The Bluebook v. California Style Manual

For many years, the California Style Manual has served as the official guide for styling

citations to legal materials in documents filed with state courts in California. Effective

January 1, 2008, however, California Rule of Court, Rule 1.200 provides:

Citations to cases and other authorities in all documents filed in the courts must be in the

style established by either the California Style Manual or The Bluebook: A Uniform

System of Citation, at the option of the party filing the document. The same style must be

used consistently throughout the document.

Regardless of the citation style used, you should ensure that your citations are formatted

consistently in accordance with the rules of the citation style selected as well as any local

rules in your jurisdiction that may apply.

Although Rule 1.200 authorizes parties to choose their preferred citation style, some

California courts continue to recommend use of the citation style set forth in the

California Style Manual. For those students who will be practicing in firms or appearing

before judges that prefer the citation system established by the California Style Manual, a

comparison chart showing several rules and examples of commonly used citations in

Bluebook and California Style Manual form are provided on the following pages. If your

judge or court has not stated a preference for the citation style of the California Style

Manual, you may default to the Bluebook citation style.

NOTE: when using the Bluebook style of citation for legal documents, make sure you

also refer to the Bluepages in the Bluebook, which may be found at the beginning of the

text.

Document

The Bluebook (19th ed.)

California Style Manual (4th ed.)

Case citations

See Rule B4 – B4.2

See §§ 1:1 – 1:37

U.S. Supreme Court

case

Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98

(2000)

(Bush v. Gore (2000) 531 U.S. 98.)

U.S. Court of

Appeals case

Craig v. United States, 81

F.2d 816 (9th Cir. 1936)

(Craig v. United States (9th Cir.

1936) 81 F.2d 816.)

U.S. District Court

Dworkin v. Hustler

(Dworkin v. Hustler Magazine, Inc.

case

Magazine, Inc., 611

F.Supp. 781 (D.C.Wyo.

1985)

(D.C.Wyo. 1985) 611 F.Supp. 781.)

Cal. Supreme Court

case

Waller v. Truck Ins.

Exchange, Inc., 900 P.2d

619 (Cal. 1995)

(Waller v. Truck Ins. Exchange, Inc.

(1995) 11 Cal.4th 1.)

Cal. Court of Appeal

case

City of Stanton v. Cox, 255

Cal. Rptr. 682 (Ct. App.

1989)

(City of Stanton v. Cox (1989) 207

Cal.App.3d 1557.)

Subsequent

references to a case

in the same

paragraph where no

intervening

authorities have been

cited

Id.

-OR-

Id. at p. X.

Ibid. is used to refer to an identical

citation within a paragraph when no

intervening authority has been cited.

The signal id. at p. X is used to refer

to an earlier citation with a different

point page. Ibid. and id. may not be

used when the citation was first

cited in a string citation.

Subsequent

references to a case

in the same

paragraph where

intervening

authorities have been

cited

Waller, 900 P.2d at 620.

Use the signal supra, together with

the case title and point page. to refer

to an earlier citation within a

paragraph.

Case reference in

text when case

already cited::

Plaintiffs rely on Waller for

reversal.

Plaintiffs rely on Waller, supra, 11

Cal.4th at page 23, for reversal.

Constitutions,

statutes, and rules

citations

See Rule B5.1 – B6

See §§ 2.1 – 2:50

U.S. Constitution

U.S. Const. art. I, § 5, cl. 3

(U.S. Const., art. I, § 5, cl. 3.)

State Constitution

Cal. Const., art. VI, § 10

(Cal. Const., art. VI, § 10.)

Federal Statute

Comprehensive

Environmental Response,

Compensation, and

Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. §§

9601-9675 (2000)

(7 U.S.C. §§ 9601-9675.)

State Statute

Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§

16700 -16703 (West 2000)

(Bus. & Prof. Code, § 16700 et

seq.)

State Rule of Court

Cal. R. 8.200(a)(5)

(Cal. Rules of Court, rule

8.200(a)(5).)

Secondary Sources

See rule B8-9 – B9.2

See §§ 3:1 – 3:15

Treatise or

encyclopedia

7 Cal. Jur. 3d Attorneys at

Law § 43 (1989)

(7 Cal.Jur.3d (1989) Attorneys at

Law, § 43.)

Law review article

Sewali K. Patel,

Immunizing Internet

Service Providers From

Third Party Internet

Defamation Claims: How

Far Should Courts Go?, 55

Vand. L.Rev. 647, 684

(2002)

(Patel, Immunizing Internet Service

Providers From Third Party

Internet Defamation Claims: How

Far Should Courts Go? (2002) 55

Vand. L.Rev. 647, 684.)

Book

Jeremy Rifkin, The Biotech

Century 137-139 (1998)

(Rifkin, The Biotech Century

(1998) pp. 137-139.)

Graciously shared by Vicki Steiner, UCLA: URL:

http://libguides.law.ucla.edu/researchandwritingguide > Common Legal Citations