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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 February 2019
Learning the rules of legal citation is a challenge for new and seasoned legal researchers alike. Good instruction and practice are required to master these rules. Think about the first sport you learned to play. Did you master all the rules the first time you played the game? Do most people even read a rule book when learning to play a new sport? Initially, it is a challenge for any player learning the game to follow all of the rules correctly. Generally, only coaches study the rule book. The rules of the game are very important so coaches and players know what is and is not permitted “on the field.”
Most rules are disseminated orally and learned through practice. Law professors who teach legal research or supervise legal writing are the coaches in the game of legal citation; they must disseminate the rules to their students. The professors have a duty to stimulate a student's mastery of legal citation rules to meet the proficiency required of legal writing in the profession. Law students who do not master the rules of legal citation are more likely to plagiarize.
1 Notre Dame Law School Honor Code See § 2.3.2 in Appendix A.Google Scholar
2 Black's Law Dictionary 1335 (10th ed. 2014).Google Scholar
3 Black's Law Dictionary 1187 (8th ed. 2004) (quoting Paul Goldstein, Copyright's Highway: From Gutenberg to the Celestial Jukebox 12 (1994)).Google Scholar
4 Under the “fair use” copyright provisions, copyrighted materials may be reproduced for news reporting and educational use. 17 U.S.C. § 107 (2000). In particular, the fair use statute allows “the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.” Id.; Kindergartners Count, Inc v. DeMoulin, 249 F. Supp. 2d 1233, 1251-52 (D. Kan. 2003) (quoting Black's Law Dictionary 1170 (7th ed. 1999) (quoting Paul Goldstein, Copyright's Highway 12 (1994))); Robert D. Bills, Plagiarism in Law School: Close Resemblance of the Worst Kind?, 31 Santa Clara L. Rev. 103, 108-09(1990).Google Scholar
5 17 U.S.C. § 102(a), (b).Google Scholar
6 Id. §§ 107-109; Bills, supra note 4.Google Scholar
7 See Stephen Weidenborner & Domenick Caruso, Writing Research Papers: A Guide to the Process 91 (1982) (defining plagiarism as “[a] kind of theft whereby one writer steals the ideas or exact words of another writer without giving credit where it is due”).Google Scholar
8 Charles Cronin, Columbia Law Sch., Presentation at Colby College Conference on Information Ethics and Academic Honesty, Plagiarism, Copyright, Academia and Commerce 4 (Oct. 15, 2003), available at http://abacus.bates.edu/cbb/docs/Cronin.pdf.Google Scholar
9 For example, see Western State University, University of Hawaii, and Boston University School of Law. See W. State Univ. Honor Code § 201(b)(9). Western State University's Honor Code defines plagiarism as the “incorporation of written work, either word for word or in substance from any work of another, unless the student writer credits the original author and identifies the original author's work with quotation marks, notes, or other appropriate written designation.” University of Hawaii at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law, Policy on Plagiarism (2006) 2. The submission or presentation of any work, in any form, that is not a student's own, without acknowledgment of the source. A student must not appropriate ideas, facts, or language from the work of another without proper use of quotation marks, citation or other explanatory insert. Regardless of intent, the failure to properly acknowledge the use of another's work constitutes plagiarism.” Boston University School of Law Disciplinary Regulations Regarding Plagiarism. All written work, whether in preliminary or final form, submitted by a student in the course of law study, in the course of employment, or in the course of other activities, whether or not related to the study or profession of law, is assumed to be the student's own work. Anything copied or paraphrased from another author or sources must be appropriately identified, acknowledged, and attributed. The use of exact language of another without identification as a direct quotation by quotation marks or otherwise is plagiarism even though the source is cited in the student's