Unlocking Legal Citation

Unlocking Legal Citation
Learning Legal Citation with
The Bluebook & Interactive Citation
Workstation
© 2001-08 Tracy L. McGaugh
A Basic Case Citation
Smith v. Jones, 983 S.W.2d 385 (Tex.
1998).
WHO? Smith & Jones
WHERE? Volume 983 of Southwestern
Reporter, Second Series – on page 385
WHEN? In 1998 by the Texas Supreme
Court.
Drafting a Citation from Scratch
Looks simple enough!
But here’s what you get:
William H. Smith, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Emma K. Jones and Peter Griffith, DefendantsAppellants.
983 S.W.2d 385, 247 Educ. Rptr. 960
Texas Supreme Court
Argued: October 29, 1997
Decided: January 20, 1998
Roadmap
The Bluebook
ICW
Goals of Citation
Give attribution for another’s ideas in your
work.
– In a common law system, demonstrating that
the idea is not original strengthens your
argument and analysis.
– Even novel arguments must be grounded in
precedent.
Give your reader a map to that source.
Give a great deal of important information
as briefly as possible.
What’s so special about legal
citation?
In law, citations don’t just tell your reader where
you found the ideas.
They give the reader valuable information about…
– How strong your argument really is (court & date) and
– How the cited material relates to your argument
(signals).
Citations give lots of valuable information in
shorthand. This means you don’t have to explain
it in longhand.
Enter The Bluebook . . .
The shorthand method we use for this
information is found in The Bluebook: A
Uniform System of Citation (18th ed. 2005).
What about the ALWD Citation Manual?
Citations Manuals are
Reference Books
Might have noticed that The Bluebook is
fairly thick with lots of rules.
Good news:
– We won’t use all of it.
– Even the parts we do use won’t need to be
memorized.
Good lawyers don’t know everything; they
know where everything is.
Our Goals for Citation
To learn enough about citation to have a
feel for how one is put together.
To learn enough about the structure of The
Bluebook so you can find what you need
when you need it.
Parts of The Bluebook
Introduction
The Bluepages
Rules
Tables
Index
Introduction
Gives a general introduction to legal
citation
Explains the structure of The Bluebook.
For best results, read this before you
attempt the first citation exercise.
The Bluepages
The rules in The Bluebook were originally
intended to apply primarily to scholarly works.
For practical works, the rules are condensed and
modified slightly in The Bluepages.
– This condensing produces a kind of “mini Bluebook.”
– The changes are primarily of form rather than
substance.
• For example, typeface, such as italics and large/small caps.
Sometimes, the examples accompanying the rules
in the main body don’t match the typeface of the
rules for The Bluepages. The reason is that the
examples in the main body conform to the
scholarly rather than practical work rules.
The Bluepages
B5 Cases
–
–
–
–
B5.1.1 Case Names
B5.1.2 Reporter & Pinpoint Citation
B5.1.3 Court & Year of Decision
B5.2 Short Cites
B6 Statutes, Rules, and Regulations
– B6.1.1 Federal Statutes
– B6.1.2 State Statutes
– B6.2 Short Forms
The Bluepages
B7 Constitutions
B8 Books & Other Nonperiodical Materials
B9 Journal & Newspaper Articles
B10 Court & Litigation Documents (much
expanded)
– BT.1 Abbreviations for Court Documents
(formerly with the back tables)
The Bluepages
B12 Block Quotations
B13 Typeface Conventions
BT.2 Jurisdiction-Specific Citations Rules
& Style Guides
Rules (more specific than
The Bluepages)
Rules 1-9 cover general information
(capitalization, use of signals, block quotes, etc.)
used for all types of citation (cases, statutes,
periodicals, etc.).
Rule 10 covers cases.
Rule 11 covers constitutions.
Rule 12 covers statutes.
Rules 15-17 cover secondary sources such as
books, periodicals, audio recordings, etc.
Rule 18 covers electronic sources.
Tables
Tables give helpful information about specific
areas.
Table 1 gives information about each jurisdiction
in the United States.
