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The Researching Paralegal

Category Archives: The Bluebook

Posner Asks What is Obviously Wrong with the Federal Judiciary. Is This A Trick Question?

09 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Appellate Judges, Appellate Law, Citations, Federal Judges, Judges, Legal Analysis, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Posner Asks What is Obviously Wrong with the Federal Judiciary. Is This A Trick Question?

Tags

Appellate Judges, Hon. Richard Posner, Legal Writing, The Bluebook, The Green Bag

What Is Obviously Wrong With The Federal Judiciary, Yet Eminently Curable, Part I, by Richard Posner, 188 19 GREEN BAG 2D 187 (with hat tip to William P. Statsky) (The Green Bag is Quarterly Legal Journal dedicating to good legal writing, supported in part by the George Mason University School of Law)

http://www.greenbag.org/v19n2/v19n2_articles_posner.pdf

If you’re looking for a good Bluebook bashing, here it is. -CCE

At the level of form, the first thing to do is burn all copies of the Bluebook, in its latest edition 560 pages of rubbish, a terrible time waster for law clerks employed by judges who insist as many do that the citations in their opinions conform to the Bluebook; also for students at the Yale Law School who aspire to be selected for the staff of the Yale Law Journal – they must pass a five-hour exam on the Bluebook. Yet no serious reader pays attention to citation format; all the reader cares about is that the citation enable him or her to find the cited material. Just by reading judicial opinions law students learn how to cite cases, statutes, books, and articles; they don’t need a citation treatise. In the office manual that I give my law clerks only two pages are devoted to citation format. [Footnotes omitted; emphasis added.]

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Westlaw Poses Another Challenge To The Bluebook.

01 Sunday May 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in ALWD, Citations, Legal Writing, Public Domain Citations, Research, The Bluebook, Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act, Westlaw

≈ Comments Off on Westlaw Poses Another Challenge To The Bluebook.

Tags

George Mason Law & Economics, Journal of Law: Periodical Laboratory of Legal Scholarship, Legal Citations, Ross Davies, The Bluebook, Westlaw

Journal of Law: Periodical Laboratory of Legal Scholarship, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 483-486, 2012 , by Ross Davies, George Mason University School of Law; The Green Bag (with hat tip from William P. Statsky)

http://bit.ly/24tJ2uh

Lately The Bluebook has been under siege. It has survived the long ago challenge of the ALWD Citator.  It has a new challenger, Malamud’s public source Indigo Book. Now it faces another quandary. Will it adjust or is it on its way to becoming obsolete? -CCE

 Excerpt from Abstract: 

[W]estlaw and its competitors cannot afford to conform to the Bluebook’s system when it conflicts with the requirements of their databases for, among other things, unique and recognizable abbreviations of the names of publications. And given a choice between following Bluebook form and following Westlaw form, readers and publishers are likely to follow Westlaw because that is where readers are doing more of their reading and publishers’ products are getting read.

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Will The Indigo Book Become The Accepted Legal Citator And Replace The Bluebook?

23 Saturday Apr 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Will The Indigo Book Become The Accepted Legal Citator And Replace The Bluebook?

Tags

ALWD Citation Manual, Legal Citation Format, Legal Writing, The Bluebook, The Indigo Book

Update on the Baby Bluebook, by Barco 2.0 : Law Library Reference, University of Pittsburg School of Law (with hat tip to William P. Statsky!)

http://bit.ly/1SqRYJk

Carl Malamud has introduced the Harvard Law Review Association to The Indigo Book, An Open and Compatible Implementation of A Uniform System of Citation.

For years, I have used The Bluebook as my bible for legal citation. During the years I taught Bluebook citations, I saw The Bluebook come out with new editions many, many times. It was frustrating when the new edition changed the rule about whether you used a comma after a signal or some other arbitrary change. Not only frustrating, but hard to explain the reason for the revision to students.

There have been several major events that gave The Bluebook a genuine reasons to come out with a new edition. States, like Oklahoma, adopted a “public domain” citations. The Internet became a legal research tool. Still, there were times it seemed that The Bluebook’s interpretation was unnecessarily complicated.

The ALWD Citation Manual was created to improve legal citation standards. It was also updated periodically when needed. Until now, The Bluebook and the ALWD Citation Manual were the mainstream acceptable go to” sources for legal citation.

