How do I reference a legal case?

Asked by: Mandy Flatley  |  Last update: February 26, 2026
Score: 4.4/5 (55 votes)

To cite a legal case, follow the basic format: Case Name, Volume Reporter Page (Court Year), including parties' names (italicized/underlined), reporter volume, reporter abbreviation (e.g., U.S., F.3d), first page, court abbreviation, and decision year. For specific points, add a "pinpoint page" (e.g., Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137, 138 (1803)). Always use the appropriate citation style guide, usually The Bluebook, for specific rules on abbreviations and formatting.

How to properly reference a court case?

To cite a court case or decision, list the name of the case, the volume and abbreviated name of the reporter, the page number, the name of the court, the year, and optionally the URL. The case name is italicized in the in-text citation, but not in the reference list.

How do you cite a legal case in APA in text?

Citing Legal Sources in APA Style. Any time a law or a court case is mentioned in the text of a paper, include an appropriate “in-text citation” (usually in parentheses). For court cases, that includes the main party names as well as the year – e.g. (Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965).

How do I reference a legal document?

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.

How do I reference cases?

Format: Name of case in italics │ [year] │ court │ case number, [year of publication] │ OR (year of judgement) │ volume │report abbreviation │ first page. Example of a case which has been subsequently reported in a law report series: NRAM Ltd v Evans [2017] EWCA Civ 1013, [2018] 1 WLR 639.

The secret code to reading legal opinions and case law. IRAC and the Case Brief. Civics 101.

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How to intext reference a case law?

Citations should follow the format: case number | case name | [year] | report abbreviation | first page. Case T–344/99 Arne Mathisen AS v Council [2002] ECR II–2905.

How to cite a case in a legal memo?

The general cite form is Case Name, volume number, reporter abbreviation, page number (Court and jurisdiction and Year). 1. Example: A v. B, 100 U.S. 2 (1983), not A v.

What is a legal citation example?

For example, the citation Stearns v. Ticketmaster Corp., 655 F. 3d 1013 (9th Cir. 2011), identifies a decision in a case between an appellant, named Stearns, and an appellee, named Ticketmaster Corporation.

How do I reference an official document?

Government/Official publications

  1. Name of government department or committee.
  2. Year of publication (in round brackets).
  3. Title (in italics).
  4. Place of publication: publisher.
  5. Series or paper number (in brackets) - if applicable.

What is the most common legal citation style?

The Bluebook is the most ubiquitous citation style manual for legal documents within the United States. The federal courts; many, if not most, state courts; and law journals require that citations be in Bluebook format. The 22d edition (2025) is the most recent edition of the Bluebook.

How to reference a legal case in Harvard style?

In your reference, you need to include 'Name of case' (year) title of law report, volume number, page numbers. In-text citation: It was decided in the case of 'Bibby Cheshire v. Golden Wonder Ltd' (1972) that...

How to cite a legal bill in APA?

Citing a Federal Bill

Include the bill title (if relevant), the abbreviated name of the house (H.R. or S.) and number of the bill, the number of the Congress, and the year of publication. When the URL is available, include it at the end of the reference list entry.

How to cite a legal case in MLA text?

For example, you can name the full case in the body of the sentence: The Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder explicitly signals the... (110). (Note: only the page number is required in the citation if you name the court case in the sentence.

What is a good example of citation?

For every in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding entry in your reference list. APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005). For direct quotations, include the page number as well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14).

How do legal citations work?

Definition of a Legal Citation

A standard citation includes first the volume number, then the title of the source, (usually abbreviated) and lastly, a page or section number.

How do you reference a court case in APA?

Citing court cases (decisions/opinions)

  1. title or name of the case.
  2. volume and page number of the court reporter, e.g. U.S.= United States Reports is the official source (reporter) of U.S. Supreme Court Opinions.
  3. Date of the decision.

How to correctly reference a document?

List of references

  1. author's surname, and initial(s)
  2. year of publication.
  3. title of publication (in italics and with minimal capitalisation),
  4. edition (if applicable. Abbreviated as 'edn')
  5. publisher.
  6. place of publication.

How to Harvard reference a legal act?

Reference order:

  1. Short title of Act and Year (in italics)
  2. Regnal year.
  3. Name of sovereign.
  4. Chapter number. f found online add:
  5. Available at:
  6. (Accessed: date).

How to correctly cite a legal case?

Cases & Court Decisions

  1. title or name of case (e.g. Plessy v. ...
  2. citation (in law, this means the volume and page in reporters, or books where case decisions are published)
  3. jurisdiction of the court, in parentheses (e.g., US Supreme Court, Illinois Court of Appeals)
  4. date of decision, in same parentheses as jurisdiction.

What are the three types of citations?

The three main types of citation systems, categorized by their approach, are Parenthetical (Author-Date) like APA and Harvard, focusing on author and year in-text; Notes-Bibliography like Chicago/Turabian, using footnotes/endnotes for details; and Numeric systems like IEEE/Vancouver, using numbers that correspond to a reference list. These systems dictate how you format in-text citations and reference lists for different academic disciplines.
 

What is a citation for a court case?

A citation is a reference to a source that supports a statement or is otherwise related to it. In legal documents, the source may be a primary legal authority (such as a case or a statute) or a secondary legal authority (such as a treatise or dictionary).

How to cite case law in a letter?

The basic format for a case citation is: the case name, the volume number and abbreviation of the reporter in which the case was published, the initial page number of the case, and the year of the case. The volume number is placed before the reporter abbreviation and the page number is placed after the abbreviation.

What is the citation format for law?

The Bluebook style guide is used in the American legal profession for citation of all relevant sources.

How to footnote case law?

(b) In footnote references to cases the specific page number(s) or paragraph number(s) must be provided, for example: Bareki v Gencor Ltd 2006 1 SA 432 (T) 436A-D or para 123. Please see General (J) of this document for the abbreviation of "paragraph" and "paragraphs".

How to cite a case already cited?

Use Id. if you are citing the same page of the same case that you cited in the immediately preceding citation. Use Id. at (pinpoint page) if you are citing a different page of the same case that you cited in the immediately preceding citation.