Writing legal citations
Supreme Judicial Court Style Manual, SJC Office of the Reporter of Decisions, 2016-2017
"The manual may be useful to those preparing appellate briefs."
The University of Chicago Manual of Legal Citation (The Maroonbook), 2018 edition
Designed as an alternative to the Bluebook, "the Maroonbook, as this manual is commonly called, offers a simple, malleable framework for citation, one which authors and editors can tailor to suit their purposes."
Reading legal citations
General guide
Reading Legal Citations, Boston College Law Library. This is a great source on how to read legal citations in general.
Quick guide to understanding Massachusetts citations
The information below is a "quick and dirty" guide to common Massachusetts citation forms and what they mean. In most cases, they are not the proper forms for citing sources in a legal document. These will help you read, but not write, Massachusetts citations.
Statutes
Citations to Massachusetts laws will typically look like 1 of the following:
M.G.L. ch.93A §1
M.G.L.A. ch.93A §1
A.L.M. ch.93A §1
All of these refer to Massachusetts General Laws, chapter 93A, section 1. The different abbreviations simply refer to the same laws published by different companies.
Cases
The most common case citations are to Mass. Reports, Mass. Appeals Court Reports, or the Northeastern Reporter. These look something like this:
Tyree v. Keane, 400 Mass. 1, 507 N.E.2d 742 (1987).
This refers to volume 400 of Massachusetts Reports, page 1 or volume 507 of Northeastern Reporter 2d, page 742. The same case is found in those 2 locations. The Mass. citation is the "official cite," the NE2d citation is the "unofficial" citation. When sources talk about "parallel" citations, they mean different citations to the same case. This is the same case appearing in 2 different books. The unofficial reporter includes some additional editorial content, but the text of the case itself is exactly the same as in the official.
Comm. v. Thomas, 19 Mass. App. Ct. 1, 471 N.E.2d 376 (1984)
Similarly, this refers to volume 19 of the Massachusetts Appeals Court Reports, page 1 or volume 471 of Northeastern Reporter 2d, page 376.
Regulations
Usually, references to Massachusetts regulations will look like:
102 CMR 2.00
This is Title 102 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, section 2.00.
Print sources
- ALWD Guide to Legal Citation, Association of Legal Writing Directors, 2014.
- The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, Harvard Law Review Association, 2015
Drinking Underage Underage Drinking Drinking Drinkaware Underage Drinkaware The "bible" of legal citation - Legal writing and analysis in a nutshell, West, 2017
- Legal Writing Citation in a Nutshell, West, 2008
Extensively covers Bluebook and ALWD forms - Legal Writing Skills Workshop for the Paralegal, MCLE, 2008
- Prince's Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, Hein, 2009
- Prince's Dictionary of Legal Citations, Hein, 2017
- User's Guide to the Bluebook, Hein, 2010
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Last updated: | April 18, 2018 |
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