WRITING STYLE AND

LEGAL CITATIONS
Paul Svongoro, November 2016
OBJECTIVES
Define style as it relates to academic/legal
discourse;
Explain the key virtues of style in writing;
Describe the importance and function of
uniform legal citation;
Identify the form and content of legal citation
and use it to locate source material;
Explain and apply the various models of legal
citation, including case law and legislation;
Explain when material and references
should be cited.
What is style?
When people write memos or give
persuasive speeches, the focus is usually on
what they have write or say.
While it is important that you have

something substantive to say, it is also

important how you present your ideas.
The study of style will help you present your

ideas and arguments so people will want to

listen to you or read more.
What is style?
You can think of style in terms of gifts
wrapped which one is then asked to
choose/pick randomly.
Most people will go for the nicely wrapped

gifts regardless of the contents

VIRTUES OF STYLE
1. Correctness.
. Correctness means speaking or writing in
accordance with the rules and norms of ones
language.
. An effective communicator uses words
correctly and follows the rules of grammar and
syntax.
. First, correct usage ensures clear and precise
communication.
. Second, it establishes credibility which is an
important persuasive tool
Virtues of style contd
2. Clarity.
It is hard to be persuasive when people fail to

understand what you are trying to say.

Clear and simple writing ensures that your

message never gets lost between you and your

audience.
Unfortunately, many people think to be

persuasive they need to look smart by using

big words and complex sentence structures.
The reality is that the simpler you write, the

more intelligent you seem to others.

Virtues of style contd
3. Propriety.
Propriety is the quality of style concerned

with selecting words that fit with the subject

matter of your speech and ensuring they
are appropriate for your audience and for
the occasion.
Simply put, propriety means saying the

right thing, at the right place, at the right

time.
Virtues of style contd
4. Ornateness.
Ornateness involves making your speech or text

interesting to listen to or read by using figures of

speech and manipulating the sound and rhythm of
words.
Classical rhetoricians focused on incorporating

different figures of speech to decorate their

speeches:
E.G. 1 Antanaclasis. Repetition of a word in two
different senses. E.g If we dont hang together,
well hang separately. Benjamin Franklin
E.G 2. Simile & metaphor
5. Evidence.
Evidence is generally the facts you provide to prove a

logical argument.
For classical rhetoricians however, the quality of

evidence was a way to measure how well language

reached the emotions of an audience through vivid
description.
Remember that most people are persuaded more by

emotion (pathos) than by logic (logos).

One of the best ways to elicit an emotional response

from people is to appeal to their physical senses by

using vivid descriptions. E.g how the rape was cruel and
deserves punishment
Citing Legal Sources: General
Rules
The ultimate goal of legal citation is to
provide the reader with the information
required to quickly locate the source
material.
Legal Citations What is
Uniform Legal Citation?
There are many different guides to citing
documents, such as:
the MLA (Modern Language Association) guide,
used predominantly within the humanities
context;
the APA (American Psychological Association)
guide, used within the sphere of social sciences;
the Chicago style guide used by historians; and
the CSE (Council of Science Editors) system in
the sciences.
Citation in the LEGAL
FIELD
The legal field has its own system of uniform
citation as well.
It aims AT both consistency and efficiency.
Proper citations provide your reader with all the
information he or she requires in order to locate
that source.
EXAMPLE: If you only cite the title and author of a
book, your reader might spend hours trying to find
that bookespecially if it has several editions.
Proper citations minimize client, lawyer, and firm
expenses by reducing the amount of time spent in
the library or in an electronic database.
Legal Citations Secondary
Source Citations
When writing legal research papers you will
need to cite many different types of legal
commentary, including:
journal articles
textbooks
newspapers and government documents.
Knowing the citation formats associated

with the most commonly cited secondary

sources will be to your advantage
TEXTBOOK CITATIONS
A textbook citation should include the following:
Author,
Include the author's name as it is listed on the cover or title pages of the book, followed by a
comma. Do not abbreviate names.
Title,
Italicize the title of the textbook.
Volume
If the textbook has a volume number, place a comma after the title and then write the
volume number, abbreviating "volume to "vol.
Edition
If the textbook has been published in several editions, indicate which edition you are using,
abbreviating "edition to "ed. Avoid using superscript (e.g. 6th, not 6th), and note the McGill
Guide's use of "2d and "3d, rather than "2nd and "3rd.
Place of Publication:
In parentheses, indicate the city of publication as it is printed on the title page. Only indicate
the province, state or country after a comma if necessary. Then put a colon.
Publisher
Include the publisher's name as it appears on the title page (no abbreviations), then put a
comma.
Year of Publication)
List the year of publication of the particular edition being cited, and close your parentheses.
Legal Citations Case
Citations
Of all the legal citation formats, case law citations
demand the most attention. Since court
judgments are printed and reported in several
different places (as opposed to, say, a journal
article which typically is only published in one
periodical), case law citations are unique because
you must determine which source to cite.
When conducting legal research and writing legal

memos, foreign and international case law may

provide several sources of strong persuasive
authority.
CASE CITATION TIPS
TIP 1: Every case citation must provide
the reader with certain information
about a case:
The name of the case;
The year of the decision;
The court level and jurisdiction; and
At least one case law reporter where the
judgment can be found.
CASE CITATIONS TIPS
CONTD
TIP 2: Avoid redundancy!
Case citations are meant to provide the necessary
information in a tight and efficient package. As a
rule of thumb, watch out for redundancies when
dealing with:
. The year of the decision; and
. The court level and jurisdiction.
CASE CITATIONS TIPS
CONTD
TIP 3:Get to know the hierarchy: order
and reporters matter!
A single judgment is often printed in several

different case law reporters. Thus, there are

usually many different reporters that you
could cite to; however, not all reporters are
equal. For example, you must cite to an
"official case law reporter wherever
possible
Citing Legal Sources:
Footnotes
Although in-text citations are fairly common in legal
memos and factums, footnotes are the
preferred method of citation used at law
school.
There are two types of footnotes:

Citation Footnotes: directly support the author's

argument and point the reader to the source which

is being quoted or referred to.
Textual Footnotes: point the reader to peripheral

material that is related to the subject, but not

directly supporting the author's argument.
Where to use footnotes?
Generally, it is only appropriate to use footnotes
under these circumstances in legal writing:
at the first reference to a source;
at every subsequent quotation from the
source;
at every subsequent reference or allusion to
a particular passage in the source; and,
to provide peripheral or parenthetical
information, such as a quotation or brief
description, in order to clarify an in-text
proposition.
Rules about footnotes
There are several rules governing the use of
footnotes in legal writing.
EXAMPLE 1: Only superscripted numbers

(i.e. no roman numerals or symbols) are

used to signal a footnote.

EXAMPLE 2: The full citation should be

provided in the first footnote referring to a
source.