Manual of Legal Citation/Quotations

Manual of Legal Citation Table of Contents

Foreword and Introduction

Foreword

Introduction

Background Rules

Rule 1. Two Types of Legal Documents

Rule 2. Typeface Standards

Rule 3. In-Text Citations

Rule 4. Signals

Rule 5. Capitalization Rules

Rule 6. Signals for Supporting Authority

Rule 7. Signals for Comparison

Rule 8. Signals for Contradictory Authority

Rule 9. Signals for Background Material

Rule 10. Order of Authorities Within Each Signal / Strength of Authority

Cases

Rule 11. Full citation

Rule 12. Court & Year

Rule 13. Weight of Authority and Explanatory Parenthetical

Rule 14. History of the Case

Rule 15. Short Form Citation for Cases

Statutes, Rules, Regulations, and Other Legislative & Administrative Materials

Rule 16. Federal Statutes

Rule 17. State Statutes

Rule 18. Rules of Procedure and Evidence, Restatements, and Uniform Acts

Rule 19. Administrative Rules and Regulations

Rule 20. Federal Taxation Materials

Rule 21. Legislative Materials

Rule 22. Short Form Citation of Legislative and Administrative Materials

Rule 23. Sources and Authorities: Constitutions

Court & Litigation Documents

Rule 24. Citing Court or Litigation Documents from Your Case

Rule 25. Citing Court or Litigation Documents from Another Case

Rule 26. Short Form Citation for Court Documents

Rule 27. Capitalization Within the Text of Court Documents and Legal Memoranda

Books & Non-Periodicals

Rule 28. Full Citation for Books & Non-Periodicals

Rule 29. Short Form Citation for Books & Non-Periodicals

Journals, Magazines, & Newspaper Articles

Rule 30. Full Citation for Journals, Magazines & Newspaper Articles

Rule 31. Short Form Citation for Journals, Magazines & Newspaper Articles

Internet Sources

Rule 32. General Principles for Internet Sources

Rule 33. Basic Formula for Internet Sources

Rule 34. Short Form Citations for Internet Sources

Explanatory Parentheticals

Rule 35. General Principles for Explanatory Parentheticals

Rule 36. Order of parentheticals

Quotations

Rule 37. General Principles for Quotations

Rule 38. Alterations of Quotations

Rule 39. Omissions in Quotations

Rule 40. Special Rules for Block Quotations

Tables

Table 1. Federal Judicial and Legislative Materials

Table 2. Federal Administrative and Legislative Materials

Table 3. U.S. States and Other Jurisdictions

Table 4. Required Abbreviations for Services

Table 5. Required Abbreviations for Legislative Documents

Table 6. Required Abbreviations for Treaty Sources

Table 7. Required Abbreviations for Arbitral Reporters

Table 8. Required Abbreviations for Intergovernmental Organizations

Table 9. Required Abbreviations for Court Names

Table 10. Required Abbreviations for Titles of Judges and Officials

Table 11. Required Abbreviations for Case Names In Citations

Table 12. Required Abbreviations for Geographical Terms

Table 13. Required Abbreviations for Document Subdivisions

Table 14. Required Abbreviations for Explanatory Phrases

Table 15. Required Abbreviations for Institutions

Table 16. Required Abbreviations for Publishing Terms

Table 17. Required Abbreviations for Month Names

Table 18. Required Abbreviations for Common Words Used In Periodical Names

Table 19. Table of Citation Guides

Table 20. Tables of Correspondence

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

R37. General Principles for Quotations

R37.1. Quotation marks

Quotations should be designated with quotation marks, except for block quotations.

R37.2. Flow with surrounding text

The quotation should flow with the rest of the text unless it is a block quotation (see below).

R37.3. Punctuation in quoted text

Punctuation that is part of the quoted text should appear inside the quotation marks. Commas and periods that are not part of the quoted text should also appear inside the quotation marks.

R37.4. Citation sentence placement

Insert the citation sentence for the quoted material directly after the close of the quotation marks.

R38. Alterations of Quotations

R38.1. Omission of Letters from a Common Root Word

Place an empty bracket at the end of a common root word to indicate the change.

• Example: “The court dismissed the claim[].”

R38.2. Mistakes in the Original Quotation

To acknowledge a significant mistake in the original quotation, keep the problematic word or phrase and follow it with [sic] to indicate this to the reader.

• Example: “The Copyright Office are [sic] a department of the Library of Congress.”

R38.3. Substitution of Letters or Words

Any substitutions into quoted material should be bracketed. This includes:

• words which might add clarity and context
• changes to the capitalization of letters
• Example: “[T]he [Copyright] Office is a department of the Library of Congress.”

R38.4. Use of Parenthetical Clauses to Indicate Changes to Quotation

• (emphasis added)
• (alteration in original)
• (citation omitted)
• (emphasis omitted)
• (internal quotation marks omitted)
• (footnote omitted)

R38.5. Quotation within a quotation

When using a quotation within a quotation, you can either

1. attribute it to the original source with a parenthetical, or
2. acknowledge it by signalling that its citation has been omitted.

