Cite federal and state cases, choose the right reporter, and shorten case names correctly.
01
Match the reporter to the court
Supreme Court decisions are cited to the U.S. Reports (U.S.) when available. Federal courts of appeals are in the Federal Reporter: F., F.2d, F.3d, and, since 2021, F.4th. Federal district courts are in the Federal Supplement: F. Supp., F. Supp. 2d, and F. Supp. 3d.
State decisions are usually cited to a regional reporter, such as N.E.2d, A.3d, P.3d, S.W.3d, N.W.2d, S.E.2d, or So. 3d. Local court rules may also require the state's official reporter.
Supreme Court
Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938)
Court of appeals (fictional)
Okafor v. Lane, 18 F.4th 77 (2d Cir. 2021)
District court (fictional)
In re Harbor Lights Sec. Litig., 512 F. Supp. 3d 101 (S.D.N.Y. 2021)
State high court
Tarasoff v. Regents of Univ. of Cal., 551 P.2d 334 (Cal. 1976)
02
Write the court in the parenthetical
For a federal court of appeals, write the circuit: (9th Cir. 2022), (2d Cir. 2019), (D.C. Cir. 2020), (Fed. Cir. 2018). For a district court, write the district: (S.D.N.Y. 2021), (N.D. Cal. 2019), (D. Mass. 2018).
For a state's highest court, the state abbreviation alone is enough: (Cal. 1976), (N.Y. 1928), (Va. 1954). Do not add words like "Sup. Ct." For a lower state court, add the court: (Cal. Ct. App. 2010).
03
Shorten the case name
Use only the first party on each side. For a person, use the last name only. Drop "et al.", a leading "The", and "State of" or "Commonwealth of" when the state is a party in another state's courts or in federal court.
Never abbreviate "United States" when it is a party. Inside citations, shorten common words: Association → Ass'n, Board → Bd., Company → Co., Corporation → Corp., Department → Dep't, Education → Educ., International → Int'l, National → Nat'l, Railroad → R.R., University → Univ., Securities → Sec., Litigation → Litig. When the case name is part of your own sentence, abbreviate only widely known words such as Co., Corp., Inc., and &.
Full party names
International Shoe Company v. State of Washington
In a citation
Int'l Shoe Co. v. Washington, 326 U.S. 310 (1945)
Practice level 2
11 exercises with instant feedback. Score 80% or higher to pass.