The Bluebook began receiving more criticism for its new editions. Were the changes necessary or a way to create more revenue for the publishers? Hard to say for many but not for Carl Malamud. It will be interesting to see how The Indigo Book is received by legal educators and legal professionals. -CCE

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Bluebook Wars!

27 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Bluebook Wars!

Tags

Barco 2.0: Law Library Reference, Bluebook, Carl Malamud, Harvard Law School, Legal Citations, Public Resource

 

Bluebook War(s), Barco 2.0 : Law Library Reference,  from the Librarians of the Barco Law Library, University of Pittsburgh School of Law (with hat tip to William P. Statsky!)

http://bit.ly/1UwiLtp

The Bluebook, for most legal professionals, is the legal citation Bible. It is required by law schools, law libraries, and multiple state and federal courts as the required guide to legal citation. It has come under attack for its frequent revisions that contain minor changes to citation form.

Since 2009, it has also been under attack for other reasons – those who want to take it away from its current publishers and put it in the public domain. Carl Malamud of Public Resource leads the charge. -CCE

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The Origin of the Bluebook – Let’s Get The Record Straight.

13 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on The Origin of the Bluebook – Let’s Get The Record Straight.

Tags

Fred R. Shapiro, Julie Graves Krishnaswami, Legal Bibliography, Legal Citations, SSRN, The Bluebook

Where Did The Bluebook Originate?, by Joe Hodnicki, Law Librarians Blog

http://llb2.com/2015/12/11/where-did-the-bluebook-originate/

Ask most legal professionals where the Bluebook originated and they will likely say ‘Harvard Law School.’ In The Secret History of the Bluebook (Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 100, No. 4, 2016 Forthcoming) [SSRN], Fred R. Shapiro (Yale) and Julie Graves Krishnaswami (Yale) beg to differ. . . .

Following Yale’s lead in what we would call today, the uniform citation movement, Harvard Law School produced its own guide for the Harvard Law Review editorial staff in 1922, ‘Instructions for Editorial Work.’ Many have pointed to the Harvard document as being the precursor to the first edition of the Bluebook which was published in 1926.

*     *     *

This time around, Shapiro and Krishnaswami set the record straight about where and how this work began. Highly recommended for Bluebookologists and anyone else interested in the adoption and use of standardized citation practices and advances in legal bibliography.

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Legal Citation Honey Pot.

27 Tuesday Oct 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in ALWD, Citations, Legal Writing, Public Domain Citations, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Legal Citation Honey Pot.

Tags

ALWD Citation Manual, Andrew Zimmerman, Bluebook, Legal Citations, State Citation Manuals, Universal Citations, Zimmerman's Research Guide

Citations, Zimmerman’s Research Guide©2015, by Andrew Zimmerman

https://law.lexisnexis.com/infopro/zimmermans/disp.aspx?z=1288

Zimmerman’s Research Guide has been around a long time, and is definitely worthy of a bookmark. Here is a very nice collection of legal citation guides that drills down a bit deeper than most. -CCE

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When Peter Martin, aka Bluebook Yoda, Talks About The Bluebook, I Listen.

16 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Abbreviations, Acronyms, Brief Writing, Citations, Initialisms, Legal Writing, Parentheticals, Punctuation, Quotations, Readability, String Citations, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on When Peter Martin, aka Bluebook Yoda, Talks About The Bluebook, I Listen.

Tags

20th edition of The Bluebook, ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Citing Legally, Peter Martin, Restatements, Ubiform Code

Bluebook (20th ed.) and Restatements, Model Codes, etc., by Peter Martin, Citing Legally

http://citeblog.access-to-law.com/

Prior to publication of the new Bluebook, law journals, lawyers, and judges were in pretty close agreement on how to cite a Restatement section (e.g., Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 cmt. j (1965) [as cited in the May 2015 issue of the Harvard Law Review] or Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 349, cmt. a (1981) [as cited in an Aug. 2015 decision of the Seventh Circuit]). Journals put the titles in large and small caps.  Lawyers and judges didn’t. Furthermore, consistent with their treatment of other static material, many lawyers and judges left off the date element. In an era in which briefs are held to a maximum word count, why include the redundant ‘(1965)’ or ‘(1981)’? The Bluebook reflected that consensus. Its prescribed formats for citations to provisions in Uniform Codes, Model Acts, the federal sentencing guidelines, and the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct were consistent with it. See The Bluebook R. 12.9.5 (19th ed. 2010).