R39. Omissions in Quotations

R39.1. Generally

• Omissions are indicated by an ellipsis [ . . . ]
• The ellipsis in legal writing is represented by three periods, with a space after the last letter of the preceding phrase, a space between each period, and a space before the first letter of the following phrase.
• An ellipsis never begins a quotation.

R39.2. Omitting the beginning of a quoted sentence

When omitting the beginning of a quoted sentence, do not use an ellipsis. Instead, capitalize the first letter and place it in brackets.

• Example: “[T]he actual knowledge provision turns on whether the provider actually or subjectively knew of specific infringement, while the red flag provision turns on whether the provider was subjectively aware of facts that would have made the specific infringement objectively obvious to a reasonable person.”

R39.3. Omitting the middle of a quoted sentence

When omitting the middle of a quoted sentence, insert an ellipsis to indicate the omission

• Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is . . . between a subjective and an objective standard.”

R39.4. Using a quotation as a complete sentence

When using a quotation as a complete sentence:

• Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is thus not between specific and generalized knowledge, but instead between a subjective and an objective standard. In other words, the actual knowledge provision turns on whether the provider actually or subjectively knew of specific infringement, while the red flag provision turns on whether the provider was subjectively aware of facts that would have made the specific infringement objectively obvious to a reasonable person.” Viacom Int’l, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., 676 F.3d 19, 31 (2d Cir. 2012).

R39.5. Using a quotation as a phrase or clause

When using a quotation as a phrase or clause: If there is an omission within the quotation, mark the omission with an ellipsis.

• Example: Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Servs., Inc., 545 U.S. 546, 571 (2005) (noting that “[t]he distinguished jurists who drafted the Subcommittee Working Paper . . . agree that this provision, on its face, overrules Zahn.”).

R39.6. Omitting material from two consecutive sentences

When omitting material at the end of one sentence and the beginning of the next sentence, use one ellipsis to mark the omission but include the final punctuation mark of the first sentence as well as bracket and capitalize the first letter of the following quoted sentence portion.

• Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is thus not between specific and generalized knowledge . . . . [T]he red flag provision turns on whether the provider was subjectively aware of facts that would have made the specific infringement objectively obvious to a reasonable person.”

R39.7. Omitting the end of a quoted sentence

When omitting the end of a quoted sentence, insert an ellipsis between the last letter quoted and the punctuation mark of the original quote.

• Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is thus not between specific and generalized knowledge . . . .”

R39.8. Omitting a footnote or citation

When omitting a footnote or citation, insert a parenthetical indicating the omission immediately after the citation to the quoted source (see Rule 36. Order of parentheticals and Rule 38.4. Use of Parenthetical Clauses to Indicate Changes to Quotation).

R39.9. Omitting material following sentence

When omitting material following a final punctuation mark, do not use an ellipsis.

• Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is thus not between specific and generalized knowledge, but instead between a subjective and an objective standard.”

R39.10. Omitting material between sentences

When omitting material following a final punctuation mark but including material in the next sentence use an ellipsis to connect the final punctuation with the beginning of the new quote and capitalize and bracket the next letter.

• Example: “The difference between actual and red flag knowledge is thus not between specific and generalized knowledge, but instead between a subjective and an objective standard. . . . [T]he red flag provision turns on whether the provider was subjectively aware of facts that would have made the specific infringement objectively obvious to a reasonable person.”

R40. Special Rules for Block Quotations

R40.1. Basic form

Set off quotations consisting of 50+ words into a block quotation, which appears as in the example below:
Here is where the block quotation should begin and here is where it should end. See the indentations on the right and left sides? This is how it should appear in your writing. The reasoning behind this set-up is to offset the lengthy quotations from the rest of the text and to clearly indicate that this is all directly cited material.

R40.2. Formatting of block quotations

• Block quotations are single spaced.
• Indent both left and right.
• Block quotations should be formatted with “full justification”—that is, all lines in a paragraph are expanded so they butt up against both the left and right text margins. Note that this is not a Bluebook requirement, but it is required by many law reviews.
• DO NOT use quotation marks surrounding the block quotation.
• Internal quotation marks should appear as in the original.
• The citation following a block quotation should start at the line’s left margin, without any indentation.

Example: Judge Patterson explains the excellence of the Harry Potter series:

Plaintiff J.K. Rowling is the author of the highly acclaimed Harry Potter book series [. . .] Written for children but enjoyed by children and adults alike, the Harry Potter series chronicles the lives and adventures of Harry Potter and his friends as they come of age at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and face the evil Lord Voldemort. [. . .] It is a tale of a fictional world filled with magical spells, fantastical creatures, and imaginary places and things [. . .]

Warner Bros. Entm’t Inc. v. RDR Books, 575 F. Supp. 2d 513, 518 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) (describing an excellent book series).