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12 Understanding Legal Citations
12 Understanding Legal Citations
SE Southeastern Reporter
Chapters are marked on the spine so that you can go directly SW Southwestern Reporter
LEGAL CITATIONS to the book you need. Led Lawyer’s Edition
US United State Reports
Laws SCT Supreme Court Reporter
“The basic purpose of a legal citation is to allow the NRS Nevada Revised Statutes
reader to locate a cited source accurately and Cal Code, CC California State Code Legal Encyclopedias
efficiently.” 1 Legal Citations direct you to the volume, ARS Arizona Revised Statutes AmJur American Jurisprudence
book, and page you need to find a case, law, or discussion USC United States Code CJS Corpus Juris Secundum
relating to a legal issue. USCA United States Code Annotated CalJur California Jurisprudence
A legal citation for a case may appear as: Court Rules Additional abbreviations may be found in the Bieber’s
NRCP Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations at the reference desk.
Myers v. Fleetwood Farms, 271 P2d 263 NR Crim P Nevada Rules of Criminal Procedure
NRAP Nevada Rules of Appellate procedure Legal Citations can vary between publications and may
This citation contains five parts: two party names, a volume DCR District Court Rules provide less information or include additional information,
number, the title, a series number, and the page number. EDCR Eighth District Court Rules such as years, or subsections (§). If you find an unfamiliar
JCRCP Justice Court Rules of Civil Procedure citation or have difficulty locating information, please check
Myers v. Fleetwood Farms, 271 P2d 263 SCR Supreme Court Rules with staff at the Reference Desk. We are happy to assist you
Second Party Page FRCP Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in decoding the citation in order to locate your information.
Versus Title and Series FR Crim P Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
First Party Volume FRAP Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure If you wish to include a legal citation in your legal
Local Rules Local Rules for the Federal District documents, publishers often provide the citation on the title
The case is located in volume 271 of the Pacific Reporter 2nd 9th Cir Ninth Circuit Court Rules page. The Bluebook: a Uniform System of Citation is a very
on page 263. Cases often provide more than one citation. good source of information for creating legal citations to
Cases support your arguments.
Legal Citations for laws are similar, but contain fewer parts. A Atlantic Reporter
A citation for a Nevada Law will appear in this format: Az Arizona Reporter “In all types of legal writing, whether by scholars or by
Cal Rptr, Cal California Reporter First Series practitioners, it is customary to cite an authority or
NRS 484.327 Cal2d California Reporter Second Series authorities to show support for a legal or factual
Subsection CA, Cal App California Appellate Reporter proposition or argument. An author may cite to authority
Chapter F Federal Reporter that identifies the source of a quotation or authority
Nevada Revised Statutes FSupp. Federal Supplement Reporter referred to in the text; authority that directly states or
NE Northeastern Reporter clearly supports his or her legal or factual
Nev. Nevada reporter proposition…” 2
1 NW Northwestern Reporter
The Bluebook : a Uniform System of Citation.-- 15th Ed.--
NYS New York Supplement 2
Cambridge, Mass : Harvard Law Review Association, c1996 at 4 The Bluebook : a Uniform System of Citation.-- 15th Ed.--
P Pacific Reporter
Cambridge, Mass : Harvard Law Review Association, c1996 at 4
S Southern Reporter
Rev. 12-23-2009