AALL Citation Formats Committee

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Universal Citation Guide

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AALL CITATION FORMATS COMMITTEE

COMMITTEE CHARGE

To study the impact of electronic publication on legal citation formats and make recommendations where appropriate:
To work with the judiciary, the bar, the ABA, The Bluebook editors, and other groups to promote uniformity of citation reform;
To serve as both a clearinghouse for information on citation reform, and a resource for jurisdictions and other groups considering citation reform.
The committee shall, consistent with AALL policy, represent the Association's interests and advise the Board on citation matters.

(Source: Report of the AALL Task Force on Citation Formats (87 L. Libr. J. 577 (1995))

ARTICLES REGARDING CITATION FORMAT

VENDOR-NEUTRAL CITATION RULES ADOPTED BY AMERICAN JURISDICTIONS

Click on a state above, or from the lists below to see the court's adoption of a medium and vendor neutral citation system. States which have adopted a vendor neutral rule are in blue.

States that have Adopted Vendor-Neutral

Citation Rules as of December 2007

Chart in PDF Format

States that are unshaded have adopted a neutral citation provision.

Shaded states have not yet adopted a neutral citation provision but may have in place some interim provision , or a general provision that may impact citation to cases in the jurisdiction.

STATE

RULE OR STATUTE

URL

AZ

Arizona Supreme Court Rule 124

http://azrules.westgroup.com/home/azrules/default.wl

http://www.supreme.state.az.us/cot/Documents/eFile/Rule124.pdf

CO

A/o 12/12/2007 – no link on state court Web sites or rule I can find that indicates provision at http://aallnet.org/committee/citation/rules_co.html

is still in use.   At our request, Eileen Kiernan Johnson, staff attorney at the Colorado Supreme Court, stated that the order was never rescinded, but is not in use.

FL

FL Supreme Court, No. 85,746, In re Fla. Rule of App. Proc. 9.800(n);

Fla. Rule of App. Proc. 9.800.

http://www.flcourts.org/#

Your search may start here, but will move off the courts’ Web site to links they provide, as indicated below.

http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/flsupct/85746/op-85746-oct.pdf – This rule calls for citation to the Southern Reporter, with no indication of any paragraph numbers or other deviations from traditional publisher-based citation.

http://www.4dca.org/applellate%20rules.pdf – these 2006 rules are posted by Lexis in cooperation the Florida Bar.   A 2005 version is provided by the Florida Bar at http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/barrules.shtml and is reached via a link from the Florida Clerk of Courts. The Florida Courts apparently do not post the rules themselves.

Updates may be searched at:

http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/index.shtml

LA

Rules of Supreme Court of Louisiana, Part G: General Admin. Rules. Sec. 8.

http://www.lasc.org/rules/default.asp

http://www.lasc.org/rules/supreme/PartGSection8.asp

ME

Order of Supreme Judicial Court, Docket No. SJC-216

http://www.courts.state.me.us

http://www.courts.state.me.us/opinions/supreme/citation.html

MS

Serial 121020 -- Supreme Court of Miss., No. 89-R-99027-SCT, In re: Miss. Rules of App. Proc.;

and

Miss. Rules of App. Proc. 28(e)

http://www.mssc.state.ms.us

http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/Opinions/Conv4375.pdf

(click on “Hand-Down List” link to see date of 12/19/1997)

and

http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/rules/RuleText.asp?RuleTitle=

RULE+28%2E+BRIEFS&IDNum=5

MT

MT Supreme Court, No. __, In re: Opinion Forms and Citation Standards of Supreme Ct. of Mont. and

Adoption of Form of Public Domain and Neutral-Format Citation

http://courts.mt.gov/library/mt_law.asp#judicial

or at next level

http://fnweb1.isd.doa.state.mt.us/idmws/custom/sll/SLL_FN_Home.htm

No direct link; search at URL above.

NM

NM Supreme Court, No. 98-8500, In re Adoption of Vendor Neutral Citations;

and

No. 00-8500, amending the foregoing.

http://www.nmlaws.org/NXT/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=

default.htm&vid=nm:all

No direct link available; search at URL above.

