Tag Archives: The Bluebook

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

09 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by in Appellate Judges, Appellate Law, Citations, Federal Judges, Judges, Legal Analysis, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

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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 in ALWD, Citations, Legal Writing, Public Domain Citations, Research, The Bluebook, Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act, Westlaw

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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 in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

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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

A Compilation of Punctuation Guides for the Punctuation Police.

10 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by in Legal Writing, Punctuation, Readability, Style Manuals

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If you are a member of the Punctuation Police, you will enjoy this sample of punctuation guides. Depending on your profession, some style guides are more important than others. For example, if you are in the legal profession, you would look to the Bluebook for specific rules on punctuation. 

Another source of multiple style guides, including rules on punctuation and grammar, can be found at http://www.RefDesk.com under http://www.refdesk.com/topgram.html and Library Spot, Grammar and Style, at http://www.libraryspot.com/grammarstyle.htm. -CCE

The Punctuation Guide
http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/style.html

Tips on Grammar, Punctuation and Style
Harvard College Writing Center
http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/tips-grammar-punctuation-and-style

Punctuation and Style: A Quick Reference Guide
Office of Communications, University of Puget Sound
http://pugetsound.edu/files/resources/3379_PSGuide0309.pdf

Introduction to Basic Legal Citation, by Peter Martin, Cornell University Law School, Legal Information Institute (not just for legal citations – CCE)
https://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/

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

13 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

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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.

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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.

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

12 Saturday Sep 2015

Posted by in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

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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

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

01 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

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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!

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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 in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

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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 in Citations, Copyright, Intellectual Property, Legal Writing, Public Domain, The Bluebook

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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 in Citations, Legal Writing, Link Rot, The Bluebook

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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. . . .

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

08 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by in Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

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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.

The New ALWD Citation Guide.

05 Saturday Jul 2014

Posted by in ALWD, Citations, Legal Writing, The Bluebook

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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. . . .

Legal Analysis & Writing Links.

05 Monday May 2014

Posted by in Acronyms, ALWD, Bad Legal Writing, Citations, Internet, Legal Analysis, Legal Directory, Legal Writing, Legalese, Quotations, References, Research, The Bluebook

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

http://bit.ly/1kFtlHk

A nice assortment of writing resources.  -CCE

A Recommendation for Legal Writing Experts.

01 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by in ALWD, Brief Writing, Citations, Footnotes, Legal Analysis, Legal Argument, Legal Writing, Parentheses, Spell Checking, The Bluebook

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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. . . .