Without warning the 20th edition of The Bluebook changed that. . . .

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Have You Bought Your 20th Edition of The Bluebook®?

16 Wednesday Sep 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Abbreviations, Acronyms, Citations, Footnotes, Legal Writing, Legislative History, Numbers, Parentheses, Parentheticals, Punctuation, Quotations, String Citations, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Have You Bought Your 20th Edition of The Bluebook®?

Tags

Legal Citations, The Bluebook Online®

Personally, I’m waiting for Peter Martin at Cornell to update his excellent Bluebook® Cheat Sheet. But, if you want to know all things Bluebook®, I can recommend this website – https://www.legalbluebook.com/.

This website also provides a way to buy a hard copy, which is my preference when I use it regularly. If you use The Bluebook® at all, I recommend bookmarking and browsing here the entire website and its features. Yearly subscriptions are a reasonable rate.

The good news for Bluebook® users is that, at the beginning of every new edition, there is a list of the differences between this version and the last one. Here is a preview of what is new in the 20th Edition: https://www.legalbluebook.com/Public/Updates.aspx.

Yes, you will wonder about why some of the changes were made. That is a given. But isn’t it nice to have all the changes summarized and listed for you right up front. No guessing and no reason to search the entire book to find the updates. -CCE

 

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Why We Need The Bluebook® Even When It Makes Us Nuts.

12 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Why We Need The Bluebook® Even When It Makes Us Nuts.

Tags

ABA Journal, Bryan Garner, The Bluebook

 

The Bluebook® gives us a uniform way to cite to legal authorities. Imagine the breadth of legal writing without a common and reliable citation form to research and locate cases and other sources of law.

Theoretically, each new edition should include citation format to new sources for legal writing, such as the Internet. Unfortunately, every new edition to The Bluebook® does not limit itself to finding new sources of legal opinions and other types of legal writing. Invariably, the editors “tweak” minutiae.

I taught The Bluebook® for many years in legal writing classes and seminars. As the years went by, I began to dread each new edition and the necessary memorization of every new rule that changed already perfectly acceptable and logical citation format. The editors’ propensity to make minor changes to established citation formats made many question the editors’ reasons for their numerous revisions.

Bryan Garner expressed similar issues with The Bluebook®, which he shared in this article from the ABA Journal: “The Bluebook’s 20th edition prompts many musings from Bryan Garner’ at http://tinyurl.com/qbysgbk. Mr. Garner refers to the many minor revisions as ‘nettlesome changes,’ and does an excellent job of explaining why. -CCE

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The 20th Edition of the Bluebook Has Arrived. Let’s Party!

01 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on The 20th Edition of the Bluebook Has Arrived. Let’s Party!

Tags

Charlotte Law, Cynthia Pittson, Legal Citation, Pace Law Library, The Bluebook, The Charlotte Law Blog, William P. Statsky

The New Bluebook is Here!, by Charlotte Law, The Charlotte Law Blog, The Official Blog of the Charlotte School of Law (with hat tip to William P. Statsky!)

http://charlotteschooloflawblog.com/2015/09/01/the-new-bluebook-is-here/

The Twentieth edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (20th ed. 2015) has arrived!

*           *           *

So What’s New about the Twentieth Edition?

That’s the question everyone wants to know, including me. A detailed answer is in the Preface to the Twentieth Edition on page VII. Cynthia Pittson of Pace Law Library has created a really helpful chart of the changes at http://lawweb.pace.edu/library/bluebook_changes_20th.pdf. The twentieth edition is 50 pages longer than the last edition. . . .

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A New Bluebook Citation Guide.

16 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on A New Bluebook Citation Guide.

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Dionne E. Anthon, James B. Levy, Legal Skills Prof Blog, The Bluebook, West Academic Press

FYI – A New User’s Guide To The 20th Edition Of The Bluebook Will Be Released Next Month, by James B. Levy, Legal Skills Prof Blog

http://tinyurl.com/pb8ane3

The new 20th edition of the Bluebook is out now and thus West Academic Press plans to publish next month a new user’s guide to go along with it called Anthon’s The Bluebook Uncovered: A Practical Guide to Mastering Legal Citation. . . .

