Are law titles italicized?
Asked by: Pauline Boehm | Last update: October 3, 2025Score: 4.8/5 (57 votes)
Titles of constitutions, like titles of other laws and acts, are not italicized or enclosed in quotation marks. However, titles of individual published editions of constitutions are italicized and treated like titles of any other published work.
How do you cite a legal title?
Legal Citation Basics
Most legal citations consist of the name of the document (case, statute, law review article), an abbreviation for the legal series, and the date. The abbreviation for the legal series usually appears as a number followed by the abbreviated name of the series and ends in another number.
Do you italicize legal case names?
§ 5-100.
The following citation elements should be italicized: case names (including procedural phrases) book titles. titles of journal articles.
How do you write the name of a law in an essay?
For laws (statutes), the preferred form includes the name of the law and the year – e.g. (Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974). The APA style manual indicates anything cited in the text should also have a complete listing in the References list.
Are titles supposed to be italicized?
Titles of books, plays, films, periodicals, databases, and websites are italicized. Place titles in quotation marks if the source is part of a larger work. Articles, essays, chapters, poems, webpages, songs, and speeches are placed in quotation marks. Sometimes titles will contain other titles.
Mechanics Rule: Italicize Titles of Legal Cases
What should not be italicized?
When should italics not be used? Italics should not be used for the titles of short works, such as poems, articles, short stories, or song names—all of which use quotation marks instead. The names of geographic locations and religious texts use neither italics nor quotes, but they're still capitalized.
How to write title correctly?
- Always Capitalize First and Last Words in a Title.
- Always Capitalize Nouns and Pronouns.
- Always Capitalize Verbs.
- Always Capitalize Adverbs and Adjectives.
- Don't Capitalize Coordinating Conjunctions.
- Don't Capitalize Articles.
- Don't Capitalize Short Prepositions.
Do you italicize the title of a law?
Titles of constitutions, like titles of other laws and acts, are not italicized or enclosed in quotation marks.
How do lawyers write their names?
Skip the courtesy title and put “Esquire” after the name, using its abbreviated form, “Esq.” (“Robert Jones, Esq.” or “Cynthia Adams, Esq.”)
How do you write law in Word?
- Resize Your Document.
- Pick Your Fonts.
- Set the Line Spacing.
- Format Your Columns.
- Set Up Your Table of Contents.
- Create Your Table of Authorities.
- Automating Your Formatting. Creating a Style. Setting Up Autoformatting as You Type.
- A Note on Different Documents. Pleadings. Briefs. Manuscripts.
How to write a legal case title?
The main way to refer to a legal case is by using the case title, which consists of the names of the two parties, separated by the abbreviation “v.” All of these elements should be italicized (set in italic typeface), whether the case title appears within the text of your paper, in the notes, or in the bibliography.
When to italicize bluebook?
Use Italics for the short form of case citations. Use Italics for article titles, introductory signals, procedural phrases in case names, and explanatory signals in citations. Italicize punctuation only when it falls within italicized material in a citation.
Do cases have to be in italics?
Italics >> Solution: only book titles, command papers, Law Commission reports titles, select committee reports titles and webpages go in italics in both footnotes and tables and bibliography. Case names only go in italics in a footnote. Repeated references (ibid and n) >> Solution: check this guidance.
How do you properly cite a law?
For a California statute, give the name of the code and the section number. For example, "Code of Civil Procedure, section 1011" or "Family Code, section 3461." For a federal statute, cite to the United States Code (abbreviated U.S.C.). For example, "28 U.S.C. section 351."
What is my legal title?
The legal ownership of assets is “title” to those assets. Control of your estate comes from holding legal title to your assets. Personal planning and protections depend on title. Tax savings depend on title.
What are the rules for citing titles?
Titles should be italicized or enclosed in quotation marks. Titles that are independent and self-contained (e.g., books) and titles of containers (e.g., anthologies) should be italicized.
How is a lawyer's title abbreviated?
In the United States, esquire (often shortened to Esq.) is a title of courtesy, given to a lawyer and commonly appended to his/her surname ( e.g. , John Smith, Esq. or John Smith, Esquire) when addressing the lawyer in written form.
How do you write a legal name?
- If the person uses different names. Separate all of them with “AKA” (meaning “Also known as”). ...
- If you are suing more than one person. Include each person's name in a separate name/address section on the form.
Should I put JD or Esq after my name?
JD is often used for people who have graduated from law school but have not yet become a practicing lawyer. It is also used for people who are no longer allowed to practice. You cannot use the title Esq.
Are titles always italicized?
Titles of books, journals, magazines, plays, newspapers, and freestanding publications are italicized when quoted in text or bibliography. Always preserve original spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, and punctuation.
How to reference a law?
Title of Act including year and chapter (in italics) Country/jurisdiction (only include this if you are referencing legislation from more than one country) Available at: URL (Accessed: date)
Do you italicize law cases?
In text, cite the name of the case (italicized) and the year of the decision. If two or more years are given, cite those years as well.
What is the correct format for a title?
Do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks. Write the title in Title Case (standard capitalization), not in all capital letters. Double space between the title and the first line of the text.
Should all titles be capitalized?
Capitalize a person's title when it precedes the name. Do not capitalize when the title is acting as a description following the name.
When to use italics or quotation marks?
Generally, shorter works (poems, song titles, chapters) go in quotation marks, and longer works (movies, books, newspaper titles) are italicized. o Books are italicized, but a chapter inside a book is in quotation marks. o The name of a TV show is italicized, but a specific episode is in quotation marks.