Bluebook Tips
Todd Ito, tito@uchicago.edu
Bill Schwesig, was2@uchicago.edu
D’Angelo Law Library
Bluebook Resources
 The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Legal
Citation. 19th 3d.
 XXKF245.B59, Law Reserve
 User's Guide to the Bluebook, by Alan L.
Dworsky
 XXKF245.D853 2010, Law Reserve
 Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (online ed.
2010) by Peter W. Martin.
 http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/
Typical Case Citations: Federal
U.S. Supreme Court: Mapp v. Ohio, 367
U.S. 643 (1961).
U.S. Court of Appeals: Doe v. Renfrow,
631 F.2d 91 (7th Cir. 1980).
U.S. District Court: Picha v. Wielgos, 410
F. Supp. 1214 (N.D. Ill. 1976).
Typical Case Citations: State
Illinois Supreme Court: City of Naperville v.
Watson, 175 Ill. 2d 399 (1997).
Illinois Court of Appeals: People v. Kline,
355 Ill. App. 3d 770 (2005).
Other State Court: Lamb v. Holmes, 162
S.W.3d 902 (Ky. 2005).
Which Reporter Do I Cite?
 U.S. Supreme Court: Cite United State Reports (U.S.)
 Bound volumes and preliminary prints on HeinOnline
 For recent Supreme Court cases, cite West’s Supreme Court
Reporter (S.Ct.) or U.S. Supreme Court Reports Lawyers Edition
(L. Ed. 2d)
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Courts of Appeals: Cite F.3d or F. Appx.
District Courts: Cite F. Supp.
Illinois: Cite Ill. or Ill. App.
State Courts: Cite Regional Reporter (A., N.E., N.W., P.,
S.E., S.W., So.)
 For lower courts in California and NY, cite Cal. Rptr. and N.Y.S.
Unreported Cases
 Cite a loose-leaf service (Trade Cases, LRRM,
USPQ)
 Cite the slip opinion.
 Cite either LexisNexis or Westlaw.
 United States v. Conrad, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS
34892.
How Do I Cite a Statute?
U.S. Code: 2 U.S.C. § 150 (2006).
Illinois Compiled Statutes: 10 ILCS 5/516.2 (2008).
 NOTE: The Bluebook indicates that the Illinois
Compiled Statutes should be cited as 10 Ill. Comp.
Stat. § 5/5-16.2 (2008), which does not apply in the
state of Illinois. See 25 ILCS 135/5.04 (2008).
How Do I Cite the U.S. Constitution?
 U.S. Const. amend. IV.
 Do not include a date unless it has been repealed or
totally superseded.
LexisNexis and Westlaw Tips
 Star Pagination – reflects page breaks in original version
 Lexis has star pages for official and unofficial reporters.
 You can highlight the page breaks for the reporter you are using.
 Westlaw has star pages and images of cases from their federal
and regional reporters.
 PDF images - LexisNexis and Westlaw don’t have PDF
images of cases that have not appeared in bound
volumes. For US Supreme Court cases, there are no
PDFS for cases from about the last 3 years.
 Copy with Cite/Ref - Copies text with citation.
 Shepards and Keycite – use to get the case name (not
necessarily citation) in the correct form.
Questions?
Ask a Law Librarian