ND

ND Supreme Court Order No. 970023 and

ND Supreme Court Rule 11.6

http://www.court.state.nd.us/research/

http://www.ndcourts.com/court/notices/970023.htm

and

http://www.court.state.nd.us/court/rules/ndroc/rule11.6.htm

OK

OK Rules of Court Rule 1.11, 1.20;

OK Rules of Court of Crim. App. Rule 3.5.

http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/index.asp?ftdb=STOKST&level=1

http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=73515

http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=73621



http://www.okcca.net/online/rules/rulesrvr.jsp?r=26

OH

OH Supreme Court Rules for the Reporting of Opinions

Revisions to the Manual of Citations July 12, 2002

http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/Rules/default.asp

and

http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/ (Ohio Reporter of Decisions)

http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/Rules/reporting/Report_02.pdf

http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/ROD/pdf/Rev_Manual_Cit_02.pdf

SD

SD Codified Laws, Chapter 15-26A, Rules of Civ. App. Proc.

15-26A-69.1, Citation of official opinions of the Supreme Court

http://legis.state.sd.us/statutes/index.aspx; search “citation opinions”

http://legis.state.sd.us/statutes/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=15-26A-69.1

PA

Notice to the Bar by Joseph J. Mittelman, Executive Administrator, PA Superior Court.

We did not find a current posting of the citation rule. For examples of its application, see opinions issued January 1, 1999, and forwards, at

http://www.superior.court.state.pa.us/opin.htm

[AALL existing page: http://aallnet.org/committee/citation/rules_pasuper.html]

UT

UT Supreme Court Standing Order No. 4

Start here and try the internal search function: http://www.utcourts.gov/

http://www.utcourts.gov/resources/rules/urap/Supctso.htm#4

VT

VT R of App. Proc. Rule 28.2, Citations

http://michie.lexisnexis.com/vermont/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-h.htm&cp=; search court rules for “citation”

No direct link; rule will appear in frame of successful search

WI

WI Supreme Court Rules (SCR) Ch. 80, “Publication of Opinions”

http://www.wicourts.gov/supreme/sc_rules.jsp

http://www.wicourts.gov/sc/scrule/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=1089

WY

Order Adopting a Public Domain or Neutral-Format Citation, Oct. 2, 2000

and

Order Amending Citation Format, Aug. 19, 2005

http://www.courts.state.wy.us/Search.aspx

No direct link; search using “neutral format citation” all words

SEE ALSO

Wyoming State Library Database of Supreme Court Decisions Reference Guide (3d ed.), available at same site

Federal Courts that have Adopted Vendor-Neutral

Citation Rules as of December 2007

Chart in PDF Format

US COURT

RULE OR OPINION

URL

NH US District Court

Local Rule 5.3

http://www.nhd.uscourts.gov/; click on “Rules.”

http://www.nhd.uscourts.gov/ru/local-rules/5.3.asp

NH US Bank-ruptcy Court

Local Bankruptcy Rule 1050-1

http://www.nhb.uscourts.gov/; click on “Rules and Forms.”

SD US District Court

[none]

Standing order currently posted to AALL Web site appears not to be in effect; it was not found, and no similar rule was found.

US Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

[none]

Electronic citation announcement currently posted to AALL Web site appears not to be in effect; it was not found, and no similar rule was found.

GUIDES TO UNIVERSAL CITATION:

Universal Citation Guide, Version 2.1

Universal Citation Guide, First Edition,
Available in PDF format here
Available from the Wisconsin Bar Association Press Order Information

Universal Citation Guide Draft Sections included in the First Edition:

Judicial Opinions:
The Universal Legal Citation Project: A Draft User Guide to the AALL Universal Case Citation, 89 L. Libr. J. 7 (1997)
Statutes and Codes:
The Universal Legal Citation Project: A Draft User Guide to the AALL Universal Statutory Citation, 90 L. Libr. J. 91 (1998)
Administrative Codes and Regulations:
The Universal Legal Citation Project: A Draft User Guide to the AALL Universal Regulatory Citation: Administrative Codes and Regulations, 90 L. Libr J. 509 (1998)

Universal Citation Guide Draft Sections for the Second Edition:

Law Reviews & Court Rules:
Universal Citation Guide: Tentative Drafts for Law Reviews and Court Rules, 92 L. Libr. J. 363 (2000)
Administrative Decisions:
Universal Citation Guide: Tentative Drafts for Administrative Decisions

Important Links and News:

-- Law Library Journal now follows Universal Citation Guide. See the Press Release of March 21, 2000.