"The Bluebook," published and distributed by The Harvard Law Review Association, is the
standard guide to the uniform system of citation. It contains rules and examples of the correct
citation for primary law, secondary sources and other publications. Citation provides the reader
with the exact source of legal authority referenced in your writing. It can bring the reader to the
exact point of a quote from the Constitution, or to a legal concept on a particular page in case law. It is a
means of reference similar to footnoting. When a pleading or other legal writing refers to case
law, the citation aids the reader in locating a copy of the case.
Case Citations:
Cases are found in bound volumes known as "reporters" which are updated regularly through
the use of "pocket parts" until the next bound volume is ready for publication.
Italicize or underline the names of the parties. Either is technically correct; italics or underline is a matter of preference. For example: State v. Smith or State v. Smith.
The name of the reporter where the case may be found is prefaced by the volume number
and followed by the starting page number. For example: 129 Ariz. 340 means the case is found in Volume 129 of the Arizona Reporter beginning on Page 340.
Cases appear in more than one reporter. The other reporters are referred to as "parallel
citations." This provides reference to more than one reporter as a source for locating a
particular case. The other reporters are "regional reporters" based on the
geographic area where the case was decided. The case is identical in the parallel reporter.
Therefore, an attorney in Arizona may find a California case in the Pacific regional reporter,
instead of having to obtain a set of reporters for each state. A reporter with a "2d" in the name
means the reporter is in its second publication edition.
The year of the case should appear last in parens.
The full citation for the above case example would be: State v. Smith, 129 Ariz. 340, 390 P.2d 360 (1979)
The State and Smith are the parties. This 1979 case is found in both the Arizona reporter and in
the Pacific reporter.
