Citation plays a number of important roles in legal research. In order to correctly cite a case, statute, administrative rule, or other authority in a brief, or to find an authority that someone else has cited, law students must first understand how a citation identifies that authority’s location. 

I. The Bluebook

Every jurisdiction designates a style manual describing its citation rules. A Uniform System of Citation, also known as the Bluebook, contains the citation rules used by law...