Legal Source Attribution

A system for precisely indicating the location of authority for statements of law or fact within legal documents. It enables efficient verification of claims and allows readers to locate and examine the primary sources supporting an argument or proposition.

Components of a Reference

• Case Names: Parties involved in a judicial dispute, typically formatted as Plaintiff v. Defendant.
• Volume Number: Indicates the specific volume within a multi-volume series.
• Reporter Abbreviation: A standardized abbreviation representing the specific law report series containing the full text of the decision (e.g., U.S. for United States Reports).
• Page Number: The specific page within the volume where the cited material begins.
• Court Designation (if applicable): Clarifies which court issued the ruling, particularly when multiple courts' decisions are included in a single reporter.
• Year of Decision (if applicable): Indicates when the legal determination was made.
• Subsequent History (if applicable): Details if the case was appealed, affirmed, reversed, or had other legal actions taken, affecting its precedential value.

Common Legal Source Types

• Court Decisions (Case Law): Judicial opinions from federal and state courts.
• Statutes: Laws enacted by legislative bodies (e.g., United States Code (U.S.C.), state statutes).
• Constitutions: The fundamental governing documents of a jurisdiction.
• Regulations: Rules promulgated by administrative agencies (e.g., Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.)).
• Legislative Materials: Congressional reports, hearings, and debates related to the creation of statutes.
• Treaties: Agreements between nations.
• Secondary Sources: Legal treatises, law review articles, and other scholarly works analyzing legal issues.

Uniform System of Referencing

Legal fields generally follow standardized style guides, notably The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Referencing and the ALWD Guide to Legal Referencing. These guides provide detailed rules for formatting references based on the specific source type.

Purpose and Importance

• Attribution: Ascribes ideas and information to their original sources, avoiding plagiarism and upholding academic integrity.
• Verification: Allows readers to independently verify the accuracy and validity of legal claims.
• Precedent Identification: Facilitates the discovery and analysis of relevant legal precedent.
• Authority: Establishes the strength and reliability of legal arguments.