{"id":252,"date":"2014-11-14T21:10:12","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T21:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/?p=252"},"modified":"2021-12-11T18:12:55","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T18:12:55","slug":"citations-generated-by-the-major-online-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/?p=252","title":{"rendered":"Citations Generated by the Major Online Systems"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent post on the Legal Writing Prof Blog<\/a> draws attention to Westlaw\u2019s copy-with-reference<\/strong> feature. Its author raises a\u00a0concern that the option to have citations formatted in the ALWD style still yields citations conformed to that manual\u2019s fourth edition rather than the fifth edition, published earlier this year.\u00a0 Since ALWD\u2019s new version adheres to The Bluebook<\/em>\u2019s citation style in nearly all particulars<\/a>, that problem is easily solved: The Westlaw folks need simply to remove the ALWD option.\u00a0 However, those engaged in teaching legal writing and introducing law students to citation need to be attentive to numerous other imperfections in this WestlawNext feature and its LexisAdvance analog, as well as in the citations generated by other research services those 1Ls\u00a0may\u00a0employ once\u00a0in practice.<\/p>\n

\"copywithcite1\"<\/p>\n

To begin, although the blogger writes of there being a Bluebook<\/em> option, that label does not appear among the citation format options of either major service.\u00a0 The default citation style offered by both Westlaw and Lexis is denominated \u201cStandard\u201d.\u00a0 Is that due to trademark concerns?\u00a0 For reasons set out in an earlier post<\/a>, I doubt it.\u00a0 The truth is that neither system consistently produces Bluebook<\/em> compliant citations across the several\u00a0types of authority and to suggest otherwise would be misleading.\u00a0 \u201cStandard\u201d doesn\u2019t make such a claim, although\u00a0it appears it may\u00a0lead legal writing teachers and their students, not to speak of lawyers and other online researchers, to believe that is the case.<\/p>\n

One other point made in that short post arouses concern. Its author observes that because of this new and amazing feature \u201cI can spend a little less time teaching citation format.\u201d\u00a0 For reasons explained in the latest version of Basic Legal Citation<\/em><\/a>, I view that as a mistake. Let me point out a few reasons why a researcher who wants to employ Bluebook<\/em> (or ALWD) conforming citations in a brief or memorandum will have to know enough to add, subtract, or modify those delivered by either Westlaw or Lexis.<\/p>\n

1. Cases<\/h2>\n

As pointed out in an earlier post<\/a>, a major attraction of any copy-with-reference<\/strong> function is that the case name segment of the citations it delivers will have been shrunk through the dropping and abbreviating of certain words.\u00a0 Per The Bluebook<\/em> a decision rendered in the matter of<\/p>\n

Edward Mann and Holly Mann, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. LaSalle National Bank, as Trustee under Trust Agreement dated March 22, 1960, and known as Trust No. 24184; Ellenora Kelly; John J. Waters; Irene Breen, as Trustee under Provisions of the Trust Agreement dated January 31, 1973, and known as Trust No. 841; Unknown Beneficiaries of Trust Agreement dated January 31, 1973, and known as Trust No. 841; and Unknown Owners, Defendants-Appellants<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

is reduced to \u201cMann v. LaSalle Nat\u2019l Bank\u201d.\u00a0 Westlaw\u2019s \u201cStandard\u201d format citation for the case is a close though not identical \u201cMann v. LaSalle Nat. Bank\u201d.\u00a0 Not The Bluebook<\/em>\u2019s \u201cNat\u2019l\u201d nor the \u201cNatl.\u201d favored by earlier editions of the ALWD manual and Bloomberg Law but \u201cNat.\u201d, the abbreviation long employed by West Publishing Company.<\/p>\n

Illinois\u00a0has\u00a0its own style manual<\/a>.\u00a0 It contains a very short list of names that are to be abbreviated in case names.\u00a0 \u201cNational\u201d is not one of them.\u00a0 Consequently, citations to Mann<\/em> by Illinois courts present the case name as \u201cMann v. LaSalle National Bank\u201d.\u00a0 One might expect that since Westlaw\u2019s copy-with-reference<\/strong> offers an \u201cIllinois\u201d option choosing it would yield that result.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t; the case name for this decision still comes out as \u201cMann v. LaSalle Nat. Bank\u201d.\u00a0 LexisAdvance also offers a choice between \u201cStandard\u201d and \u201cIllinois\u201d style citations when copying passages from Mann<\/em>.\u00a0 As with Westlaw they render the case name identically.\u00a0 But in compliance with The Bluebook<\/em>, Lexis abbreviates \u201cNational\u201d as \u201cNat\u2019l\u201d.<\/p>\n