work. Similarly, the University of Virginia has a 150-year-old honor code, which is absolute. The Honor Committee University of Virginia recently passed guidelines regarding paraphrasing and plagiarism. Mark Gruntz and another college student, Allison Routman, were expelled from the Semester at Sea program for violating the university's honor code. See Susan Kinzie, An Education in the Dangers of Online Research, Wash. Post, Aug. 10, 2008, at C5, available at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/08/09/AR2008080901453_pf.html. Gruntz had failed to sufficiently cite Wikipedia in a paper about a movie. Id. Some of the students at the university were outraged and formed a petition protesting the verdict, while others felt that it was justified. Id. The debate was partly generational between those who grew up with the Internet versus those who did not. Id. Many “baby” Internet users thought the punishment was too harsh. Regardless of the spectators’ opinions, the verdict stood. Id.Google Scholar
10 See analysis from Texas directors & AALL list serve; Terri LeClercq, Failure to Teach: Due Process and Law School Plagiarism, 49 J. LEGAL EDUC. 236, 236 (1999); see Plagiarism Resources, Legal Writing Inst., http://wiki.lwionline.org/index.php/ Plagiarism (last visited Jan. 1, 2014).Google Scholar
11 I have had discussions with several other law librarians and law professors over the years. The comments provided are from Elizabeth M. (Betsy) McKenzie, Professor of Law, Suffolk University Law School, BA, Transylvania University; JD, MSLS; email on file with author.Google Scholar
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13 Law Library Directors Listserve Julie Clement, Charles Calleros, Ralph Brill, Mary Barnard, and Jane Scott.Google Scholar
14 Survey question posted by Irene Crisci on the AALL Academic Law Libraries SIS Digest on April 9, 2013;Google Scholar
15 Spencer Simon, Director of the Law Library and Associate Professor of Law O'Quinn Law Library University of Houston Law Center.Google Scholar
16 David Cowan, Professor of Law and Director of the Library Services and Vice President, South Texas Law School, retired.Google Scholar
17 Gail Daly, Associate Dean for Library and Technology and Associate Professor of Law Underwood Administrative Offices.Google Scholar
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19 Id.; see also Legal Writing Inst., Law School Plagiarism v. Proper Attribution, available at http://www.tsulaw.edu/student_affairs/docs/plagiarism.pdf 2003.Google Scholar
20 Ronald B. Standler, Plagiarism in Colleges in USA: Legal Aspects of Plagiarism, Academic Policy (2012), available at http://www.rbs2.com/plag.pdf (accessed Jan. 17, 2013).Google Scholar
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22 Plagiarism is not the only form of academic misconduct committed by students. Anytime a student's work impedes the professor's ability to correctly assess the student's academic performance, it warrants some measure of punishment. If a student submits a paper, copying or paraphrasing all the material and correctly attributing the sources, then it would not be plagiarism. However, the paper would lack “original thought” and warrant a failing grade because it would impair a professor's ability to assess the student's academic performance. Mary M. McCormick, Plagiarism, Lack of Original Thought, Double-Dipping, and Student Drafts 6 (2007), available at http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/databases/pdf/plagiarism.pdf. Further, when a student submits the same or slightly-reworked paper in two different courses this also prevents the faculty member from assessing the student's academic performance in the current class. Id. Such double-dipping is not allowed in course work; however, law schools, most publishers, law reviews and journals allow a paper to be recycled, if it is “of sufficiently greater scope or depth.” Id. at 7.Google Scholar
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26 See Doe v. Conn. Bar Examining Comm., 818 A.2d 14 (Conn. 2003).Google Scholar
27 Beauchene v. Miss. Coll., 986 F. Supp. 2d 755 (S.D. Miss. 2013).Google Scholar
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42 In Di Lella v. Univ. of D.C. David A. Clarke Sch. of Law, 570 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C. 2008).Google Scholar
