Bluebooking Tips for the Write-on & Beyond

1. Bluebooking Tips for the Write-on & Beyond Bonnie Shuchabjshucha@wisc.edu

2. Part I Bluebook Content & Structure

3. Part One - Bluepages • A how to guide for basic legal citation used by courts & legal practitioners • See also LRW’s Citation Handbook

4. Part Two • Rules of citation and style required by law journals • Rules 1-9 establish general standards of style and citation • Rules 10-21 present rules for citation for specific kinds of authority

5. Part Three • Tables that show which authorities to cite and how to abbreviate them • Tables 1-5 show which authorities to cite and how to cite them • Tables 6-16 show how to abbreviate specific authorities

6. Index Use the index to quickly find the applicable rule

7. Errors in the Text

8. The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not...look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1”

9. The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not...look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1”

10. The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not...look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1” Omissions - Ellipsis dots Rule 5.3

11. The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not . . . look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1” Omissions - Ellipsis dots Rule 5.3

12. The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not . . . look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1” Alterations in quotes Rule 5.2

13. The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not . . . look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.1” Placement of footnotes Rule 5.1(ii)

14. The employer should recognize the dignity of the firm members, “not . . . look[ing] upon them as their bondsmen.”1 Placement of footnotes Rule 5.1(ii)

15. errors in Footnotes

16. Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 San. Fran. Att’y 17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. of Business L.7, at 7 (2009).

17. Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 San. Fran. Att’y17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. of Business L. 7, at 7 (2009).

18. Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 San. Fran. Att’y 17, 17 (2009);Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. of Business L. 7, at 7 (2009). Multiple citations Rule 1.3

19. Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 San. Fran. Att’y 17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. of Business L. 7, at 7 (2009). Periodicals, Author Typeface Rule 16.2

20. Small Caps

21. Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 San. Fran. Att’y 17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. of Business L.7, at 7 (2009). Periodicals, Author Typeface Rule 16.2

22. Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 San. Fran. Att’y17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. of Business L. 7, at 7 (2009). Abbreviations Tables 13, 10

23. Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 S.F. Att’y17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. Bus. L.7, at 7 (2009). Abbreviations Tables 13, 10

24. Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 S.F. Att’y 17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. Bus. L.7, at 7 (2009). Pinpoint pages, (non)consecutive pagination Rules 16.4 & 16.5, 3.2(a)

25. Leslie A. Gordon, The Economic Crisis: Law Firms Brace for Rocky 2009, 35 S.F. Att’y 17, 17 (2009); Michael Yoder, President’s Page: Our Profession’s Déjà Vu, 51 J. Bus. L.7, 7(2009). Pinpoint pages, (non)consecutive pagination Rules 16.4 & 16.5, 3.2(a)

26. Tips

27. Before the Write-on Get familiar with the structure and content of the Bluebook

28. Before the Write-on Review rules 1-9, especially quotations and footnote placement Will be helpful for spotting & correcting errors in text

29. Before the Write-on Review rules 19-20 for foreign & international citations 25% of citations will be to foreign & international materials

30. Before the Write-on Practice if you have time Try the LexisNexis Interactive Citation Workstation Bluebook tutorial at http://tinyurl.com/nynwn7l

31. During the Write-on Don’t stress out about or overthink the citation exercise They aren’t out to trick you

32. During the Write-on But don’t blow off the citation exercise either Note writing scores are often very close – At 20% of your total write-on score,your performance on the citation exercise can make the difference

33. During the Write-on Don’t leave the citation exercise until the very end when you’re burnt out & pressed for time Use it as a break from note writing

34. During the Write-on Keep the grading rubric in mind 1 pt deducted for failing to correct error½ pt deducted for changing something that was already correct If in doubt, correct it

35. Questions? Ask a Librarian http://library.law.wisc.edu/help/