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| ALWD Guide to Legal Citation | |
|---|---|
| Name | ALWD Guide to Legal Citation |
| Author | ALWD |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Legal citation |
| Publisher | Aspen Publishers |
| Pub date | First edition 2000 |
ALWD Guide to Legal Citation is a comprehensive manual for citation practice in legal writing used primarily in the United States and Canada. It provides standardized rules for citing cases, statutes, treaties, administrative materials, international instruments, and secondary sources, aiming to simplify citation relative to competing manuals. Prominent legal scholars, court clerks, law librarians, and bar examiners consult it alongside judicial opinions and institutional style guides.
The guide presents a system for citing authoritative sources such as United States Reports, Federal Reporter, Supreme Court of Canada, European Court of Human Rights, and instruments like the Geneva Conventions and the Treaty of Westminster. It addresses citation of primary materials including decisions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, briefs filed in the International Criminal Court, and statutory texts from legislatures like the United States Congress and the Parliament of Canada. For secondary literature the guide covers citations to works by scholars affiliated with institutions such as Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, Columbia Law School, and publishers including Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. The manual gives attention to practical users in settings tied to the American Bar Association, law reviews at University of Chicago Law School, and reference services at the Library of Congress.
The guide was developed by the Association of Legal Writing Directors and saw its first edition around the turn of the twenty-first century, emerging amid debates involving authorities like the editors of Harvard Law Review, members of the American Law Institute, and committees of the American Bar Association. Subsequent editions responded to changes in citation practice exemplified by decisions in the Supreme Court of the United States, guidance from the Federal Judicial Center, and evolving formats used by publishers such as Wolters Kluwer and Thomson Reuters. Later versions incorporated trends reflected in scholarship from contributors at Georgetown University Law Center, New York University School of Law, and Boston University School of Law. Revision cycles often paralleled updates to resources used by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School and standards debated at meetings of the Association of American Law Schools.
Rules cover citation of case reporters like the Federal Supplement, legislative materials from bodies such as the Texas Legislature and Ontario Legislative Assembly, administrative materials from agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission, and international documentation from the United Nations General Assembly and the World Trade Organization. The guide specifies formats for author names linked to institutions such as Georgetown University, multivolume works published by Routledge, and periodical citations from journals like the Yale Law Journal, Harvard Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Virginia Law Review, and Stanford Law Review. It prescribes signals and parenthetical explanatory material similar to practice addressed in memos prepared for courts including the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and filings at the International Court of Justice. The manual treats pin cites, short forms, and treatment of online sources hosted by entities like the Legal Information Institute and academic repositories at HeinOnline.
Unlike the collaborative editorial structure behind The Bluebook produced by entities including the Columbia Law Review and the Harvard Law Review, the guide reflects the priorities of the Association of Legal Writing Directors and places emphasis on pedagogical clarity for programs at American University Washington College of Law and George Washington University Law School. The guide contrasts with The Bluebook in approaches to abbreviations used for courts such as the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and reporters like the Atlantic Reporter; it offers alternative rules for citations to international tribunals such as the European Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Debates between proponents at institutions like Duke University School of Law and critics at Princeton University have highlighted divergence in signals, short forms, and electronic citation conventions adopted by publishers including LexisNexis.
Adoption has varied: some law schools such as University of Idaho College of Law and programs at Syracuse University College of Law endorse it for assessment in legal writing courses, while judicial chambers in certain state courts like those in California and professional offices including the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia have used its rules. Law review staffs at journals like the Georgetown Law Journal and clinics at University of Michigan Law School consult it alongside institutional manuals at the National Association for Law Placement. Bar examiners in jurisdictions influenced by bodies like the National Conference of Bar Examiners and legal clinics at University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School reference its standards for student submissions.
Critics associated with editorial boards of journals such as the Harvard Law Review and commentators from institutions like Brookings Institution have argued that differences from The Bluebook create fragmentation in citation practice. Some commentators at the Brennan Center for Justice and the Cato Institute note challenges for multi-jurisdictional practitioners when courts cite reporters like the Federal Reporter inconsistently. Advocates from Association of American Law Schools member faculties and librarians at the New York Public Library praise its clarity and useability in legal writing pedagogy, while others at the American Association of Law Libraries identify gaps in coverage for specialized materials such as tribal codes from the Navajo Nation.
Educational adoption includes syllabi at Georgetown University Law Center, workshops hosted by the American Bar Association, and instructional guides from the Legal Writing Institute and the Association of Legal Writing Directors itself. Supplementary resources appear in collections at the Library of Congress, digital archives like HeinOnline, and in training materials used by clinics at University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, University of Texas School of Law, and Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. Faculty from Boston College Law School, Emory University School of Law, and Vanderbilt University Law School incorporate its exercises into courses, while continuing legal education providers such as Practising Law Institute offer seminars on its application.
Category:Legal citation guides