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Is The Bluebook Protected By Copyright?

31 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Copyright, Intellectual Property, Legal Writing, Public Domain, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Is The Bluebook Protected By Copyright?

Tags

ABA Journal, Baby Blue, Copyright Law, Legal Citation, Leslie A. Gordon, Peter Martin, The Bluebook

Legal Minds Differ On Whether The Bluebook Is Subject To Copyright Protection, by Leslie A. Gordon, ABA Journal

http://tinyurl.com/o228qkc

Controversy is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of The Bluebook, but the bible of legal citation is at the center of an increasingly nasty dispute over whether it is subject to copyright protection.

Open-source advocates are contending that the style and citation manual is an essential piece of legal infrastructure and can’t be preserved as private property under copyright law. The book’s publishers say otherwise. . . .

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The 20th Edition of the Bluebook Has Finally Arrived.

30 Saturday May 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Legal Writing, Link Rot, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on The 20th Edition of the Bluebook Has Finally Arrived.

Tags

Barco 2.0: Law Library Reference, Perma CC, The Bluebook, University of Pittsburg, William P. Statsky

The Bluebook!, by Barco 2.0: Law Library Reference, University of Pittsburg (with hat tip to William P. Statsky)

http://tinyurl.com/qgxnokh

The approximate cost for the 20th Edition is around $30. If you buy it online to get the free month of the Bluebook Online, it will cost $38.50:  https://www.legalbluebook.com/Purchase/Products.aspx?op=Book.

You will find the changes made to the 20th Edition at the beginning of the book. Each new edition provides this information to allow you to see up front to show what has been revised and added to the book.

I am glad to see that this Edition of the Bluebook is addressing the problem of link rot by using Perma.cc. I’ve blogged previously about Perma.cc. I used it exclusively on this blog for a time until more than one posts were lost because the link no longer worked. Perma.cc is still the best tool available now to address link rot. Let’s hope that it works out its reliability problems. -CCE

The 20th Edition of The Bluebook is now available. For this edition, when you purchase a printed copy of The Bluebook, you will get a FREE 30 day trial to the Bluebook Online; look for your free trial key on the back of the title page. The Bluebook for iPad, iPhone and iPad Touch are available via the Rulebook app in the App Store. Perma.cc is pleased to see that this Bluebook now recognizes Perma.cc as a reliable tool for preserving internet sources. . . .

Continue reading →

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Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! The 20th Edition of The Bluebook Will Be Out Soon!

08 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! The 20th Edition of The Bluebook Will Be Out Soon!

Tags

Bluebook Citation Format, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Mark E. Woicik, The Bluebook

20th Edition of the Bluebook Expected by this Summer, by Mark E. Woicik, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legalwriting/2015/03/20th-edition-of-the-bluebook.html

Be still my heart! -CCE

Professor Brian Sites of Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law shared the news that the 20th edition of The Bluebook ‘will be available in the late spring/early summer of 2015.’ Oh, goodie! Click here for more information.

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Top Posts for 2014.

01 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in ALWD, Android Phones, Citations, File Naming Conventions, Law Office Management, Legal Ethics, Legal Technology, Legal Writing, Legalese, Microsoft Office, Office Procedures, Outlook, Readability, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Top Posts for 2014.

Tags

Android Phones, Legal Citation Format, Legal Ethics, Legal Writing, Legalese, Microsoft Outlook, Top Posts for 2014

Here they are – the posts ranked highest during 2014, the first full year for this blog. Posted in order of popularity, it is an interesting mix. Many thanks for stopping by. -CCE

Android Users – Good Advice And Alternative Options For Google Calendar Sync.

https://researchingparalegal.com/2014/07/09/android-users-good-advice-and-alternative-options-for-google-calendar-sync/

Peter Martin’s Introduction to Basic Legal Citation — An ALWD and Bluebook Cheat Sheet.

https://researchingparalegal.com/2013/10/31/peter-martins-introduction-to-basic-legal-citation-an-alwd-and-bluebook-cheat-sheet/

Legal Ethics Head’s Up – Don’t Get Drunk, Move A Dead Body, And Lie To Police.

