Kara Sears
Citing a law case study can be a complex process, and there are several different styles that can be used. The Bluebook is a widely used resource for legal citation, and many universities offer guides on how to use it. The basic format of a case citation includes the case name, reporter volume, reporter abbreviation, first page of the case, specific page for the cited material, and court abbreviation and date. APA Style is another commonly used citation style, which includes the name of the case, volume, reporter, page number, court, year, and an optional URL.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Case name | Italicized in in-text citations, standard in reference lists |
| Case reporter | The publication in which the case is documented |
| Reporter volume | The volume of the reporter in which the case appears |
| Reporter abbreviation | Abbreviation of the reporter's name |
| First page of the case | The first page of the case in the reporter |
| Specific page for cited material | The specific page of the cited material in the case |
| Court abbreviation | Abbreviation of the court's name |
| Date | The date of the case |
| Jurisdiction | The jurisdiction of the case |
| URL | Optional, but may help readers locate the source |
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What You'll Learn
Case name formatting
The precise format of a case citation depends on several factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case. However, the basic format of a case citation typically includes the case name, followed by the reporter volume, the reporter abbreviation, the first page of the case, the specific page for the cited material, and the court abbreviation and date.
In APA style, the name of the case is written in standard type in the references but in italic type in the in-text citation. The case name is italicized in the in-text citation but not in the reference list. In court documents (briefs, motions) and legal memoranda, a full case name is usually italicized or underlined. In academic legal writing (i.e., a law review article), full case names are generally not underlined or italicized.
For example, the citation "Stearns v. Ticketmaster Corp., 655 F.3d 1013 (9th Cir. 2011)" identifies a decision in a case between an appellant, Stearns, and an appellee, Ticketmaster Corporation. The citation indicates that the decision was published in volume 655 of the Federal Reporter, Third Series (identified by the abbreviation "F.3d"), beginning on page 1013.
In OSCOLA style, the case name is given, followed by the year in square brackets, the volume, report abbreviation, first page, and court abbreviation in brackets. For example, "Page v Smith [1996] AC 155 (HL)".
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Citing reporters
When citing a law case study, it's important to understand what a reporter is and how to cite them correctly. A reporter is a publication that contains the opinions of a particular court or jurisdiction and is organised chronologically by the date of the decision. Court opinions are published in these reporters in chronological order, and they can be considered official or unofficial. Official reporters are government-approved publications that reproduce the reported cases within a given jurisdiction. Many states still publish their own reporters.
Unofficial reporters, on the other hand, are published by commercial publishers and may include editorial enhancements such as headnotes. While the text within unofficial reporters is still considered a primary source, headnotes are not considered legal authority and should not be cited.
When citing reporters, the Bluebook is a valuable resource that indicates which reporter is the preferred one to cite. For example, the Bluebook's preferred reporter for U.S. Supreme Court opinions is the U.S. Reports. Cases are often published in multiple reporters, so the Bluebook will help determine which reporter is the most authoritative.
To cite a court case or decision, the following information is generally required: the name of the case, the volume and abbreviated name of the reporter, the page number, the name of the court, the year, and optionally, the URL. For example, in APA style, a citation for Brown v. Collins could look like this: "Brown v. Collins, 541 U.S. 948, 2004 U.S. LEXIS 2215, 124 S. Ct. 1684, 158 L. Ed. 2d 77, 72 U.S.L.W. 3598 (U.S. 2004)".
It is recommended to cite all the reporters in which a court case appears, using parallel citation. This involves listing the volume, reporter, and page number for each citation, without repeating the name of the case, court, or year.
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Page number pinpointing
When citing a court case, it is essential to include the page number where the case begins. This is known as the "first page of the authority" or the "first page of the case".
In APA style, you should specify only a single page number—the page where the coverage of the case begins—instead of a full page range. For example, "Sweatt v. Painter, 339 U.S. 629, 632 (1950)", where "629" is the first page of the case and "632" is the specific page being cited.
When citing a specific page within a case, use a comma to separate the pincite (specific page number) from the first page of the case. For example, "Yuval Karniel & Stephen Bates, Copyright in Second Life, 20 Alb. J.L. Sci. & Tech. 433, 442 (2010)".
If necessary to avoid confusion, you can use the word "at" before the pincite. For example, "H.R. Rep. No. 105-452, at 11 (1998)".
When citing multiple pages, give the inclusive page numbers, separated by an en dash (–) or a hyphen (-). For example, "H.R. 26-27" or "H.R. 26-7".
Additionally, when citing a footnote, provide the page number where the note begins, followed by the abbreviation "n." and the footnote number. For example, "Melissa L. Tatum, et al., Does Gender Influence Attitudes Toward Copyright in the Filk Community?, 18 Am. U. J. Gender Soc. Pol'y & L. 219, 230 n.42 (2009)".
When citing graphical materials, such as tables or charts, give the page number on which the item appears, along with its designated abbreviation, with no space between them. For example, "Table 12A". If citing multiple graphical materials on the same page, separate them with commas and ampersands (&). For example, "Table 12A, Chart 3B & Fig. 4C".
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Jurisdiction and court
The precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case.
In APA style, the citation should include the name of the case, the volume, the reporter, the page number, the court, the year, and optionally the URL. For example, in APA style, the format would be:
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
Here, 'Roe v. Wade' is the name of the case, '410' is the volume number, 'U.S.' is the reporter, '113' is the page number, and '(1973)' is the year.
In Bluebook format, the case citation generally includes the case name, followed by the reporter volume, the reporter abbreviation, the first page of the case, the specific page for the cited material, and the court abbreviation and date in parentheses (unless the court name is obvious from the reporter abbreviation). For example, in Bluebook format, the citation would be:
Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 115 (1973)
Here, 'Roe v. Wade' is the case name, '410' is the volume number, 'U.S.' is the reporter abbreviation, '113' is the first page of the case, '115' is the specific page for the cited material, and '(1973)' is the court abbreviation and date.
It is important to note that the format of case citations may vary depending on the jurisdiction and court. For example, in the United States, the standard case citation format includes the abbreviated name of the case, the volume, the reporter, and the year. However, in other countries, such as England, Australia, and Canada, the volume number may not be independently numbered, so the year and volume number are required to identify the correct book in the series.
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Case name abbreviation
The precise format of a case citation depends on a number of factors, including the jurisdiction, court, and type of case. The basic format of a case citation is as follows:
Case citations generally include the case name, followed by the reporter volume, the reporter abbreviation, the first page of the case, the specific page for the cited material, and the court abbreviation and date in parentheses (unless the court name is obvious from the reporter abbreviation).
For example, a United States Supreme Court citation would look like this: Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 138 (1803). Note that "U.S." is the preferred abbreviation for the United States Reports, the official report for United States Supreme Court decisions.
When citing a case in APA style, the case name is italicized in the in-text citation but not in the reference list. In the reference, specify only a single page number—the page where the coverage of that case begins—instead of a full page range. For example: Brown v. Collins, 541 U.S. 948, 2004 U.S. LEXIS 2215, 124 S. Ct. 1684, 158 L. Ed. 2d 377, 72 U.S.L.W. 3598 (U.S. 2004).
It is important to note that case names should only be abbreviated when cited in citation sentences. Case names should be written out in full within a textual sentence, abbreviating only widely known acronyms.
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