Citation Exercises

Johnson et al. v. Smith 312 N.E.2d 600 (Il. 1964).

Johnson v. Smith, 312 N.E.2d 600 (Ill. 1964). Omit the et al. after Johnson. For case names, cite only the first named party The case name should be followed by a comma. Illinois is abbreviated Ill. Abbreviate the name of the state by its ALWD abbreviation, not the Post Office designation. App. 3 provides the abbreviation.

Michaels v. Jordan, 100 F.Sup. 5 (R.I.1941).

Michaels v. Jordan, 100 F. Supp. 5 (D.R.I. 1941). The Federal Supplement is abbreviated F. Supp. and because this reporter is not abbreviated with single capitals, leave a space between F. and Supp. (as well as a space between Supp. and the page number). This reporter reports cases from the United States district courts. This case is from the District Court of Rhode Island, and the court designation should be preceded with D., the abbreviation for District. Leave a space before the date.

Jordans v. Marsh Corp. Inc., 206 So.2d 3 (Miss. 1959).

Jordans v. Marsh Corp., 206 So. 2d 3 (Miss. 1959). Omit the Inc. from the defendant’s name. The word Corp. clearly indicates that the defendant is a business firm. Put a space between So. and 2d because they are not single letter designations.

Marsh v. Metropolitan Housing Institute, 6 F.3d 9 (CA 2 1992).

Marsh v. Metro. Hous. Inst., 6 F.3d 9 (2d Cir. 1992). Abbreviate the defendant’s name, and you can abbreviate Metropolitan even though it is the first word of a party. See Appendix 3 for abbreviations. The United States Courts of Appeals are abbreviated by their circuit number and the abbreviated Cir., such as, 1st Cir., 2d Cir., 9th Cir., D.C. Cir., etc.

Simon v. Pauls, 210 U.S. 15, 200 S. Ct. 7, 190 L.Ed. 16 (Set. 1965).

Simon v. Pauls, 210 U.S. 15 (1965). Do not use parallel cites for Supreme Court cases. Cite to the United States Reports (U.S.) only. This reporter reports only cases from the Supreme Court so it is not necessary to identify the court in the parenthetical. When you do abbreviate Supreme Court, however, use S. Ct. as it is done for the Supreme Court Reporter.

In Ryan v. Quinn Brothers Corporation, 318 N. E. 2d 6 (Mass In Ryan v. Quinn Brothers Corporation, 318 N.E.2d 6 (Mass. 1964), the court held that the defendant had violated Section 12 Mass. Annotated Laws Chapter 5. However, the plaintiff received only nominal damages. Ryan supra on page 10.

In Ryan v. Quinn Brothers, 318 N. E. 2d 6 (Mass In Ryan v. Quinn Brothers, 318 N.E.2d 6 (Mass. 1964), the court held that the defendant had violated Massachusetts General Laws ch. 5, § 12 ( ____). However, the plaintiff received only nominal damages. Ryan, 318 N.E.2d at 10. [See App. 1. Mass. Gen. Laws is the preferred statutory code for Massachusetts.] In the case name, omit last business designation in the defendant’s name (“Brothers” indicates a business firm.) Abbreviate the statutory citation using Table App. 1 for proper form for each code. Use a short form citation for the second case name, but do not use a supra as the short form citation for cases or statutes. You cannot use id. here because the previous citation is the statutory cite.