https://researchingparalegal.com/2014/02/10/legal-ethics-heads-up-dont-get-drunk-move-a-dead-body-and-lie-to-police/

What The Heck Does “SS” In An Affidavit Mean Anyway?

https://researchingparalegal.com/2014/05/25/what-the-heck-does-ss-in-an-affidavit-mean-anyway/

Plain English Tools include Gobbledygook Generator.

https://researchingparalegal.com/2013/11/20/plain-english-tools-include-gobbledygook-generator/

Please Use Electronic File Naming Conventions!

https://researchingparalegal.com/2014/03/29/please-use-electronic-file-naming-conventions/

Sayeth or Saith? Actually, It’s Neither.

 https://researchingparalegal.com/2014/02/22/sayeth-or-saith-actually-its-neither/

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Garner’s Ten Legal Writing Tips.

05 Sunday Oct 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Briefing Cases, Citations, Editing, Legal Analysis, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Proofreading, Public Domain Citations, Readability, Spell Checking, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Garner’s Ten Legal Writing Tips.

Tags

ABA Journal, Bryan Garner, Computer Legal Research, Editing, Legal Analysis, Legal Citations, Legal Writing, Proofreading

Ten Tips for Legal Writing, by Judith D. Fischer, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://tinyurl.com/pwlxeyt

Bryan Garner’s latest article in in the ABA Journal is titled Ten Tips for Better Legal Writing. Some Garner of his tips are especially appropriate for law students, who could appropriately paste ‘Don’t rely exclusively on computer research’ on the wall by their work space. That would serve as a reminder that unfocused computer searches are like a box of chocolates–you never know what you’re going to get.  Garner also advises legal writers to be neither too tentative nor too cocksure in their conclusions, both of which are hazards for beginning law students. And Garner’s tenth tip would improve the professionalism of many a student paper: ‘Proofread one more time than you think necessary.’

 

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The New ALWD Citation Guide.

05 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in ALWD, Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on The New ALWD Citation Guide.

Tags

ALWD Citation Manual, Citations, Coleen Barger, Legal Writing Prof, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Legal Wrting, The Bluebook

The Inside Scoop About The New ALWD Citation Guide, by Legal Writing Prof, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://tinyurl.com/n9beufc

Let’s not forget that the 20th edition of the Bluebook is coming, although the publication date has yet to be announced. -CCE

At the LWI conference, members got inside information about ALWD’s new citation guide. It’s no longer called a manual–the title of the fifth edition is the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation. Chief editor Coleen Barger and contributor Brooke Bowman explained that the new guide has eliminated the differences between it and the Bluebook. That means, among other things, that large-and-small caps are now prescribed for certain law review citations and abbreviations and citations have been standardized to comport with traditional formats.  But the new guide will be easier to use than the Bluebook. Plentiful symbols clarify when spaces are needed, and law review formats are integrated into the subject matter sections but clearly labeled by a title, an identifying marginal line, and a warning symbol.

A companion site includes exercises that students who purchase the book can access. An on-line teacher’s manual will be available soon and will include comparison charts between the fourth and fifth editions and between the fifth edition and the Bluebook. . . .

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Student Guide to Footnotes and Citations in Scholarly Writing.

22 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Footnotes, Legal Writing, Research, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Student Guide to Footnotes and Citations in Scholarly Writing.

Tags

Citations, Footnotes, Law Review Articles, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Mark E. Wojcik, Professor William Mock, SSRN

When a Rose Isn’t ‘Arose’ Isn’t Arroz: A Student Guide to Footnoting for Informational Clarity and Scholarly Discourse, by Mark E. Wojcik, Legal Writing Prof Blog

http://tinyurl.com/nm4p2x6

Professor William Mock has authored an article meant to help students cite more sensibly. The article begins with welcome advice: ‘Not every proposition in a law review articles requires citation, nor does every footnote require cited authority.’ (And in case you’re worried already, that sentence has two footnotes in the orginal!).

It is the kind of article that should be given to incoming law journal editorial boards to help student editors (and research assistants) understand the distinctions among different types of footnotes.

You can share this link for students to download a copy of the paper from SSRN.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1019891

(With students, we recommend giving the link rather than the document itself so that students will also learn how to do research on SSRN–a source that gives them information not found on Westlaw or Lexis or Bloomberg).

