Avoiding Plagiarism: How do I Cite a Legal Source

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Avoiding Plagiarism How do I Cite a Legal
Source

• Masters of Science in Health Law Program
• Presentation Created by Prof. Stephanie Feldman
  Aleong

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Plagiarism includes

• Failure to attribute words or ideas which are not
  your own original thought in or after any
  sentence you write.

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How do you avoid plagiarism?

• By placing references within or at the end of
  each sentence that contains words or ideas that
  are not your own original thought.
• Basic legal citation, often referred to as
  Bluebook style, can be helpful to communicate
  the identity of the source to which you are
  referring.

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The Basics of Legal Citation

• You will NOT need to become an expert on using
  Bluebook style
• You will ONLY learn the basic principles of a FEW
  legal source citations
• You DO NOT have to be perfect at this skill to
  be a wonderful MSHL student.
• This is ONLY a helpful way for you to communicate
  to your reader 1) the identity of your source of
  authority, and 2) how your reader might locate
  the source to which you refer.

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The Sources of legal authority you will find in
this presentation

• Cases/Judicial Opinions
• Statutesstate and federal
• Federal Regulations
• Law Review or Law Journal articles

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Citing Cases

• The basic information included in any citation to
  a case usually includes
• The case namegenerally the last name of the
  FIRST litigant listed for EACH SIDE of the legal
  dispute, with a v. for versus separating the
  names.
• The volume number of the book in which the case
  can be found.
• The name of the reporter (the legal book) in
  which the case can be found.
• The page number of the book on which the case
  begins
• The COURT name that decided the case.
• The year in which the case was decided

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Citing Cases

• A STATE COURT EXAMPLE
• Vasquez v. Jones, 503 So. 2d 499 (Fla. 2006).
• Vasquez v. Jones is the case name.
• 503 is the volume of the reporter (legal book)
  in which the case can be found.
• So. 2d is the abbreviation for the NAME of the
  reporter (the Southern Second).
• 499 is the FIRST page in the reporter on which
  the case can be found.
• Fla. is the abbreviation for the Florida Supreme
  Court who decided the case.
• 2006 is the year in which the case was decided.

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Citing Cases

• A Supreme Court example
• Johnson v. Texas, 127 S. Ct. 557 (2006).
• Johnson v. Texas is the case name.
• 127 is the VOLUME of the reporter in which he
  case can be found.
• S. Ct. is the ABBREVIATION for the reporter (the
  Supreme Court Reporter) in which the case can be
  found.
• 557 is the FIRST page in the reporter on which
  the case can be found.
• THE SUPREME COURT IS FUNNYyou dont include an
  abbreviation for that court in the parentheses.
• 2006 is the year in which the case was decided.

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Citing Cases

• An federal court example
• Johns v. Ramsey, 503 F.2d 221 (11th Cir. 2002).
• Johns v. Ramsey is the CASE NAME.
• 503 is the VOLUME of the reporter in which the
  case can be found.
• F.2d is the ABBREVIATION of the reporter (the
  Federal Second) in which the case can be found.
• 221 is the FIRST page on which the case can be
  found.
• 11th Cir. Is the abbreviation for he COURT (the
  Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals) that decided
  the case.
• 2002 is the YEAR in which the case was decided.

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Citing Cases

• How will you know how to abbreviate words in a
  case name if there are companies rather than
  people involved?
• ANSWER When you click on the tab Abbreviations
  and Omissions Used in Citation, there is a great
  list of the abbreviations used in case names
  under the heading Words in Case Names at
• http//www.law.cornell.edu/citation/

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Citing Cases

• How will you know how to abbreviate the
  reporter (the legal book in which the cases are
  found) and the court who decided the case in a
  citation?
• ANSWER When you click on the tab Abbreviations
  and Omissions Used in Citation, there is a great
  list of the abbreviations used for reporters and
  for courts under the heading Reporters and
  Courts at
• http//www.law.cornell.edu/citation/

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Citing Statutes

• The basic information included in a citation to a
  statute usually includes
• For federal statutes, the title of the statute
  (like a volume )
• The Abbreviation for the state or federal
  code/group of statutes to which you are referring
• The Section of the statute to which you are
  referring
• The year in which the statute book/source was
  published/codified in which you found the statute

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Citing Statutes

• A State Statute Example
• Fla. Stat. 316.193 (2007).
• Fla. Stat. is the abbreviation for Florida
  Statute.
• is the symbol for section.
• 316.193 is the number of the section to which the
  writer is referring.
• In parentheses, 2007 is the year in which the
  statute book/internet edition you used to find
  the statute.

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Citing Statutes

• A federal statute example
• 21 U.S.C.A. 1100 (2007).
• 21 is the title of the code in which the
  statute appears.
• U.S.C.A. is the abbreviation for the United
  States Code Annotated, which the writer found on
  Westlaw.com.
• The is the symbol for section.
• 1100 is the actual section of the statute to
  which the writer is referring.
• In parentheses, 2007 is the year in which the
  internet cite was published/updated where the
  writer found the statute.

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Citing Statutes

• How will you know how to abbreviate the different
  federal and state codes/groups of statutes in a
  citation?
• ANSWER There is a GREAT list of abbreviations
  for state and federal statutes which can be found
  at
• http//legalcitation.net/quikstatcodelist.htm

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Citing Federal Regulations

• The basic citation for any federal regulation
  usually includes
• For federal regulations, the title number
• The abbreviation for the name of the regulation
• The section number of he regulation
• The date of the regulation edition cited

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Citing Federal Regulations

• An example
• 29 C.F.R. 203.5 (2004).
• 29 is the title number.
• C.F.R. is the abbreviation for the Code of
  Federal Regulations
• is the symbol for section.
• 203.5 is the number of the section to which the
  writer is referring.
• In parentheses, 2004 is the date of the edition
  of the regulation to which the writer is
  referring.

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Citing Law Review/Journal articles

• The basic citation for a law review/journal
  article usually includes
• The authors name
• The title of the article
• The volume number of the edition of the journal n
  which the article was published
• The abbreviation for the name of the law journal
• The page number on which the article begins
• The year in which that edition of the journal was
  published.

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Citing Law Review/Journal articles

• An example
• James Wilson Harshaw III, Not Enough Time? The
  Constitutionality of Short Statutes of
  Limitations for Civil Child Sexual Abuse
  Litigation, 50 Ohio St. L.J. 753 (1989).
• James Wilson Harshaw III is h authors name.
• Not Enough Time. . . is the title of the
  article.
• 50 is the volume number of the law journal in
  which the article can be found.
• Ohio St. L.J. is the abbreviation for the Ohio
  State Law Journal.
• 753 is the first page on which the article can be
  found.
• 1989 is the year in which this edition was
  published.

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Citing Law Review/Journal articles

• How will you know how to abbreviate the different
  names of the law reviews or journals?
• ANSWER There is a great list of the
  abbreviations for the most commonly-cited legal
  periodicals at
• http//legalcitation.net/qperiod.htm

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REMEMBER. . .

• You do not need to cite perfectly!
• You are citing to show proper credit to the
  source of the ideas you are presenting.
• You are citing to show your reader where he or
  she could find the sources to which you refer.
• Just give it your best effort!