Bluebooking Tips for the Write-on & Beyond

Bonnie Shuchabjshucha@wisc.edu

BLUEBOOK CONTENT & STRUCTURE

Part I

Part One - Bluepages

A how to guide for basic legal citation used by courts & legal practitioners

See also LRW’s Citation Handbook

Part Two

Rules of citation and style required by

law journals

Rules 1-9 establish general standards of style and citation

Rules 10-21 present rules for citation for specific kinds of authority

Part Three

Tables that show which authorities to cite and how to abbreviate them

Tables 1-5 show which authorities to cite and how to cite them

Tables 6-16 show how to abbreviate specific authorities

Index

Use the index to quickly find the applicable rule

ERRORS IN THE TEXT

The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not...look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1”

The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not...look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1”

The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not...look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1”

Omissions - Ellipsis dotsRule 5.3

The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not . . . look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1”

Omissions - Ellipsis dotsRule 5.3

The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not . . . look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1”

Alterations in quotesRule 5.2

The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not . . . look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1”

Placement of footnotesRule 5.1(ii)

The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not . . . look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.”1

Placement of footnotesRule 5.1(ii)

ERRORS IN FOOTNOTES

Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 SAN. FRAN. ATT’Y 17, 17 (2009); MICHAEL YODER, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. OF BUSINESS L. 7, at 7 (2009).

Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 SAN. FRAN. ATT’Y 17, 17 (2009); MICHAEL YODER, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. OF BUSINESS L. 7, at 7 (2009).

Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 SAN. FRAN. ATT’Y 17, 17 (2009); MICHAEL YODER, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. OF BUSINESS L. 7, at 7 (2009).

Multiple citationsRule 1.3

Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 SAN. FRAN. ATT’Y 17, 17 (2009); MICHAEL YODER, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. OF BUSINESS L. 7, at 7 (2009).

Periodicals, Author TypefaceRule 16.2

Small Caps

Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 SAN. FRAN. ATT’Y 17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. OF BUSINESS L. 7, at 7 (2009).

Periodicals, Author TypefaceRule 16.2

Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 SAN. FRAN. ATT’Y 17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. OF BUSINESS L. 7, at 7 (2009).

AbbreviationsTables 13, 10

Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 S.F. ATT’Y 17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. BUS. L. 7, at 7 (2009).

AbbreviationsTables 13, 10

Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 S.F. ATT’Y 17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. BUS. L. 7, at 7 (2009).

Pinpoint pages, (non)consecutive paginationRules 16.4 & 16.5, 3.2(a)

Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 S.F. ATT’Y 17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. BUS. L. 7, 7 (2009).

Pinpoint pages, (non)consecutive paginationRules 16.4 & 16.5, 3.2(a)

TIPS

Before the Write-on

Get familiar with the structure and content of the Bluebook

Before the Write-on

Review rules 1-9, especially quotations and footnote placement

Will be helpful for spotting & correcting errors in text

Before the Write-on

Review rules 19-20 for foreign & international citations

25% of citations will be to foreign & international materials

Before the Write-on

Practice if you have time

Try the LexisNexis Interactive Citation Workstation

Bluebook tutorial at http://tinyurl.com/nynwn7l

During the Write-on

Don’t stress out about or overthink the citation exercise

They aren’t out to trick you

During the Write-on

But don’t blow off the citation exercise either

Note writing scores are often very close – At 20% of your total write-on score,

your performance on the citation exercise can make the difference

During the Write-on

Don’t leave the citation exercise until the very end when you’re

burnt out & pressed for time

Use it as a break from note writing

During the Write-on

Keep the grading rubric in mind

1 pt deducted for failing to correct error½ pt deducted for changing something that

was already correct

If in doubt, correct it

ASK A LIBRARIAN

Questions?

http://library.law.wisc.edu/help/