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46 Seitz-Partridge v. Loyola Univ. of Chi., 987 N.E.2d 34 (Ill. App. Ct. 2013).Google Scholar
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54 Hart v. Univ. of Scranton, 838 F. Supp. 2d 324, 325 (M.D. Penn. 2011).Google Scholar
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58 Wayne, Jaber v., State Univ. Bd. of Governors, 788 F. Supp. 2d 572, 573 (E.D. Mich. 2011).Google Scholar
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63 Id.Google Scholar
64 Gilbert v. Des Moines Area Cmty. Coll., 495 F.3d 906, 912 (8th Cir. 2007).Google Scholar
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66 Id. at 913.Google Scholar
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69 Chicago survey of law firm issues with new student's arguments judges often stops presentations and request the authority. First year students participating in the law review write-on process are eager to learn citing in law review articles, footnotes, or endnotes. Also, a 1994 survey of Texas appellate judges and clerks concluded that “'citation form [was] so wrong as to be distracting'” and in a 2003 survey the judges polled found citation mistakes to be common problems in legal writing. Wayne Schiess, Ethical Legal Writing, 21 Rev. Litig. 527, 536 (2002) (quoting Pamela Stanton Baron & Douglas W. Alexander, Briefing to the Texas Courts of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court—Avoiding Common Mistakes, Fourth Annual Conference on Techniques for Handling Civil Appeals in State and Federal Court 15 (Univ. Tex. Sch. Law 1994)); Ian Gallacher, Cite Unseen: How Neutral Citation and America's Law Schools Can Cure Our Strange Devotion to Bibliographical Orthodoxy and the Constriction of Open and Equal Access to the Law, College of Law Faculty Scholarship (2007), available at http://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=lawpub. In particular, they determined the absence of citation error more important than the absence of punctuation or spelling errors. Gallacher, 2 n.9 (quoting Susan H. Kosse & David ButleRitchie, How Judges, Practitioners, and Legal Writers Teachers Assess the Writing Skills of New Law Graduates: A Comparative Study, 53 J. Legal Educ. 80, 90 (2003)).Google Scholar
70 E.g, Kapco Mfg. Co. v. C & O Enters., Inc., 886 F.2d 1485, 1496 (7th Cir. 1989) (sanctioning an attorney whose “briefs misrepresented propositions of law in legal treatises and misrepresented facts”); Wallace Computers Servs., Inc. v. David Noyes & Co., No. 93 C 6005, 1994 WL 75201, at *1 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 9, 1994) (trial court chastised defense counsel for repeatedly citing authority “in an inappropriate, out of context manner”); Federated Mut. Ins. Co. v. Anderson, 991 P.2d 915, 922 (Mont. 1999) (dismissing appeal for, among other reasons, inaccurate citations to authority); Carrier v. Salt Lake Cnty., 104 P.3d 1208, 1213-14 (Utah 2004) (discussing whether to strike pleadings as a result of inaccurate record citations and inadequate citation of legal authority).Google Scholar
71 See Judith D Fischer, The Role of Ethics in Legal Writing: The Forensic Embroiderer, the Minimalist Wizard, and Other Stories, 9 Scribes J. Legal Writing 77, 77 (2003) (citing Tyler v. State, 47 P.3d 1095, 1108 (Alaska Ct. App. 2001)).Google Scholar
72 See In re Lamberis, 443 N.E.2d 549, 553 (Ill. 1982). This Illinois Supreme Court censured an attorney for incorporating nearly verbatim two published works into his L.L.M. thesis without attribution. Id. The court found that the plagiarism could not go undisciplined because honesty is a fundamental function of the legal profession. Id. In Iowa, an attorney was suspended for six months and ordered to pay the costs of the disciplinary action. Iowa Sup. Ct. Bd. of Prof l Ethics & Conduct, 642 N.W.2d 296, 302 (Iowa 2002). The attorney copied 18 published pages from a treatise into his brief and then sought $16,000 in attorney's fees for 80 hours of work preparing the brief. Id. at 298. When the judge questioned the brief's content, Lane attempted to conceal his actions. He was found guilty of plagiarism, for attempting to deceive the court, and, thereby, “jeopard[izing] the integrity of the Bar and the public's trust of the legal profession.” Id. at 302. Also, in USA Clio Biz, Inc. N.Y. State Dep't of Labor, an attorney was ordered to show cause why he should not be sanctioned for his brief that repeated large sections almost verbatim from another brief. No. 97 CV 250, 1998 WL 57176 (E.D.N.Y. Jan. 3, 1998). In Dewilde v. Guy Gannett Publ'g Co., the attorney copied large portions of his opposing counsel's memorandum into his brief. 