Alan L. Dworsky - Users Guide to the Bluebook

The Bluebook puts on weight with every new edition. It's now an intimidating 511 pages long. You ask: How am I ever going to learn 511 pages of citation rules? You're not. The actual rules of citation form are contained on less than half the Bluebook s pages. And the rules for practitioners are summarized in the section called the Bluepages, which has only 25 pages of rules.

A good way to get an idea of the organization of the Bluebook is to keep the book closed and hold it up so you can see the right side, the side where you can flip through the pages. You'll see four main sections identified by the color of the edges of the pages.

The first section is light blue. That's the section of rules for practitioners like youthe Bluepages. The second section is white; that's the main section of rules. The third and largest section looks dark blue, but the color comes only from a stripe at the edges of the pages. That's the section of tables, and the pages in it are actually white. The fourth and smallest section is white like the section of rules; that's the index, and it's excellent.

Now open the book to the Bluepages, which start on page 3. The rules in the Bluepages are abbreviated B1, B2, B3, etc. You'll find rule numbers in the margin at the start of each rule and at the top of each page in the outside corner.

The Bluepages tables start on page 28. Bluepages table 1 (BT1) contains abbreviations of words used in the titles of court documents. Bluepages table 2 (BT2) contains a list of citation rules from specific jurisdictions, and whenever those local rules differ from Bluebook rules, the local rules take precedence.

The main section of rules in the Bluebook starts on page 53. These rules are abbreviated R1, R2, R3, etc. Again, you'll find rule numbers in the margin at the start of each rule and at the top of each page in the outside corner.

The section of tables begins on page 215. These tables are abbreviated T1, T2, T3, etc. The most important table is the first onetable T1which covers the United States. It's divided into four sections. Federal courts and laws are covered in Tables T1.1 and T1.2 on pages 215-28. The states, arranged alphabetically, are covered in Table T1.3 on pages 22874.

The tables of abbreviations start with table T6 on page 430. If you're scanning for a particular table of abbreviations, you'll find the names at the top of each page along with the table numbers.

On the last page of the Bluebook and on the inside of the back cover, you'll find samples of citations in the form you need for legal memoranda and briefs. This guide is basically an explanation and expansion of what you see on those two pages.