CITATION FORM

US Supreme Court

CITATION FORM

US Court of Appeals

CITATION FORM

US District Court

CITATION FORM

 State Cases

• Not to be confused with a legal brief

• Merely a summary of a case

• All lawyers use some form of the process in doing their research.

Keep it short

Read the whole case

Print out the case and make notes and highlights during read through

Ignore headnotes when briefing a case

Case Name

Case Citation

Procedural history

Summary of previous holdings

Statement of Facts

Issues

Holding

Reasoning

Disposition

Objective; state good and bad; used to determine sterngths and weaknesses of a case

Headings.

Statement of Facts.

Questions presented.

Brief conclusion in response to the questions presented.

Discussion and analysis of the facts and the applicable law.

Conclusion.

The pleading made by a plaintiff or a charge made by the state alleging wrongdoing on the part of the defendant.

caption

jurisdictional allegations

general allegations

prayer for relief

signature

demand for jury trial

affidavit

Bluebook v. ALWD

Case names

Very similar

Exceptions:

• ALWD Rule 12.6(b) requires you to include available info about depts., districts, or divisions
• Bluebook does not

Bluebook v. ALWD

US Supreme Court Cases

ALWD permits parallel citations

Bluebook does not

Bluebook v. ALWD

Abbreviations in case names

ALWD permissive

You may abbreviate in a case name when it is a stand-alone citation.

It is traditional to spell out all words in a case name when it is in text.

Bluebook v. ALWD

Spacing

ALWD and Bluebook are identical:

No space between adjacent single capitals

Space before and after any multiple letter abbreviation

Bluebook v. ALWD

Federal cases

Bluebook v. ALWD

Subsequent history

• Include the subsequent history for the cases you cite, but…
• Omit denial of cert unless the case is less than two years old or if denial is important
• See rule 12.8(a) ALWD
• do not include info on remands or rehearings, unless it is relevant

Bluebook v. ALWD

Federal statutes

• ALWD and Bluebook are the same
• include a date parenthetical
• Name of Publisher for unofficial sets (USCA (West) or USCS (Lexis))

*The year of the code is not necessarily the year that the statute was enacted but when it was published.

Bluebook v. ALWD

State statutes

• Appendix 1 of ALWD provides format for each state’s statutes

• Remember: annotated, unofficial statutes = the publisher & year

3 punctuation marks may follow citation

• period, comma, semicolon

citations appear as complete sentences or clauses set off by commas

String Cites

• if you cite more than one authority in support of a proposition, separate each by semicolon and a space.

• generally disfavored

Quotations

• You will find that sometimes you want to quote directly from an authority.

• always provide the exact page on which a quote appears

• pinpoint cite, pin cite, spot cite

Pinpoint Citation

• right after the page on which the case or article begins, separated by a comma

Parallel Cites

• If the local rules require a parallel cite, you must include the page number in each parallel cite.

Long Quotation

Quotations in text

• Quotations that are longer than 50 words are double-indented.

Non-indented quotations

• begin with quotation marks

• commas and periods inside quotes

• other punctuation only if they are quoted

Indented quotes

• ALWD Rule 47.5
• double-indent
• single-spaced
• separate block quote with spaces above and below
• The citation for the block quote does not appear in the block.

Alterations of quotes

• Anytime that you change a quote you have to tell the reader
  • use brackets
  • capitalizing
  • omitting plurals

[sic]

original quote has a mistake

Adding emphasis

If emphasize something that was on in the original, need to let the reader know.

Omitting citations

• ALWD Rule  49.3

• If you omit citations, you must tell the reader.

Ellipses

• If you omit a word or phrase from a quote, let the reader know by using an ellipses
• Separate periods by spaces
• Never start a quote with an ellipses
• If you omit the first part, just capitalize the first letter in brackets.
• Use if omitting from middle of quote
• use if omitting from end of quote followed by space, followed by end punctuation.
• When using quoted language as phrase, don’t worry about ellipses.

Citation Signals

• see, but see, contra, e.g.
• Signals are used BEFORE your citation and may or may not be capitalized.
• capitalize signal at beginning of sentence
• underscored and italicized unless they are used as verbs in ordinary sentences
• If you are going to use them, explain parenthetically why.

Short Form Citations

• Once you have cited an authority in full, you can use the short form later in your writing.
• may be used if:
  • it is clear
  • has appeared in same general discussion and if the reader will be able to locate the earlier citation readily
• ALWD  12.21
• Once you have given full citation, you can use one of the parties’ names without further citation.
  • Generally, use plaintiff’s name unless it is common like “United States” or “People”.