A big deal?\u00a0 Grounds for choosing Lexis over Westlaw? \u00a0Hardly.\u00a0 I know of no instance of an attorney being chastised by a court for using non-Bluebook<\/em> abbreviations and have argued that consistent use of those delivered by the writer\u2019s online source ought to be a totally acceptable approach in professional practice.\u00a0 With their tight attachment to The Bluebook<\/em>, law journal editors are likely to disagree.<\/p>\n

The bigger deal is how Westlaw and Lexis treat the balance of a case citation, particularly if the jurisdiction has, like Illinois, adopted a system of non-print-based citation.\u00a0 Take the recent case of Brandhorst v. Johnson.<\/em>\u00a0 In decisions of Illinois courts and briefs submitted to them a reference to a particular passage of that case in the form \u201dBrandhorst v. Johnson<\/em>, 2014 IL App (4th) 130923, \u00b6 57\u201d would be complete.\u00a0 The Bluebook<\/em> insists that a reference to the National Reporter System (\u201c12 N.E.3d 198, 210\u201d in the case of that passage of Brandhorst<\/em>) be included in parallel.\u00a0 When the paragraph in question is copied from WestlawNext with its citation in \u201cStandard\u201d format the paragraph number is not included in the cite.\u00a0 (LexisAdvance includes it.)\u00a0 Westlaw does not include the parallel N.E.3d cite in either the \u201cStandard\u201d or \u201cIllinois\u201d style citations for the case. Lexis includes it and adhering to The Bluebook<\/em> includes a pinpoint page reference.\u00a0 However, Lexis\u00a0departs from The Bluebook<\/em> by throwing in the totally unnecessary \u201c382 Ill. Dec. 198, 206\u201d when\u00a0the \u201cStandard\u201d format is chosen.\u00a0 Westlaw\u2019s \u201cIllinois\u201d style citation for the case adds the parenthetical \u201c(Ill. App. Ct. 4th Dist. June 11, 2014)\u201d which none of the style manuals\u00a0calls for.\u00a0 The Illinois style guide explicitly states that there is no need for a citation to identify the appellate district \u201cunless that information is of particular relevance to the discussion\u201d.\u00a0 (Moreover, since the district number is part of the jurisdiction\u2019s public domain citation system, with any recent case like Brandhorst<\/em> its repetition in a parenthetical wastes space.)\u00a0 In sum, neither Westlaw nor Lexis delivers a Bluebook<\/em> cite for this case.\u00a0 Neither delivers an \u201cIllinois\u201d format citation that conforms to the state\u2019s style guide.\u00a0 Users who would conform their writing to either of those citation standards need to modify or add to what those online systems serve up programmatically along with a copied passage.<\/p>\n

2. Statutes (and regulations)<\/h2>\n

A provision of the Social Security Act with considerable contemporary relevance is to be found in 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 416(h)(1)(A)(ii)<\/a>.\u00a0 Copy its language with citation from Westlaw and what you get is \u201c42 U.S.C.A. \u00a7 416 (West)\u201d. \u00a0Lexis renders its citation as \u201c42 USCS \u00a7 416\u201d.\u00a0 Neither service is prepared to yield\u00a0its branded designation of the U.S. Code to the conventionally used generic or official format.\u00a0 Neither includes a date or other indication of the currency of the compilation The Bluebook<\/em> calls for.\u00a0 And critically, neither provides the absolutely essential subsection and paragraph identifiers that specify the portion of 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 416 one is copying.\u00a0 The blocked text may include \u201c(ii)\u201d but that alone is not enough.\u00a0 The same failure to reach below the section level holds with citations to regulations.<\/p>\n

3. Conclusion<\/h2>\n

At their current stage of evolution none of the major research services (including not only Westlaw and Lexis, but Bloomberg Law, Fastcase, and Casemaker) can be relied upon to produce primary law citations that fully comply with The Bluebook<\/em> or, indeed, any of the other citation styles they may list.\u00a0 In any setting where citation format is critical, users need to know that.\u00a0 And all researchers need to be aware that the citations of statutes or regulations these systems generate will often\u00a0be seriously incomplete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent post on the Legal Writing Prof Blog draws attention to Westlaw\u2019s copy-with-reference feature. Its author raises a\u00a0concern that the option to have citations formatted in the ALWD style still yields citations conformed to that manual\u2019s fourth edition rather than the fifth edition, published earlier this year.\u00a0 Since ALWD\u2019s new version adheres to The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,8,12,11,19,10],"tags":[35,34,13,5,14,20,4],"class_list":["post-252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alwd","category-bluebook","category-cases","category-neutral-citations","category-regulations","category-statutes-2","tag-alwd","tag-bluebook","tag-cases-2","tag-codes","tag-neutral-citations-2","tag-regulations-2","tag-statutes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=252"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":274,"href":"https:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252\/revisions\/274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citeblog.access-to-law.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}