The Legalities of Legal Citation

Though legal citations are commonly thought to appear only in legal case reports or dissertations, many of the issues decided by various courts affect businesses, social issues, environmental concerns and the legal rights of citizens across the United States and in some cases the world.

Most people have seen or heard a case citation at one point or another in their lives, but have no idea how to read it. Fans of programs such as “Law & Order” frequently hear cases being referred to in a manner that tells them the reference is to a “Reporter” of some kind, but still have no clue about it. So when researching or writing, how do we use these citations to learn more about the case being referred to or to properly cite the sources we ourselves are using?

Understanding Legal Citations

The standard followed in the United States is a “Case Name - Volume – Publication – Page – Date” format. To many this may seem illogical since the volume number is listed before the publication series, but it is formatted in this manner on purpose. Let’s look at an example:
Miranda v Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966)

The above citation is read, for example, in this manner: In the case of Miranda versus the State of Arizona, volume 384 of the United States Reports, page 436, decided in 1966. If we know the United States Reporter only publishes Supreme Court decisions, we know that Miranda v Arizona was a 1966 Supreme Court decision and the details of the case can be found in volume 384 of the United States Reporter. Many citations have multiple reference entries which provide a reverse-bread crumb path for those researching the case. Typically, these citations will follow the case backwards from the Supreme Court through the Court of Appeals (or Appellant Court) to the state Supreme Court.

Historical Citations

Originally, case decisions were not formally published but were published by the official Reporter of Court Decisions. References were first published and cited by volume, and the name of the court reporter with no additional information. As the number of court cases grew, a more concise locating system was required. Formal publication of case reports was established with the citation style that has continued for many decades.

The Future of Legal Citation

Thanks to the advent of the Internet, the environment of legal citations is quickly changing. Courts once held, very recently in fact, that if a case had not been officially published in one of the “Reporters,” any decisions in it were irrelevant and could not be cited as supporting subsequent arguments in other cases. The problem with this is, on average, less than 15% of all Federal cases are published. Cases at the State or local levels are published at even lower percentages, meaning the vast amount of potential precedence is off-limits … until the Internet.

Thanks to the Internet, publishing of court decisions has become incredibly cheap and has subsequently opened the door for a broader amount of decisions to be readily available in subsequent legal cases. This has also brought a great deal of pressure upon the legal community to find a better way of citing the newly available materials.

Current proposals are to shift to a “Venue – Date – Case ID” format in which the venue would be an abbreviated format of the deciding court or body’s designation. Such change would separate the court decision from its publication, allowing for more universal and consistent citation. For example, the Miranda case the case is not only reported in the United States Reports (384 U.S. 436), but also the Supreme Court Reports (86 S.Ct. 1602) and the American Law Reports (10 A.L.R. 3rd 974). A revised citation might be something like “U.S.Sup.Ct.”, followed by the decision date and the case title “Miranda v Arizona.”

Precedence Keys

Though not directly related to standard citation of cases, precedence keys are an important feature of legal reporting and research. Precedence is the environment created by prior court decisions and can greatly affect the outcome of subsequent cases. To understand a case being researched or to be cited, it is important to have an understanding of the precedence patterns upon which it was built. Each case reported will normally have a listing of prior court decisions and quotes upon which their current decision has been made. These are organized into a precedence key format, giving an indexing number or “key” with which the researcher may locate cases elsewhere which touched on the given topic through a precedence key directory. This establishes a research assisting tool and an additional dimension to legal citation that students and professionals should be aware of.

Final Thoughts

It is obvious that the environment of legal citation can be quite confusing and demanding. Even knowing the appropriate citation means little if one does not have access to the cited source. Knowing how to cite a particular case can be challenging as well, as in the Miranda v Arizona example. Fortunately, expert researchers and writers like those that work for our company can help clear the air of mystique that surrounds legal citation and research. Through state-of-the-art techniques and software, even legal matters can be quickly researched, documented and organized into concise reports and persuasive arguments by our writers, ready for you to turn in or, if you are already a member of the “Bar,” to present in court. Often, simple citation of legal cases is insufficient. Many courts limit the application of precedence to cases similar to the original case. Citation must be mixed with persuasive argument on why a given precedence should be applied to the present case. Additionally, there may be extensive, but contradictory precedence related to the case which must be sifted through, interpreted, and creatively applied to the current situation. Writers such as those who work for us are use to working in this kind of environment. Often they are called upon to analysis and evaluate a large amount of information and to draw rational and logical conclusions from the information available, much as is required in the environment of legal reporting and citation. Contact us today for further information about how our writers can assist you with your next major project.