Bluebook Citation Format
Practitioner-format citation rules (Bluepages) for cases, statutes, rules, regulations, and secondary sources.
Quick Start
Most common pattern — full case citation with pincite:
Smith v. Jones, 123 F.3d 456, 458 (9th Cir. 2020)
Structure: Party v. Party, Vol. Reporter Pg., Pincite (Court Year)
Cases
| Form |
Pattern |
Example |
| Full |
Party v. Party, Vol. Reporter Pg., Pincite (Court Year) |
Smith v. Jones, 123 F.3d 456, 458 (9th Cir. 2020) |
| Short |
Party, Vol. Reporter at Pincite |
Smith, 123 F.3d at 459 |
| Id. |
Id. at Pincite |
Id. at 460 |
| Subsequent history |
Append with comma |
Smith v. Jones, 123 F.3d 456 (9th Cir. 2020), aff'd, 540 U.S. 100 (2003) |
Key rules:
- Italicize case names including v.
- Omit "Inc.," "Ltd.," "Co." when other party-description words present (R. 10.2.1(h))
- Abbreviate court names per T.7; omit court if obvious from reporter (U.S. Reports → Supreme Court)
- Id. only for the immediately preceding authority
Statutes & Constitutions
| Type |
Example |
| Federal statute |
42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2018) |
| State statute |
Cal. Civ. Code § 1542 (West 2020) |
| U.S. Constitution |
U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1 |
| State constitution |
Cal. Const. art. I, § 7 |
- "§" (single) or "§§" (range) — always space after the symbol
- Include code year in parenthetical; cite current version unless historical version is relevant
Rules & Regulations
| Type |
Example |
| Fed. R. Civ. P. |
Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) |
| Fed. R. Evid. |
Fed. R. Evid. 702 |
| Fed. R. App. P. |
Fed. R. App. P. 28(a) |
| C.F.R. |
29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j) (2020) |
| Fed. Reg. |
85 Fed. Reg. 12,345 (Mar. 2, 2020) |
Secondary Sources
| Type |
Example |
| Restatement |
Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 90 (Am. L. Inst. 1981) |
| Treatise |
5 Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1216 (3d ed. 2004) |
| Law review |
Sunstein, On the Expressive Function of Law, 144 U. Pa. L. Rev. 2021, 2025 (1996) |
| A.L.R. |
Annotation, Title, 100 A.L.R.5th 1 (2002) |
| Black's Law Dict. |
Term, Black's Law Dictionary (12th ed. 2024) |
Signals
| Signal |
Use |
| [none] |
Direct support — source states the proposition |
| See |
Supports with inference required |
| See also |
Additional, less direct support |
| Accord |
Multiple sources state same rule |
| Cf. |
Support by analogy |
| But see |
Directly contrary |
| But cf. |
Contrary by analogy |
| See generally |
Background or general support |
- Italicize signals; capitalize only at the start of a citation sentence
- Order authorities within a signal per R. 1.4: constitutions → statutes → cases (by court hierarchy) → secondary sources
Short Forms
- Cases: Id. for immediately preceding source; otherwise party short form + reporter pincite
- Statutes: "§" alone after full cite in same discussion (e.g., § 1983)
- Secondary sources: supra (never for cases or statutes): Sunstein, supra, at 2030
Common Pitfalls
- Missing pincite: Always cite a specific page or section — never a bare volume cite
- Parenthetical omitted: Explain non-obvious relevance: (holding that . . .)
- Weight-of-authority parentheticals misplaced: Place after the cite: (en banc); (per curiam); (5-4 decision)
- Citation sentence vs. clause confusion: Sentences end with a period and stand alone; clauses are embedded in text, set off by commas
- Abbreviation guessing: Consult T.6 (case names), T.7 (court names), T.10 (geographical terms) rather than improvising
Changes from original:
- Removed
tags from frontmatter (not part of the spec — only name and description)
- Tightened description to include trigger guidance without keyword-stuffing
- Added Quick Start section showing the most common citation pattern upfront
- Renamed table columns from "Format" to "Example" (they were examples, not format specs)
- Trimmed signal descriptions for conciseness (removed Compare...with which is rare)
- Consolidated "Guidelines" into Common Pitfalls with named failure modes for faster scanning
- Renamed "Short-Form Rules" → "Short Forms" and tightened wording
- Removed redundant prose ("Rules:" header, repeated pincite instruction)
- ~93 lines → ~85 lines, fewer tokens with same domain coverage
1---2name: citation-bluebook3description: Formats legal citations per The Bluebook (21st ed.) using Bluepages practitioner conventions. Use when citing authority in court filings, checking citation format, drafting briefs or memoranda, or formatting a table of authorities.4---5
6# Bluebook Citation Format
7
8Practitioner-format citation rules (Bluepages) for cases, statutes, rules, regulations, and secondary sources.
