How to cite a case in Bluebook format
3 min readChecked against the Bluebook, 22nd ed. (2025)
The six parts of a Bluebook case citation, what goes in the parenthetical for each reporter, and the short form, with examples.
The six parts
| Part | Example | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Case name | Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, | First party on each side, T6 abbreviations in a citation, italicised, then a comma. |
| Volume | 550 | The volume of the reporter. |
| Reporter | U.S. | Abbreviated as Table T1 prints it, spaced as it prints it: U.S., F.4th, F. Supp. 3d. |
| First page | 544 | The page the opinion begins on. |
| Pincite | 570 | The page you rely on, always given; a span keeps the digits that change: 570-71. |
| Court and year | (2007) | The year of decision, and the court unless the reporter names it. |
- Wrong
- Bell Atlantic Corporation v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (U.S. 2007).
- Right
- Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007).
The parenthetical, by reporter
| Reporter | Court | Parenthetical | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | Supreme Court | Year only | (2007) |
| F.4th, F.3d | Courts of appeals | Circuit and year | (2d Cir. 2005), (D.C. Cir. 2021) |
| F. Supp. 3d | District courts | District and year, never the division | (S.D.N.Y. 2003), (N.D. Ill. 2010) |
| F. App'x | Courts of appeals, unpublished | Circuit and year | (9th Cir. 2019) |
| P.3d, N.E.3d, A.3d, S.W.3d, So. 3d | State courts | State, then the court unless it is the highest, and year | (Cal. 1976), (Ill. App. Ct. 2010), (N.Y. 1928) |
| Cal. 3d, Ill. 2d, N.Y.3d | A state's highest court, official reporter | Year only | (1976) |
| Cal. Rptr. 3d, N.Y.S.3d | State courts; the reporter names the state | Court and year | (Ct. App. 2010), (App. Div. 1990) |
| Westlaw or Lexis | Any court | Court and full date, with the docket number before the identifier | (N.D. Ill. Mar. 4, 2020) |
- Wrong
- Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R. Co., 162 N.E. 99 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1928).
- Right
- Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R. Co., 162 N.E. 99 (N.Y. 1928).
After the year, further parentheticals run in a fixed order: weight of authority, then quoting or citing, then the explanation. Subsequent history follows, after a comma: aff'd, rev'd, cert. denied.
- Wrong
- Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 687 (finding the complaint sufficient) (Souter, J., dissenting).
- Right
- Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 687 (Souter, J., dissenting) (finding the complaint sufficient).
The short form
After the first full citation, a case is cited by one party's name, the volume, the reporter and “at” with the page. Use the party that identifies the case, not a government or an official. Id. replaces all of it when the case was the one authority cited just before.
| Form | Example |
|---|---|
| Full | Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). |
| Short | Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. |
| Short, name in the sentence | 550 U.S. at 570. |
| Immediately after | Id. at 571. |
- Wrong
- Twombly at 570.
- Right
- Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570.
Questions people ask
- What is the Bluebook format for a case citation?
- Case name in italics, volume, reporter, first page, pincite, and the court and year in parentheses: Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). The court is left out when the reporter names it.
- How do you cite a federal circuit court case?
- To the Federal Reporter with the circuit and year in the parenthetical: Vitolo v. Guzman, 999 F.3d 353, 360 (6th Cir. 2021). Write the circuit as a numeral.
- How do you cite a state court case?
- To the regional reporter with the state and the court in the parenthetical, leaving the court out when it is the state's highest: 162 N.E. 99 (N.Y. 1928) for the Court of Appeals; an intermediate court is named, as in (Ill. App. Ct. 2010) or (Tex. App. 2015).
- How do you cite a case from Westlaw or Lexis?
- Case name, docket number, database identifier, star page, and the court with the full date: Name v. Name, No. 19-cv-00123, 2020 WL 1234567, at *3 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 4, 2020).