797 F. Supp. 55 (D. Me. 1992). In Federated Mutual Insurance Co. v. Anderson, 920 P.2d 97 (Mont. 1996), a law firm was sanctioned for providing misleading and selective quotations that were often taken out of context or omitted a critical phrase, and for citing cases that supported the opposite proposition for which they were cited. Id. at 102. In Columbus Bar Ass ‘n v. Farmer, 855 N.E.2d 462 (Ohio 2006), Respondent Farmer filed a brief, which was a nearly verbatim recasting of the brief prepared by the previous attorney on the case. Id. at 465. The panel suspended the attorney for two years, required him to refund his client all but $1,000 of the $8,915 fee collected and ordered him to pay the cost of the proceeding. Id. In In re Hinden, 654 A.2d 864 (D.C. 1995), an attorney was reprimanded for pasting ten pages from an A.L.R. annotation into his brief without citation. The court was particularly annoyed by the attorney's thrown-together brief that aided neither the lawyer's client nor the court. In Alamo v. Puerto Rico, No. 05-1955, 2006 WL 1716422 (D.P.R. June 19, 2006), Mr. Nolla-Acosta, counsel for plaintiff, submitted a brief that contained more than seven pages of text copied nearly word-for-word from another supreme court's opinion, without any citation to that case. Id. The court found the plagiarism, “for which we can only guess Mr. Nolla-Acosta actually billed his client, is unacceptable.” In this case, the attorney violated two major rules, because he plagiarized and then provided an unearned fee for the disservice.Google Scholar
73 In re Brennan, 447 N.W.2d 712, 714 (Mich. 1989).Google Scholar
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75 Vice President Joe Biden presents the best example of how plagiarism can haunt one for a lifetime. In 1965, Biden committed his first act of plagiarism as a first year law student at Syracuse University College of Law. E. J. Dionne Jr., Biden Admits Plagiarism in School But Says It Was Not ‘Malevolent,' N.Y. TIMES, Sept. 18, 1987, available at http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/18/us/biden-admits-plagiarism-in-school-but-says-it-was-not-malevolent.html.Biden plagiarized part of a paper he wrote in his legal methods course from a law review article entitled “Tortious Acts as a Basis for Jurisdiction in Products Liability Cases” that was published in the Fordham Law Review. Id. His law school record indicated that “five pages of Biden's 15-page paper were copied without quotation or attribution.” Jack Shafer, What Kind of Plagiarist Is Joe Biden? The Unusually Creepy Kind, Slate (Aug. 26, 2008), http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/press_box/2008/08/what_kind_of_plagiarist_isjoe_biden.html. Although Biden's first plagiarism charge eventually appeared to be just a bad memory, it returned to haunt him in his 1987 and 2008 presidential campaigns when a second charge of plagiarism surfaced. This time Biden was accused of taking major parts of a speech by British politician Neil Kinnock and incorporating it into his campaign speech. Id. Upon disclosure, this action became the downfall of his campaign. Although many may not have been aware of either incident, the information resurfaced during his 2008 presidential campaign and continued to haunt him.Google Scholar
76 Gerhardt, Deborah R., Plagiarism in Cyberspace: Learning the Rules of Recycling Content with a View Towards Nurturing Academic Trust in an Electronic World, 12 Rich. J.L. & Tech. 1, 10 (2006).Google Scholar
77 McKiggan, John, Supreme Court of Canada Upholds Judge's “Copycat” Decision (in Part): Cojocaru v. British Columbia Women's Hospital and Health Centre, Med. Malpractice Law. Blog (May 29, 2013), http://www.halifaxmedicalmalpractice-lawyerblog.com/2013/05/supreme_court_of_canada_uphold.html.Google Scholar
