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. . . .