Statutes

ALWD Rule 14.6

Constitutions

ALWD Rule 13.4

Books & Periodicals

ALWD Rule 22.2

• Id. takes you to the immediately preceding authority

• Use “id. at (Page#)” if different page number

• Only official reporter uses id., regional reporter is repeated.

below, look to later authorities, but not primary authorities.

Effective Writing

Plain English Movement

Purpose

Audience

Word Choice

Clarity

Negatives

Readability (active voice)

Lists

Brevity

Order

general correspondence

informative

demand

opinion

o   set for the client’s demands

o   collection letters

o   demand to take action

o   be firm, not nasty

o   introduce the firm

o   recite the facts

o   set forth the demand

o   inform the consequence of non-compliance

o   date of compliance

o   know the facts

o   know the law – do research if necessary

o   do not correspond with someone represented by counsel

o   conform with applicable statutes

o   don’t argue the case

o   follow through

o   letters with legal advice must be signed by attorneys

o   written to client

o   review of facts

o   make sure client has given you the correct facts

o   conclusions

o   state conclusion and follow with explanation

o   use “we” rather than “I”

o   explain the conclusion

o   recommendation

o   unethical to guarantee anything

o   instructions

o   protection clause

o   if you need more info, you need to warn the client your advice may change.

How do I use authorities?

• not enough just to locate cases and summarize
• discuss how authorities relate to problem
• compare facts of cases to client’s issue
• explain why case applies

IRAC

Issue – question being asked, introduce
Rule – legal authority
- if you rely on a case, give enough facts to let regular know it applies to this situation
- at least one primary authority
Analysis
- explain why rule does or does not apply to the circumstances
- compare and contract with your own facts
Conclusion
- wrap up analysis by stating the conclusion or answer
- after analysis, provide a brief conclusion highlighting the answers you found earlier

Appellate Briefs

losing party party may appeal decision

the appellant’s brief seeks some sort of relief

Appellate Components

• Notice of Appeal
• filing fee
• record on appeal (big deal for appellant)
• rules: covers, lengths, VERY stringent

appellant’s brief -> response brief -> reply brief

Standards of Appellate Review

• appellant has to show an error of law
• appellate court assumes facts are accurate
• questions of law are reviewed de novo (look at anew)
  • i.e.: manifest weight of evidence, clear & convincing evidence

Elements of Appellate Brief

Cover Page

• correct color
• name the court hearing the appeal
• names of parties and their designations
• docket number of appeal
• lower court that handled the case
• title of document
• attorneys representing the party submitting the brief

Elements of Appellate Brief

Table of Contents

• points of authorities
• must include list of EVERY authority used
• group them together
• order of appearance

Elements of Appellate Brief

Jurisdictional Statement

• why court has jurisdiction
• what rules give it jurisdiction?

Elements of Appellate Brief

Constitutional and Statutory Provisions

• if applicable
• list out all of the statutes involved

Elements of Appellate Brief

Questions Presented

• only appellant needs this
• State of Case/Facts
• must be supported by the record
• cite to the record
• present them in a persuasive manner
• set them forth like a story
• Illinois courts require a separate statement of the case: how the case got there procedurally

Elements of Appellate Brief

Argument

• heart of the document divide the brief into sections with each getting its own headings
• make sure each heading has an argument
• use CRAC
• compare and contrast authorities
• acknowledge unfavorable authorities
• policy

Elements of Appellate Brief

Conclusion

• short
• does not summarize the argument
• specify relief sought

Elements of Appellate Brief

Signature

• party’s name
• name of attorney
• address and phone number
• ARDC number for Supreme Court

Elements of Appellate Brief

Certificate of Service

• same as trial court brief
• important because of mailbox rule

Elements of Appellate Brief

Appendix

• Illinois courts require this
• certain documents must be included
• order from which you are appealing
• transcript
• anything else important to the appeal

Elements of Appellate Brief

Standard of Review

• de novo – no deference – question of law

• abuse of discretion

• manifest weight of the evidence

• harmless error

• sufficiency of the evidence

Illinois Supreme Court Rules

• Rule 341 on briefs
• margins must be 1-1/2” of left and 1” all others
• quotes of 2 or more lines may be single-spaced and double-indented
• 12 pt or larger
• 50 pages