Legal Citation: Which Guide Should You Use and What Is the Difference?

Legal citation is an important skill for lawyers to learn and keep up with, even after they graduate from law school. In Florida, lawyers and judges are required to use Rule 9.800, which provides examples of how to cite common legal authorities like cases and statutes. It’s not full of a lot of technical rules and is easy to reference. It’s important to keep up with changes in legal citation, especially for electronic sources. Rule 9.800 doesn’t give enough help with citing sources properly. It doesn’t cover important things like signals, parentheticals, and short-form citations. It also doesn’t give guidance for citing books, articles, and internet sources or for deciding the order to cite legal authorities. The rule mentions The Bluebook, which covers all that and more. There are proposed changes to the rule that may make it better, and The Bluebook is the main style guide for legal writing. It has three main parts: the “Bluepages,” the “Whitepages,” and the tables. For most people, the “Bluepages” are all you really need. The Bluebook is a big book that tells you how to cite things in legal writing. It covers everything from books and articles to tweets and emails. It’s important to use the right signals and parentheses when citing things to make sure your reader understands why you’re citing them. There’s also a table of abbreviations to save space in your citations. You can buy it as a book or online for a cheaper price. “The Bluebook has some problems, like being too long and constantly changing. The Florida Style Manual was created to help with citations specific to Florida. It’s shorter and easier to use for Florida authorities.” The Florida Style Manual is a guide for citing legal documents in Florida. It provides lots of information and examples for citing different types of legal materials, like legislative documents, statutes, and court cases. It also has rules for capitalization and abbreviations. It’s a helpful tool for anyone writing about Florida law. The Florida Style Manual is important for lawyers who use a lot of government documents. You can get it for free online or buy a printed version for $15. The ALWD Guide to Legal Citation is another option that’s popular among law schools. It’s similar to The Bluebook but some people find it easier to use. Both books cover how to cite different types of sources, like cases, statutes, and books. They also have rules for citing electronic sources, like emails and websites. The ALWD Guide to Legal Citation is a user-friendly guide for citing legal sources, with helpful sidebars and charts. It is compatible with The Bluebook and provides required spacing in citations. Introduction to Basic Legal Citation is an online resource that focuses on the most commonly cited legal materials and provides rules and examples for citing them. It is free and regularly updated, making it a useful tool for learning legal citation. The Indigo Book is a free and helpful guide for citing legal sources, like cases and statutes. It’s not affiliated with The Bluebook, but it follows the same citation system. It has rules for citing different types of sources, like books and internet articles, and it also includes abbreviations for different legal materials. It’s a useful tool for anyone who needs to cite legal sources correctly. The Indigo Book is a free guide for citing legal sources. It’s similar in length to The Bluebook and is easy to access. It’s meant to help people who can’t afford expensive citation guides, like prisoners or people representing themselves in court.
If you’re in Florida, you should use the state’s own citation system called Rule 9.800. If that doesn’t give you the right guidance, then you can use The Bluebook and Florida Style Manual. There are other guides available online too, so find the one that works best for you. Happy citing! When writing about laws and court cases, use full names of laws and courts in sentences, but use shortened forms if the citation is on its own. Also, it’s recommended to use bold or italics instead of underlining in legal writing. The Florida Style Manual is important for citing Florida materials, but for electronic sources, you still need The Bluebook or a similar citation manual. The 20th edition of The Bluebook has caused a lot of discussion and there are some differences from the 19th edition. The Bluebook is an important resource for legal citations, but there are also other citation manuals like ALWD and the Florida Style Manual. These resources help lawyers and law students properly cite their sources in their work. They can be purchased in printed or digital versions. It’s important to use the right citation style to show respect for the original authors and to make your work look professional. Wendy S. Loquasto is a lawyer in Tallahassee who specializes in handling appeals. She’s really good at her job and has been certified as an expert in this type of law.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/legal-citation-which-guide-should-you-use-and-what-is-the-difference/