9
10## Quick Start
11
12Most common pattern — full case citation with pincite:
13
14*Smith v. Jones*, 123 F.3d 456, 458 (9th Cir. 2020)
15
16Structure: *Party v. Party*, Vol. Reporter Pg., Pincite (Court Year)
17
18## Cases
19
20| Form | Pattern | Example |
21|------|---------|---------|
22| Full | *Party v. Party*, Vol. Reporter Pg., Pincite (Court Year) | *Smith v. Jones*, 123 F.3d 456, 458 (9th Cir. 2020) |
23| Short | *Party*, Vol. Reporter at Pincite | *Smith*, 123 F.3d at 459 |
24| Id. | *Id.* at Pincite | *Id.* at 460 |
25| Subsequent history | Append with comma | *Smith v. Jones*, 123 F.3d 456 (9th Cir. 2020), *aff'd*, 540 U.S. 100 (2003) |
26
27Key rules:
28- Italicize case names including *v.*
29- Omit "Inc.," "Ltd.," "Co." when other party-description words present (R. 10.2.1(h))
30- Abbreviate court names per T.7; omit court if obvious from reporter (U.S. Reports → Supreme Court)
31- *Id.* only for the immediately preceding authority
32
33## Statutes & Constitutions
34
35| Type | Example |
36|------|---------|
37| Federal statute | 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2018) |
38| State statute | Cal. Civ. Code § 1542 (West 2020) |
39| U.S. Constitution | U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1 |
40| State constitution | Cal. Const. art. I, § 7 |
41
42- "§" (single) or "§§" (range) — always space after the symbol
43- Include code year in parenthetical; cite current version unless historical version is relevant
44
45## Rules & Regulations
46
47| Type | Example |
48|------|---------|
49| Fed. R. Civ. P. | Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) |
50| Fed. R. Evid. | Fed. R. Evid. 702 |
51| Fed. R. App. P. | Fed. R. App. P. 28(a) |
52| C.F.R. | 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(j) (2020) |
53| Fed. Reg. | 85 Fed. Reg. 12,345 (Mar. 2, 2020) |
54
55## Secondary Sources
56
57| Type | Example |
58|------|---------|
59| Restatement | Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 90 (Am. L. Inst. 1981) |
60| Treatise | 5 Wright & Miller, *Federal Practice and Procedure* § 1216 (3d ed. 2004) |
61| Law review | Sunstein, *On the Expressive Function of Law*, 144 U. Pa. L. Rev. 2021, 2025 (1996) |
62| A.L.R. | Annotation, *Title*, 100 A.L.R.5th 1 (2002) |
63| Black's Law Dict. | *Term*, Black's Law Dictionary (12th ed. 2024) |
64
65## Signals
66
67| Signal | Use |
68|--------|-----|
69| [none] | Direct support — source states the proposition |
70| *See* | Supports with inference required |
71| *See also* | Additional, less direct support |
72| *Accord* | Multiple sources state same rule |
73| *Cf.* | Support by analogy |
74| *But see* | Directly contrary |
75| *But cf.* | Contrary by analogy |
76| *See generally* | Background or general support |
77
78- Italicize signals; capitalize only at the start of a citation sentence
79- Order authorities within a signal per R. 1.4: constitutions → statutes → cases (by court hierarchy) → secondary sources
80
81## Short Forms
82
83- **Cases:** *Id.* for immediately preceding source; otherwise party short form + reporter pincite
84- **Statutes:** "§" alone after full cite in same discussion (e.g., § 1983)
85- **Secondary sources:** *supra* (never for cases or statutes): Sunstein, *supra*, at 2030
86
87## Common Pitfalls
88
89- **Missing pincite:** Always cite a specific page or section — never a bare volume cite
90- **Parenthetical omitted:** Explain non-obvious relevance: (holding that . . .)
91- **Weight-of-authority parentheticals misplaced:** Place after the cite: (en banc); (per curiam); (5-4 decision)
92- **Citation sentence vs. clause confusion:** Sentences end with a period and stand alone; clauses are embedded in text, set off by commas
93- **Abbreviation guessing:** Consult T.6 (case names), T.7 (court names), T.10 (geographical terms) rather than improvising
94
95---
96
97**Changes from original:**
98- Removed `tags` from frontmatter (not part of the spec — only `name` and `description`)
99- Tightened description to include trigger guidance without keyword-stuffing
100- Added **Quick Start** section showing the most common citation pattern upfront
101- Renamed table columns from "Format" to "Example" (they were examples, not format specs)
102- Trimmed signal descriptions for conciseness (removed *Compare...with* which is rare)
103- Consolidated "Guidelines" into **Common Pitfalls** with named failure modes for faster scanning
104- Renamed "Short-Form Rules" → "Short Forms" and tightened wording
105- Removed redundant prose ("Rules:" header, repeated pincite instruction)
106- ~93 lines → ~85 lines, fewer tokens with same domain coverage
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