THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

COLUMBUS SCHOOL OF LAW

Lawyering Skills Program
Fall 2014
LEWIS

Sections D & N-2

BASIC CITATIONS FOR CLOSED MEMO V#1

Your closed memo will include case, statutory and document citations. Several Bluebook
Rules and Tables will help you correctly format these cites.
Remember that parallel case citations to official state court reporters are not required for
interoffice memoranda. You will cite only to the North Eastern Regional Reporter. See Table
T1.3.
Direct quotations of fifty or more words, whether statutes or cases, must be blocked
and indented (B12, p. 27; Rule 5.1(a), pp. 76-77). Artful paraphrases are preferred over lengthy
direct quotations from cases.
RULE 10 CASES (p. 87)
Rule 10.9 short citation forms (pp. 107-09)
RULE 12 STATUTES (p. 111)
Rule 12.10 short citation forms (pp. 124-25)
RULE 4 SHORT CITATION FORMS (p. 72)

Basic Citation Forms for Cases

(1) Typical Case Citation when citing case in a textual sentence:
Volume Reporter Page Number
People v. S.M., 416 N.E.2d 1212 (Ill. App. Ct. 1981)
Case Name

Court

Year

(2) Typical Case Citation when citing case in a citation sentence:

Volume Reporter Page Number
People v. S.M., 416 N.E.2d 1212 (Ill. App. Ct. 1981).
Case Name

Court

Year
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(3) Case Citation in Citation Sentence with Pinpoint Cite (specific page in case where
relevant language appears). Example (a) assumes that you are providing a pinpoint page cite
the first time you cite the case in full. Example (b) assumes that you have previously cited the
case in full and are now providing a short-form pinpoint page cite.
Volume Reporter Page # Pinpoint Page Cite
(a) People v. S.M., 416 N.E.2d 1212, 1214 (Ill. App. Ct. 1981).
Case Name

Court

Year

(b) S.M., 416 N.E.2d at 1213.

Case Name Volume Reporter Pinpoint Page Cite
(4) Short Form Cites use short cites when you have previously cited case in full:
Full Cites:
Textual Sentence: People v. S.M., 416 N.E.2d 1212 (Ill. App. Ct. 1981)
Citation Sentence: People v. S.M., 416 N.E.2d 1212 (Ill. App. Ct. 1981).
Short Cites:
Form when you have cited an intervening authority: S.M., 416 N.E.2d at 1214.
No intervening authority:
Id. (if also page 1214 and no intervening authority has been cited)
Id. at 1215. (if new page is different from prior page and no intervening authority has
been cited)
(5) Case Citation in Textual Sentence:
In People v. S.M., 416 N.E.2d 1212 (Ill. App. Ct. 1981), the court held that the State failed to
prove a sufficient lapse between gun shots that would have enabled the defendant to determine
that he no longer was in imminent danger. Id. at 1216.
(6) Quotation of Case Cited by Another Case:
If an assaulted person reasonably believes that he will suffer great bodily harm, then he has the
right, under the law, to deliberately kill his assailant if it reasonably appears that such act was
necessary, or apparently so, in order to save himself from great bodily harm. People v. S.M.,
416 N.E.2d 1212, 1215 (Ill. App. Ct. 1981) (quoting People v. Motuzas, 185 N.E. 614, 617 (Ill.
1933)).
NOTE: For Version #1 of the Closed Memo, you need not cite cases merely cited, rather than
quoted, by the S.M. court.
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Basic Citation Form for Statutes

(8) Full Cite Form:
720 Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 5/7-1 (West 2002 & Supp. 2013).
Chapter #

Abbreviated Name
of Code

Act &
Article #

Publisher and Date of

Code Edition Cited

(9) Short Form Cites:

Ill. Comp. Stat. Ann. 5/7-1.
(a) When cited in textual sentence: act 5, article 7-1 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes
Annotated
(b) When cited in citation sentence: 5/7-1.

Basic Citation Form for Documents

After the first factual assertion in your Statement of Facts, cite to the Intake
Memorandum, dated August 22, 2014, provided in the Boyd matter. Cite the Intake Memo
consistent with the following example and according to Bluebook Rule 17.2.3 (Letters,
Memoranda, and Press Releases):
Memorandum from Laurie A. Lewis, Esq., to File on Intake Interview: Jeffrey Boyd,
#14-131 (Illinois Self-Defense statute) (Aug. 22, 2014).
After the citation, insert a footnote reference stating that the Intake Interview is the
source for all client facts in the memorandum.
Citation Pointers:
(1) Citations to the Intake Interview and legal authorities must appear in the text.
(2) NO ITALICS should appear anywhere in your document; if you wish to
emphasize something, underscore it.
(3) Deciding when to paraphrase or quote: It is acceptable to paraphrase or quote from
an authority in your memo provided it is properly attributed. If you paraphrase, the
language in your memo must substantially be your own even though the idea is taken
from another source. Generally, if fifty percent or more of the passage is the same as
found in the original source, you should quote directly. When quoting, you must use
quotation marks.
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