– Court structure for each jurisdiction.
– Names of courts in that jurisdiction.
– Reporters in which those courts’ opinions are
published.
– Statutory compilations for that jurisdiction.
Table 6 gives the abbreviations that you will use
to shorten case names.
Index
What is an index?
Bluebook index works like any other index.
Color-coded
– Black: Information found in text.
– Blue: Information found in example.
When in doubt, check it out!
Not Exactly Rocket Science
The rules aren’t complicated . . .
. . . but there are a lot of them!
All you need is a method that lets you break
the rules down and learn them a few at a
time.
Interactive Citation Workbook/Workstation.
– self-directed study
– frees up class time for more complex info
– frees up professor’s commenting focus for
more complex info
Let’s take a look . . .
Interactive Citation Workstation
icw.lexisnexis.com
Using the ICW:
A Step-by-Step Tutorial
© 2002-08 Tracy L. McGaugh
Instructions
Each slide that follows contains instructions
at the top.
The screen displayed on each slide is what
you should see after carrying out the
instruction at the top of the page.
Point your browser to
http://icw.lexisnexis.com.
Notice the tabs across the top of
the page
Click on the “Instructions” tab;
you’ll need to read these before starting
To begin using the ICW, click on
the “Bluebook” tab
Complete the Online Intro Quiz
before starting an exercise
When you click on the link to the
quiz, you’ll be asked to sign in.
You’ll need an ICW
ID from LexisNexis
This ID gives you
access to the ICW
only unless your
professor has
specifically requested
more access on
LexisNexis.
After signing in, complete the
Online Intro Quiz
To begin an exercise, click on the
“Bluebook” tab.
When you choose from the list of
exercises, you’ll get general instructions.
Each problem screen contains GENERAL
INSTRUCTIONS, the PROBLEM, and a
SOLUTION BOX.
Type the answer to the problem
Submit the answer to get immediate feedback.
This feedback tells you that the user neglected
to italicize the case name.
Feedback
Correct portions in blue.
Incorrect portions in red.
Hints to correct the incorrect portions.
Use the hints as a checklist to correct the citation –
the hints will address everything that could be
wrong with that part of the citation, not
necessarily exactly what is wrong.
Using the hints is faster and less frustrating than
aimlessly changing the citation and resubmitting.
Using the Italics: Highlight the portion to
italicize and then click the Italic button.
Congratulations, Citation Wizard!
Other Features
You can include symbols by clicking on the
symbol needed below the solution box.
You will need to reposition your cursor in
the solution box.
You can preview your answer before
submitting it by clicking the preview button
– especially helpful for long answers in later
exercises.
What happens if it’s not right?
The ICW gives you three opportunities to
draft the citation correctly.
After the third try, the ICW records your
final answer and lets you move on to
another citation.
What if my wrong answer looks identical
to the ICW’s wrong answer?
Use your cursor and arrow key to go
through the citation and verify that you
haven’t inserted additional spaces (multiple
spaces display as a single space in HTML).
Verify that punctuation is only included
within the italics if an ICW rule allows it.
These are the most common explanations.
For others, consult the ICW’s FAQ section.
When you are done with the exercise and want to
submit your exercise, click “Done.” If you want to
come back, click “Save & Close” instead.
The Completion Certificate
The Completion Certificate
Will be automatically available to your professor
online through the ICW site.
May also be printed using the “Printable View”
link.
Will contain a list of your final correct answers, a
list of your final incorrect answers, and a list of all
attempts on each problem.
Will contain statistics on your performance (no.
correct, avg. no. of tries per problem, etc.).
If you hit a snag at any time,
remember the FAQ tab.
What Happens Next?
Enter only your TA’s email to receive the
completion certificate.
Satisfactory completion of all ICWs assigned is
required to pass Intro. I.
Should your score not achieve that level, your TA
will reset the exercise for you to complete again.
If you need additional help with ICW, contact your
TA first, then your professor.
Citation is all about the details. One space or
comma off will make your answer incorrect.
Proofread carefully.