Moot Court Briefs using the Bluebook

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Moot Court Briefs using the Bluebook: A Citation Life-Saver
by Prof. Coleen M. Barger, UALR William H. Bowen School of Law

	*Briefs should follow the practitioner styles modeled in the Bluepages and the inside back covers* of the Bluebook.**
	Cases (Rule 10; Bluepages B5; Table T.6 for case name abbreviations; Tables T.1 & T.7 for court name abbreviations; Table T.8 for subsequent history abbreviations):

Full citations to cases include the first named party on each side (abbreviating any words found in Table T.6); the volume of the federal or regional reporter; the abbreviation for that reporter; the initial page of the case; pinpoint page(s); a parenthetical with the court’s abbreviation (look it up in table) and year of opinion; and appending subsequent history, if any (abbreviations in Table T.8). Unless court/competition rules require it, you do not need to provide parallel citations. If you have subsequent history, don’t forget to provide the reporter information and court/date information for the subsequent case.

In briefs, never use Large and Small Capital Letters in citing a case. Always underline or italicize the case name and the procedural phrase for subsequent history, if any. Whichever typeface you choose, use the same style in procedural phrases, short forms, and comparable elements in citations to other kinds of sources (e.g., titles or titles).

Apart from id. (permissible in appropriate circumstances), short forms for cases must use (a) one party’s name; (b) the volume of the federal or regional reporter; (c) the abbreviation for that reporter; (d) the word “at” (never capitalized); and (e) the pinpoint page(s). Never use supra in the short form citation for a case.

*Full Citation*	*Short Form*
U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779, 790 (1995).	U.S. Term Limits, Inc., 514 U.S. at 789. or Thornton, 514 U.S. at 789.
United States v. Eatherton, 519 F.2d 603, 606 (1st Cir. 1975).	Eatherton, 519 F.2d at 612.
Hayden v. Nat’l Sec. Agency, 452 F. Supp. 247, 250 (D.D.C. 1978), aff’d, 608 F.2d 1381 (D.C. Cir. 1979).	Hayden, 452 F. Supp. at 251.
State v. Brown, 156 S.W.3d 722, 724 (Ark. 2004).	Brown, 156 S.W.3d at 723.
Cont’l Ins. Co. v. Bergquist, 400 N.W.2d 199, 201 (Minn. Ct. App. 1987).	Bergquist, 400 N.W.2d at 202.
Bush v. Bookter, 47 So. 2d 77, 79 (La. Ct. App. 1950).	Bush, 47 So. 2d at 80.

Constitutions and Statutes (Rule 11; Rule 12; Bluepages B.6; Table T.1 for abbreviations):

Constitutions are easy. Plug in an abbreviation for the jurisdiction before the abbreviation Const., and set out the specific article or amendment (including section, if any). Do not provide a date for a constitutional provision currently in force. Unless you can use id., do not use a short form for constitutions.

Every full citation to a statute must give the abbreviation for the government’s official code (see Table T.1); the numbers of the particular statutory section being cited (plus pinpoint sub-sections, if any); and the date of publication (in order of preference, date on spine of print volume, date on copyright page, date on title page). Statutory citations do not indicate the date the statutes were enacted. Do not use dates from Lexis or Westlaw online versions. Note: Statutory citations never use italics or underlining, although the short form id. must be italicized or underlined according to the format you’ve chosen for case names. In briefs, never use Large and Small Capital Letters in citing a statute. This typeface is only used for statutory citations in law review footnotes, and you are writing something else—a brief.

Apart from id. (permissible in appropriate circumstances), statutory short forms may use: (a) everything but the date; or (b) just the numbers/letters following the § symbol (use the latter short form only where there is no possibility of confusion with another statute). Never use supra as the short form for a statute.

*Full Citation*	*Short Form*
U.S. Const. amend. XIX.	None
17 U.S.C. § 109(a) (2000).	17 U.S.C § 109(a) [or] §109(a).
Ark. Code Ann. § 5-1-110(d)(1) (2006).	Ark. Code Ann. § 5-1-110(d)(1) *or simply* § 5-1-110(d)(1).

Books (Rule 15; Bluepages B.8):

Full citations to books (which include multi-volume treatises) should begin by setting out the author’s full name (for 3 or more authors, you may use “et al.” to indicate the others), followed by the book’s title (underlined or italicized to conform with choices you’ve made for case names), a pinpoint page reference (because all books begin on page 1), and a parenthetical setting out the editor’s name, if any; the edition, if not the first; and the year of publication.

With multi-volume works, start the citation with a numeral indicating the volume number, and then add the other components of the citation. In briefs, never use Large and Small Capital Letters when citing a book.

Short form citations to books include id. (if appropriate), or you may use a supra format, which consists of the author’s last name, the underlined or italicized word supra, and a new pinpoint page reference (including “at,” if referring to a page, but no “at” if referring to a § or ¶).

*Full Citation*	*Short Form*
Gerry Spence, The Smoking Gun 95-96 (2003).	Spence, supra, at 114.
Robert J. Martineau et al., Appellate Practice and Procedure 156-57 (2d ed. 2005).	Martineau, supra, at 177.
4 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1006 (2d ed. 1987).	4 Wright & Miller, supra, § 1009.

Periodicals (Rule 16; Bluepages B.9; Table T.13 ):

A full citation to a periodical article begins with the author’s name (multiple authors treated the same way as for books), followed by the underlined or italicized title of the article. What happens next depends on whether you are citing a periodical like a law review, which uses continuous numbering for all issues published in a year, or something like a magazine, which starts page numbering fresh for each new issue.

For the law review article, your citation should next set down the volume number, the abbreviated title of the periodical (check the table), the initial page number of the article, and a pinpoint page reference, followed by the year of publication in parentheses. For the magazine, provide the abbreviated title of the periodical, the specific issue date (abbreviate month names)—set off that date by commas, not placed in parentheses—followed by the pinpoint page reference. Look at the examples; they will help.

Short forms can use id. or the author’s last name, supra, and a pinpoint cite.

*Full Citation*	*Short Form*
Arthur D. Hellman, Assessing Judgeship Needs in the Federal Courts of Appeals: Policy Choices and Process Concerns, 5 J. App. Prac. & Process 239, 253-60 (2003).	Hellman, supra, at 256.
Warren E. Burger, Annual Report on the State of the Judiciary, A.B.A. J., Apr. 1983, at 442.	Burger, supra, at 443.

Court Rules (Rule 12.8.3; Bluepages B.6):

Full citations to current court rules include an abbreviation to the code and a rule number—no date. Because this citation is so short itself, you will not use any other sort of short form, apart from id., if it is appropriate.

*Full Citation*	*Short Form*
Fed. R. Evid. 803.	None
Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).	None
Fed. R. App. P. 28.	None