Legal Citation Checklist

Default to the current Bluebook edition for federal court filings. ALWD applies in some law-school clinics; the California Style Manual governs filings before California state courts; New York courts cite under the Tanbook. Pick once at the start so every step in this run uses the same authority.

Many courts override Bluebook conventions through local rules — Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 on unpublished dispositions, S.D.N.Y. Local Civil Rule 7.1 on memoranda format, Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.4 on length. Pull the relevant local-rule packet before cite-checking; format mismatches get briefs rejected at the clerk's desk.

FRAP 32.1 permits citation to unpublished federal opinions issued after January 1, 2007, but many state courts forbid it outright (see California Rule of Court 8.1115). Mark every unpublished case in the draft so the case-law section applies the right parenthetical and the right local rule.

Italicize or underline the full case name on first reference; use the short-form on subsequent cites (Rule 10.9). Abbreviate party names per Table T6 — "Corporation" becomes "Corp.", not "Co.". Procedural phrases (In re, Ex parte) stay italicized; "v." is always italicized with a period.

Cite the official reporter when available — U.S. for Supreme Court, F.3d / F.4th for circuit, F. Supp. 3d for district. Bluebook Table T1 lists each jurisdiction's preferred reporter. State decisions go in regional reporters (P.3d, A.3d, S.W.3d) plus the official state reporter where required by local rules.

A bare citation without a pin cite is the most common cite-check defect — judges and opposing counsel can't verify the proposition. Every direct quotation requires a pin; every paraphrased holding should too. Use "id. at __" when consecutive citations share the same source.

Add the WL or LEXIS database identifier, the docket number, and a parenthetical noting the court and exact filing date — e.g., "No. 22-1234, 2024 WL 1234567, at *3 (9th Cir. Mar. 14, 2024)". Some circuits require attaching the slip opinion as an appendix; check the local rule before filing.

The parenthetical identifies the deciding court and the year the decision issued, not the year argued or the year of denied cert. Drop the court abbreviation when the reporter unambiguously identifies it (U.S. for Supreme Court). Subsequent-history flags (cert. denied, aff'd, rev'd) follow the year parenthetical.

Federal statutes follow the form "42 U.S.C. § 1983". State codes vary — "Cal. Penal Code § 211" (West Annotated), "N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 349", "Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 17.50". Bluebook Table T1.3 gives the correct abbreviation for every state code.

Cite the official code (U.S.C.) when the section is reproduced verbatim; cite U.S.C.A. or U.S.C.S. when relying on annotations. Include the edition year in parentheses for state codes — "(West 2023)" — particularly when the cited section was recently amended.

Run each cited statute through Westlaw or Lexis to confirm the version cited is the version in effect on the operative date for the matter. Recently enacted amendments and pending bills can flip an argument; flag any section showing red treatment for the responsible attorney.

Treatises follow Rule 15: author, title, section / page, edition, year. Restatements use "Restatement (Third) of Torts § 7 (Am. Law Inst. 2010)". Law review articles use Rule 16 — author full name, article title italicized, volume, journal abbreviation (Table T13), first page, pin cite, year in parentheses.

Use the local convention — "ER" (excerpts of record) in the Ninth Circuit, "JA" (joint appendix) in most circuits, "R." or "Doc." for trial-court ECF docket entries. Every record cite should pin to a specific page; if the appendix is paginated separately by volume, include the volume number.

Depositions cite as "Smith Dep. 42:5–14, June 3, 2023" — page-line range, then date. Trial transcripts: "Tr. 219:8–22 (Mar. 15, 2024)". Confirm the witness name, the volume if the transcript runs multi-day, and that the pinpoint actually contains the testimony described in the brief.

Bluebook Rule 18.2.2 requires the complete URL, not a shortened or tracking link. Add "(last visited [date])" for any site that may change. Government sources (whitehouse.gov, sec.gov) typically don't need access dates; news and blog posts do.

Link rot is the dominant problem with web citations — over half of links in Supreme Court opinions are broken within a few years. Perma.cc creates a permanent archive (free firm accounts available); include the perma link in addition to the original URL so the cite remains verifiable.

Anonymous web sources carry less weight and may draw judicial skepticism. Identify the author or sponsoring organization (institutional sources cite to the organization, not the webmaster). Use the article's posted date, not the page's last-modified timestamp, when both appear.

Every cited case and statute gets validated for good law. Yellow flags (some negative treatment) require attorney judgment; red flags (overruled, reversed, superseded) almost always require revision. Save the KeyCite or Shepard's report so the responsible attorney can see what was checked and when.

Walk every red and yellow flag through with the brief's responsible attorney. Options: drop the citation, add a parenthetical distinguishing the negative treatment, replace with a still-good authority, or keep with a footnote acknowledging the criticism. Do not silently leave a red-flagged case in the brief.

Regenerate the TOA against the final post-edit draft using Word's Table of Authorities tool or the firm's drafting platform (Best Authority, CiteRight). Confirm every entry shows correct page numbers, that cases are alphabetized, and that statutes / regulations / secondary sources appear in the order required by local rules.

The supervising attorney reviews the cite-check record before the brief leaves the firm. Sign-off confirms KeyCite / Shepard's was run, every flagged case was addressed, and the TOA matches the final draft. This is the malpractice-defense record if a citation problem surfaces post-filing.