A GUIDE TO THE BLUEBOOK
Prof. Davlantes LP-I Week 4

Navigating the Bluebook
• • • • Quick References (at front and back) Practitioner’s Notes (blue pages in front) Rules (white pages in middle) Tables and Abbreviations (blue pages in back) • Index (white pages in back)

You Must Cite to Supporting Authority When:
• You make an assertion about the law • You quote directly from a legal source • You paraphrase from a legal source

Citation of American Case Law
• Federal cases: The Supreme Court of the United States is the only federal court to officially report its cases. This reporter is the United States Reports (U.S.) • The Bluebook requires citation only to the official report • Supreme Court Opinions are also published in three unofficial reporters: 1. Supreme Court Reporter (S. Ct.) 2. Lawyer’s Edition (L. Ed.) Lawyer’s Edition, Second Series (L. Ed. 2d) 3. United States Law Week (U.S.L.W.)

Citations of Federal Cases, cont.
• Federal courts of appeal decisions are published by West in the unofficial reporter, Federal Reporter 2d and 3d (F.2d and F.3d). • District court decisions are published by West in the unofficial reporter, the Federal Supplement (F. Supp.)

State cases & West Regional Reporters
• 28 states publish their cases officially. • The other 22 states rely on the unofficial West reporters to publish their cases in seven regional reporters:
– – – – – – North Eastern (N.E. and N.E.2d) North Western (N.W. and N.W.2d) Pacific (P. and P.2d) South Eastern (S.E. and S.E.2d) South Western (S.W. and S.W.2d) Southern (S. and S.2d).

New York and California are Odd
• The intermediate court decisions of these states are also published by West in the New York Supplement (N.Y.S. and N.Y.S.2d) and in the California Reporter (Cal. Rptr.), respectively.

How to Cite Cases
Jackson v. Green, 204 So. 2d 94 (Fla. 1974) case name + reporter