If law journals adopt more sensible rules for citations rather than strict mathematical formulas (such as 1.8 pages of footnotes for each page of text), law reviews have a chance to increase their readability and usefulness to readers.

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Legal Analysis & Writing Links.

05 Monday May 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Acronyms, ALWD, Bad Legal Writing, Citations, Internet, Legal Analysis, Legal Directory, Legal Writing, Legalese, Quotations, References, Research, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Legal Analysis & Writing Links.

Tags

ALWD Citation Manual, Grammar, Legal Analysis, Legal Citation, Legal Writing, Lewis & Clark Law School, Punctuation, The Bluebook, Writing Resources

Legal Analysis and Writing, Grammar & Writing Resources, Lewis & Clark Law School

http://bit.ly/1kFtlHk

A nice assortment of writing resources.  -CCE

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A Recommendation for Legal Writing Experts.

01 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in ALWD, Brief Writing, Citations, Footnotes, Legal Analysis, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Parentheses, Spell Checking, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on A Recommendation for Legal Writing Experts.

Tags

Advanced Legal Writing & Editing, Bryan Garner, Legal Writing, Making Your Case, Raymond Ward, the (new) legal writer, The ALWD Citation Manual, The Bluebook, The Redbook

The Redbook (3d ed.), by Raymond Ward, the (new) legal writer blog

http://tinyurl.com/nlqx3zy

If Raymond Ward says it, you can take it to the bank. I have followed his legal writing blog for years. Look for sound advice on superb legal writing. -CCE

Today I attended a triple-feature CLE by Bryan Garner: Advanced Legal Writing & Editing, The Redbook, and Making Your Case. To see whether Bryan’s spring tour will visit your city, click here to see the schedule. What I want to talk about this evening is what I learned in the Redbook portion of the seminar.

For years, I have had the first edition of the Redbook on my office bookshelf. For those unfamiliar with this book, it’s a style manual for legal writers. If you have a question about the right word, right punctuation, or right way to do something in legal writing, this book endeavors to answer your question. I’ve found it a useful reference for answering questions that arisen when writing a brief or editing another’s brief.

First, this preface: I am not one who immediately buys the next edition of whatever if the current edition remains serviceable. I use so-called outdated versions of the Bluebook and ALWD Citation Manual, because they still answer any question I have ever had about how to cite something. So since the first edition of the Redbook has served me well, I did not rush out to buy the second or third editions.

Having said that, here is my point: if you don’t have the third edition, get it. . . .

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Basic Bluebook Guide.

16 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

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Bluebook, Cornell Legal Information Institute, Georgetown University Law Center, Legal Citation Format, Peter Martin

Bluebook Guide, Georgetown Law Library

http://perma.cc/8TZR-WN43

This guide was designed for law students in the Georgetown University Law Center. It covers the Bluebook’s organization and how to cite to the most common legal citations. It is not as thorough and complete as Peter Martin’s Cornell Legal Information Institute’s resource at: https://researchingparalegal.com/2013/10/31/peter-martins-introduction-to-basic-legal-citation-an-alwd-and-bluebook-cheat-sheet/.

This guide does not explain how to use certain types of lesser used legal sources. But, if you want a resource for case law, statutes, and other basic legal resources, this will work. -CCE

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Legal Writing Faculty – It’s Okay To Sweat The Small Stuff.

16 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in Bad Legal Writing, Citations, Education, Legal Writing, Legalese, Paralegals/Legal Assistants, The Bluebook

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Above the Law (blog), Joe Patrice, Legal Assistants, Legal Writing, Legal Writing Course, Legal Writing Prof Blog, Local Rules, Louisa Heiny, NYU, Paralegals, S.J. Quinney College of Law, Santa Clara Law Professor Ray Bernstein, University of Utah, Yale

A Law Professor’s Detailed, Thoughtful, and Comprehensive ‘Local Rules’ for Class: A Response to “Above the Law,” Legal Writing Prof Blog (guest post from Louisa Heiny, Adjunct Professor of Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law of the University of Utah, responding to recent post at Above The Law Blog)

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legalwriting/2014/02/atl.html

I used to teach Legal Writing and Legal Analysis to paralegals. Students had to work hard to earn a good grade in those classes. Some students appreciated the emphasis on grammar and punctuation, adhering strictly to court rules and the Bluebook, the eradication of legalese, and the insistence that details matter. Regrettably, not every student felt the same way, and missed the point. There was a reason why the bar was set high for my students. I wanted them to succeed once they were on the job.

