the entity's complete name |
| Law review footnote citation format | Author and Title in LARGE and small caps |
| Law review internet source citation | Author, Title (indicates location of page in relation to the rest of the website), Main Page Title (Date, time), URL |
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What You'll Learn
Case name typeface in law review footnotes
The Bluebook Guide provides a comprehensive set of rules for legal citation, including typeface conventions for law reviews. Law reviews utilize two sets of typeface conventions: one for the main text or footnote text (R2.2) and another for citations (R2.1).
When it comes to case names in law review footnotes, the Bluebook Guide specifies that case names should be in regular typeface. This is in contrast to the text of a law review article, where the name of a case should be italicized. It is important to note that this guideline applies specifically to law review footnote format. If you are writing a brief or memo, different typeface rules may apply.
However, there are nuances to consider. If a case name is part of a sentence grammatically, it should be italicized, both in the main text and in footnote text. Additionally, when a case name appears within an article title in a citation, specific formatting rules apply (R2.1(a)).
It is worth noting that ordinary plain text should be used for case names in full citations, with the exception of procedural phrases like "ex rel.," which are italicized. The Bluebook Guide also provides guidance on the use of underscoring, italics, and large and small caps for various elements of legal citations.
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Procedural phrases and acronyms
When writing a law review article, insert citations as footnotes. The Bluebook has different formats for footnotes, briefs, court documents, and legal memos. The inside front cover of the Bluebook provides examples of the Bluebook format used when writing law review footnotes. The white pages that follow the blue pages, which are for brief format, are for law review footnote format.
Procedural phrases such as "In re" and "ex rel." should be italicized, regardless of citation location. Case names should be written out in full within a textual sentence, abbreviating only widely known acronyms. Only abbreviate case names cited in citation sentences.
When citing a case in a footnote, use the short form only if the case has been cited in the same footnote or one of the five previous footnotes. Otherwise, a full citation is required. Common acronyms in Rule 6.1(b) include NAACP and FCC.
When citing cases, do not underline party names, and do not italicize case names in footnotes. For example, "Party Name v. Party Name, Volume Reporter Page (Court Year) (parenthetical)." Use the full business name, checking for abbreviations, and drop the second business designator. For example, "Moving Co., Inc. v. Deere d/b/a = Moving Co. v. Deere."
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Location phrases
When citing case names in a law review footnote, there are specific guidelines to follow regarding location phrases. Here are some detailed instructions for handling location phrases in your footnotes:
Firstly, it is important to distinguish between different types of parties involved in the case. When dealing with an individual person, only use their last name, omitting any job title or descriptive terms. For example, cite it as "Burns v. McMillen" instead of "Burns v. McMillen, Administrator". This ensures a consistent and concise format.
For company or organization names, use the entire business name, but omit alternate names. Abbreviate or omit certain words if possible. For instance, "Wis. Packing Co. v. Ind. Refrigerator Lines, Inc." should be shortened to "Wisconsin Packing Co. v. Indiana Refrigerator Lines". This approach maintains clarity while conserving space in your footnotes.
When dealing with multiple parties, only cite the first party on each side and omit words indicating multiple parties. It is important to note that you should not omit portions of a partnership name. For example, cite it as "Fry v. Mayor of Sierra Vista" instead of "Fry v. Mayor and City Council of Sierra Vista".
In your footnotes, the general guideline for geographical names is to omit phrases like "State/Commonwealth/People of". However, if you are citing decisions from courts within that specific state, retain the relevant term. For instance, "Blystone v. Pennsylvania" becomes "Blystone v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania". This distinction is important for providing clear context.
Additionally, omit prepositional phrases of location unless they meet certain criteria. Include the location phrase if it begins a party's name, is part of the full name of a business, or if its omission would leave only one word in the party's name. For example, "Mayor of New York v. Clinton" instead of "Mayor of the City of New York v. Clinton". This ensures that the essential information is conveyed while avoiding unnecessary verbosity.
Lastly, remember that when writing a law review article, you should italicize case names within the text but use regular typeface for case names in footnotes. This distinction in formatting helps differentiate between in-text references and footnote citations.
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Established case names
The "Bluebook" is a style guide that provides a uniform system of legal citation for court documents. The guide includes rules for citing case names, which are the names of the opposing parties in a legal dispute. Case names are always written in italics and are usually abbreviated. The first word in each party's name should always be kept in full, but certain words and phrases, such as "State of", "Commonwealth of", and "People of", should be omitted. For example, "People v. Haynes" or "Mayor of Chicago v. Smith".
When citing a case name, it is important to use the case name that appears at the beginning of the opinion or decision in the cited reporter. In some cases, only the first party's name is included in the case name, followed by "et al." to indicate additional parties. Case names may also include introductory or descriptive phrases, such as "Estate of" or "Will of".
In certain situations, such as when citing decisions of a particular state's courts, an exception to the rule of omitting certain phrases may apply. For instance, "Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119 (2000)" or "Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491 (1983)". Additionally, if a case name is extremely long, unnecessary words may be omitted for identification purposes. The running head, or short identifier printed at the top of each page of the case, can serve as a guide in such cases.
The Bluebook also provides guidance on citing case names with business firm designations. Terms like "Inc." or "Ltd." will be omitted if the name already includes words that clearly indicate the party is a business firm, such as "Co." or "Corp.". However, if omitting the designation could lead to confusion with another entity's name, it should be included.
In Canada, the "McGill Guide", also known as the "Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation", is the standard for legal citation. It is published by the McGill Law Journal and is available for free through CanLII (Canadian Legal Information Institute). This guide also includes rules for citing case names, such as using the "Style of Cause" in italics and separating party names with "v" in English or "c" in French.
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Internet sources
The internet has made it easier to access law reviews and journals. UCLA School of Law's Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library provides access to several databases for locating law journal articles through UCLA's electronic subscriptions. The library also provides a list of free online resources for legal research, including:
- DOAJ: An index of diverse open-access journals from around the world, which can be searched by author, title, or keywords, and filtered by broad subject areas, including law.
- JSTOR: Offers independent researchers not affiliated with a subscribing institution access to a limited amount of content by registering for a personal account or searching on JSTOR's Open Content page. It also provides access to working papers, conference papers, and preprints covering a variety of disciplines, including law.
- Law Review Commons (Berkeley Electronic Press): Provides access to articles published in over 300 open-access law reviews. Users can also select the "Digital Commons Network" option to search scholarly articles and other publications posted on the digital repositories of academic institutions.
- Free Full-text Online Law Review/Law Journal Search Engine (ABA Legal Technology Resource Center): This free search engine allows users to search the full text of over 300 online law reviews and law journals, as well as document repositories hosting academic papers and related publications.
It is important to note that some articles accessed through Google Scholar may not be freely available. Additionally, while the internet provides a wealth of information, it is always important to verify the credibility and reliability of sources when conducting legal research.
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Frequently asked questions
No, case names should not be omitted from law review footnotes. However, they should not be italicized.
The difference between brief format and law review footnote format is mostly the typeface. For brief format, use italics for a case name. For law review footnote format, the case name is in regular typeface.
If "The" is not part of an established popular name, it should be omitted when referring to the case in the text of an article. For example, "The holdings in Dred Scott and the Civil Rights Cases were flawed."
In general, "City of," "County of," "Village of," "Township of," and similar expressions should be omitted. For example, "Mayor of Chicago v. Smith" instead of "Mayor of the City of Chicago v. Smith." "State of," "Commonwealth of," and "People of" should also be omitted unless only "State," "Commonwealth," or "People" will be retained.
