ENGL 4595: Literature and Law

• AALL Legal Citation Examples
• Cornell's Basic Legal Citation
• UW Law Journal Abbreviations

These citations should look more familiar, so I will only go over one example.

Law review citations generally contain five pieces of information:

(1) the author's name, (2) the title, (3) the journal,* (4) the page, and (5) the year
 

Example:

Based on this citation, you know that:

a. The author's name is Richard H. Weisberg.
b. The article is titled "Wigmore and the Law and Literature Movement."
c. The article can be found in volume 21 of the Law & Literature journal, on page 129.
d. The article was published in 2009.

* "Law review" and "law journal" are synonymous. (ex. Yale Law Journal, Harvard Law Review)

A. Structure

Case citations generally contain five pieces of information:

(1) the case name, (2) the reporter, (3) the page number, (4) the court, and (5) the year

Example:

Based on this citation, you know that:

a. The abbreviated parties' names are "Kiser" and "Kamdar."
b. The case is available in volume 831 of the Federal Reporter (3rd series), on page 784.
c. The Sixth Circuit decided the case in 2016.

B. Variation

Not all case citations look the same, however. Compare with the example below: 

Based on this citation, you know that:

a. The abbreviated parties' names are "Florida" and "Riley."
b. The case is available in volume 488 of the United States Reports, on page 445.
c. The case is also available in volume 109 of the Supreme Court Reporter, on page 693.
d. The United States Supreme Court wrote the case.*
e. The United States Supreme Court decided the case in 1989.

*These reporters ("U.S." & "S.Ct.") only publish United States Supreme Court decisions.

Note: Other variations exist.