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79 Austin, Arthur D., Footnotes as Product Differentiation, 40 Vand. L. Rev. 1131, 1135 (1987) (quoting Axel-Lute, Legal Citation Form: Theory and Practice, 75 Law Lib. J. 148 (1982)); cf._ Melissa H. Weresh, The ALWD Citation Manual: A Coup de Grace, 23 U. Ark. Little Rock L. Rev. 775, 805 (2001) (quoting Miles O. Price, A Practical Manual of Standard Legal Citations (1958)).Google Scholar
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83 Alan L. Dworsky, User's Guide to the Bluebook: Revised for the 19th Edition 1 (2010). “The writing of history is a rich process of building on the work of the past with the hope that others will build on what you have done. Through footnotes you point the way to future historians.” Doris Kearns Goodwin, How I Caused That Story, Time, Jan. 27, 2002. A successful legal argument convinces the listener that a sound legal and factual basis for the position advocated actually exists. However, if the argument lacks citation, or if the citations are inaccurate, the reader will dismiss the argument because it is not properly supported by authority. Bills, supra note 4, at 130.Google Scholar
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85 They explain how primary authority is the law; while secondary authority explains, interprets and provides citations to the law. Christina Kunz et al., The Process of Legal Research : Authorities and Options (8th ed. 2012). In most legal writing and research classes, this knowledge is used to conduct legal research needed to draft memoranda and briefs. Thurgood Marshall School of Law for example first year legal writing and research students are required to write a closed memoranda then an open memorandum then a brief and attribute all authority. When the first memo is returned, the flow of red ink quickly reminds them that they must provide authority to support their arguments.Google Scholar
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101 The most commonly used index for periodicals is the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, sometimes called the Reader's Guide to Periodicals, or Reader's Guide.Google Scholar
102 CLI & ILP are legal periodical indexes.Google Scholar
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104 Survey Results on file with DeCarlous Spearman TMSL First year Legal Bibliography class Fall 2008.Google Scholar
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112 Boston University School of Law Regulations.Google Scholar
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124 Gerhardt, supra note 76.Google Scholar
125 “Mosaic or ‘patchwork’ plagiarism is when a writer does not directly copy another's work, but instead changes a few words or slightly reorganizes some sentences. Though mosaic plagiarism is not a word-for-word account of someone else's work, it uses many of the ideas and concepts in an obvious way.” Leslie Nierste, Three Kinds of Plagiarism, eHow, http://www.ehow.com/info_7986111_three-kinds-plagiarism.html#channel=f20428e4bc76414&origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ehow.com (last visited Oct. 15, 2013); see also Definitions/Plagiarism, Academic Integrity, http://webs.purduecal.edu/integrity/dishonesty/definitions-plagiarism/; What Constitutes Plagiarism? Harvard Guide to Using Sources. http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k70847&pageid=icb.page342054; Bowdoin Office of the Dean of Student Affairs, Common Types of Plagiarism, http://www.bowdoin.edu/studentaffairs/ academichonesty/common-types.shtml.Google Scholar
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171 University of Hawaii at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law, Policy on Plagiarism, at 10. Under an exception to this rule, some legal scholars omit a citation when the idea can be found in five or more independent sources.Google Scholar
172 Bluebook R. 10, at 87-109.Google Scholar
173 Id. R. 1.2, at 54-56. When a signal is incorporated, it should be accompanied by a parenthetical describing the relevance of the source. The citation and signal combination give credence to the purpose for citing the authority.Google Scholar
174 Johnson, Tom, How to Write an Essay: 10 Easy Steps 59, Aug. 2004, available at http://www1.aucegypt.edu/academic/writers/.Google Scholar
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177 Dickerson, Darby, Footnoting Law Review Competition Papers, 30 Stetson L. rev. 477, 478 (2000).Google Scholar