If I learned anything from teaching, it was that the majority of students, when challenged, will work hard to meet high standards and expectations set for the class. If a teacher’s expectation are low, the work turned in will be mediocre at best. Both law and paralegal students face tough competition upon graduation. Quality matters more than ever.

It is nice to see that there are still legal writing faculty who set insist on quality. -CCE

I admit it: I read Above the Law. I read it every day. It’s even on my Facebook feed. It’s sometimes snarky, often witty, and has published some of the most ridiculously funny cease and desist letters I’ve ever seen. I use material from Above the Law in class to show students what not to do.

I’ll also admit that when I read the headline in Above the Law, ‘A Law Professor’s Detailed, Ridiculous, Condescending ‘Local Rules’ For Class,’ I panicked. There was a serious possibility that I was about to read my own syllabus. I’m an adjunct, so there was also a possibility that I was about to be fired.

After a moment’s relief that I was not the target of ATL’s ire, I read the article. Written by Joe Patrice, the post skewers the ‘local rules’ created by Santa Clara Law Professor Ray Bernstein for his legal writing class. While my own syllabus isn’t as detailed, Professor Bernstein has created a detailed, thoughtful, and comprehensive set of local rules designed to put students on notice of class requirements, as well as prepare them for the practice of law. . . .

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Legal Writing Tips From a Former Law Clerk.

01 Saturday Feb 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in ALWD, Bad Legal Writing, Brief Writing, Citations, Headnotes, IRAC, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

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Bad Legal Writing, Brief Writing, Charleston School of Law, Citations, Grammar, Headnotes, Judicial Clerk, Kentucky Bench and Bar Association Magazine, Law Clerk, Legal Writing, Professor Brock Collins, Punctuation, Quotations

Writing Trial Memoranda: A Law Clerk’s Perspective, by Brock Collins, Kentucky Bench and Bar Association Magazine (January 2014) (with hat tip to Legal Writing Prof Blog)

http://kentuckybenchandbar.epubxp.com/t/30647

On page 28 of the Kentucky Bench and Bar Association Magazine, Brock Collins, a Professor at Charleston School of Law, describes what he learned about legal writing as a former judicial clerk. Professor Brock observes that “[t]he quality of an attorney’s credibility and reputation is based in large part on the quality and thoroughness of her legal writing.” In this excellent article, Professor Brock shares his legal writing tips. -CCE

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Legal Writers, This Blog Is For You.

22 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in ALWD, Brief Writing, Citations, Footnotes, Legal Writing, Legislative History, Quotations, The Bluebook

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Citing Legally Blog, by Peter W. Martin, Jane M.G. Foster Professor of Law Emeritus, Cornell

http://citeblog.access-to-law.com/

If you have any interest in the fine points of legal citation and legal writing, this is the blog for you. Citation master, Peter Martin, who holds  an endowed chair named for the late Jane M.G. Foster Professor of Law Emeritus at Cornell, has created a forum to discuss and elaborate on citations as they are used by counsel and the court.

This is a “must bookmark” for anyone interested in legal writing, cite-checking, or how to cite properly. Please click on “About – Scope and Purpose” to read more about the authors’ intent for this blog. -CCE

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Peter Martin’s Introduction to Basic Legal Citation — An ALWD and Bluebook Cheat Sheet

31 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by Celia C. Elwell, RP in ALWD, Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

≈ Comments Off on Peter Martin’s Introduction to Basic Legal Citation — An ALWD and Bluebook Cheat Sheet

Tags

ALWD Citation Manual, Bluebook, Legal Information Institute, Peter W. Martin

Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (online ed. 2013), by Peter W. Martin, Cornell Legal Information Institute

https://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/1-100

This guide can be used for both the 4th Edition of the ALWD Citation Manual and the 19th Edition of the Bluebook. -CCE

(See also Citing Legally Blog, http://citeblog.access-to-law.com/.)

 

 

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