178 Bales, Richard A., Footnotes, 68 Bench & Bar Kentucky 41 (2004). Citations should not be the transition for a sentence. Test the substance of the citation.Google Scholar
179 Id.Google Scholar
180 Seligmann, Terry Jean & Seymour, Thomas H., Choosing and Using Legal Authority: The Top Ten Tips, 6 Persp. 1 (1997), reprinted in The Best of Perspectives 73 (2001).Google Scholar
181 Plagiarism.org, http://www.plagiarism.org/citing-sources/cite-sources/.Google Scholar
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186 Rodell, Fred, Goodbye to Law Reviews, 23 Va. L. Rev. 38 (1937); Fred Rodell, Comment, Goodbye to Law Reviews—Revisited, 48 Va. L. Rev. 279 (1962); see also Jack M. Balkin, The Footnote, 1989, Faculty Scholarship Series, Paper 287 (some law students, lawyers, and legal academics believe, “footnotes are the real measure of worth in legal writing”), available at http://digitalcoomons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/287. However, students should be aware that overusing footnotes or using textual footnotes can be distracting. Bales, supra note 178. Cramming six footnotes into one sentence may increase an academic author's footnote and tenure chances, but it is unlikely to enhance a reader's understanding of the material. Bales, supra note 178. Noel Coward, once said: “Having to read a footnote resembles having to go downstairs to answer the door while in the midst of making love.” G.W. Bowersock, The Art of the Footnote, 53 American Scholar 54, 54 (1984).Google Scholar
187 Bales, supra note 178.Google Scholar
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192 Schiess, supra note 69, at 541; Westinghouse Elec. Corp. v. NLRB, 809 F.2d 419, 425 (7th Cir. 1987).Google Scholar
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195 Van Winkle v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 683 N.E.2d 985, 989-90 (Ill. App. Ct. 1997).Google Scholar
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197 Schiess, supra note 69, at 536. Pinpoint citation is also called a jump citation, dictum page, or pincite. Black's Law Dictionary 278 (9th ed. 2009).Google Scholar
198 Dickerson, Darby, Citation Frustrations—And Solutions, 30 Stetson L. Rev. 477, 507 (2000).Google Scholar
199 Association of Legal Writing Directors & Darby Dickerson, ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation 36 (Aspen Publishers 4th ed., 2010).Google Scholar
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201 Gerhardt, supra note 76, at 16. When you fail to refer readers to specific pages where the referenced material appears, readers become frustrated. Scheiss, supra note 69, at 537. Pinpoints are valuable to anyone who reads and checks legal authority because without pinpoints, the checker's job is much more complicated. Id.Google Scholar
202 Schiess, supra note 69, at 537.Google Scholar
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213 Malmud, Joan, Adding Method and Alleviating Madness: A Process for Teaching Citation, 12 Persp. 117 (2004).Google Scholar
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215 Shepard's provides an 800 number on each of their titles. How to Shepardize: Your Guide to Legal Research Using Shepard's Citations, https://www.lexisnexis.com/shepardscitations/printsupport/shepardize_print.pdf.Google Scholar
216 Joel Fishman & Dittakavi Rao, Navigating Legal Research & Technology: Quick Reference Guide to the 1,500 Most Common Questions about Traditional and Online Legal Research 45 (2010).Google Scholar
217 Nancy J. Kippenhan, Assistant Professor of Law Liberty University School of Law, www.liberty.edu/academics/business/index.cfm?PID=26798-20k.Google Scholar
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220 Weresh, supra note 79, at 776.Google Scholar
221 Westinghouse, 809 F.2d 419.Google Scholar
222 Peter W. Martin, Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (LII 2012 ed.).Google Scholar
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226 The ALWD website shows its survey determined that 131 schools used the Bluebook exclusively, 19 schools used the ALWD exclusively, 10 both, 16 either and 8 others. ALWD Association of Legal Writing Directors website is available at (last visited Jan. 24, 2014); Gallacher, supra note 69, at 19 n.93 (in 2006, 91 schools were using the ALWD exclusively).Google Scholar
227 Lysaght & Tonner, supra note 225, at 1058. As of January 24, 2014, a total of 203 institutions are approved by the American Bar Association, ABA-Approved Law Schools, Available at http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/abaapprovedlawschools (last viewed Jan. 21, 2014); Weresh, supra note 79, at 3.Google Scholar
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229 Bennett, Frank G., Citations Out of the Box, Creative Commons Attribution, 2013.Google Scholar
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234 Students complain that the first year of law school is a time of major information overload. While they are expected to absorb an enormous amount of new terminology and information on substantive law, they are equally expected to consume the very new and complex nature of legal citation, a foreign language all its own. Lysaght & Tonner, supra note 225. Legal citation can be a very frustrating process for the student and professor. Gerhardt, supra note 76. Another frustration for practicing lawyers is that the examples in the text use law-review typeface conventions rather than practitioner typeface conventions. Schiess, supra note 69, at 537. However, mastering the Bluebook is a manageable and attainable goal. And although mastering the Bluebook is confusing, having no “uniform system” of citation would indeed be worse. Barris, supra note 230, at 3. Robert Berring notes, “The Uniform System of Citation has inflicted more pain on more law students than any other publication in legal history.” Weresh, supra note 79 (quoting The Bluebook: a Sixty-Five Year Retrospective Vol. 2, app. A, 6 (1998)). Ultimately, you will be able to write most but not all citations without use of this manual. Some sources will drive even the most experienced legal writer back to the pages of the Bluebook or local citation guides. Martin, supra note 222. That is why the Bluebook is ultimately so useful because it provides a system so that everyone's citations are similar. Barris, supra note 230, at 3.Google Scholar
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244 Dickerson, Reducing, supra note 231, at 9. The main purpose of any legal citation is “to allow the reader to efficiently locate the cited source.” The Bluebook: General Principles of Citation, http://www.legalbluebook.com/Public/lntroduction.aspx. The Bluebook citation forms are designed to provide the information necessary to lead the reader directly to the specific items cited. Id. The editors of the Bluebook understand and acknowledge that, “no system of citation can be complete” because of the constantly increasing range of authorities cited in legal writing. Id. Therefore, they suggest when citing material not explicitly discussed in the Bluebook, that the writer “try to locate an analogous type of authority that is discussed and use that citation form as a model.” Id. at 3. And regardless of the citation manual the writer has to use to cite a source not available in the Bluebook, the writer should make every effort to “provide sufficient information to allow the reader to find the cited material quickly and easily.” Gerhardt, supra note 76.Google Scholar
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250 Id.Google Scholar
251 The Bluebook: General Principles of Citation, http://www.legalbluebook.com/Public/Introduction.aspx.Google Scholar
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258 See, e.g., Wharton, Cathleen, Floyd, Daisy Hurst, and Downs, Bertis E. IV, Citation Form for Briefs and Legal Memoranda, The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (Jan. 30, 2015), http://www.cali.org/lesson/561. CALI, the center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction, provides more than 100 interactive lessons and tutorials to help law students learn the law.Google Scholar
259 Id.Google Scholar
260 LexisNexis Research Help, http://web.lexis.com/help/research/gh_brief-check.asp (last visited May 10, 2014).Google Scholar
261 WestCheck, http://west.thomson.com/products/services/westcheck/default.aspx (last visited May 10, 2014).Google Scholar
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266 Id.Google Scholar
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