Feb. 17, 2016 – Most of you no doubt recall dealing with The Bluebook in law school. Mere mention of that labyrinthine legal citation guide often elicits a negative reaction, if not outright anxiety.
Judge Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit once stated in a Yale Law Journal review of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation that “needless to say, I have not read the 19th edition. I have dipped into it, much as one might dip one’s toes in a pail of freezing water. I am put in mind of Mr. Kurtz’s dying words in Heart of Darkness – ‘The horror! The horror!’ – and am tempted to end there.”
But you cannot end there. After all, proper Bluebook form is a useful, even necessary, skill. In fact, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has adopted The Bluebook form for citations in briefs and memoranda filed with the court. SCR 80.02 sets forth the requirements for proper citation of cases in documents filed with the supreme court or court of appeals.
State Bar of Wisconsin PINNACLE® has updated its Wisconsin Guide to Citation – a companion guide to The Bluebook (now in its 20th edition), designed for attorneys citing Wisconsin-specific sources, and much easier to use. Anyone who drafts or finalizes briefs (attorney, paralegal, legal assistant, law student, etc.) needs a copy of this book at his or her side.
For example, suppose you must cite to the Wisconsin Jury Instructions. The term “jury instructions” is not even mentioned in The Bluebook’s index. And how about citing Wisconsin administrative agency cases? The Wisconsin Guide to Citation addresses these and many more citation issues. As an added bonus, the Guide is now spiral bound, making it even easier to use. Special thanks go to Bonnie Shucha, associate director for public services at the University of Wisconsin Law Library, who added a new perspective in reviewing the latest edition and offered suggestions for new content.
New to the Eighth Edition
A new section stating how to cite uniform acts, model codes, sentencing guidelines, and standards
New sections discussing how to cite blog and social media posts
Updated guidelines for citing sources on the Internet
Update regarding how to cite legal dictionaries
Many new examples showing how to cite various sources with different pincites
Order Today
Order your new Wisconsin Guide to Citation, updated to the latest edition of The Bluebook, today! Members pay $29 for the print version (plus tax and shipping) and $149 for the Books UnBound electronic version. For current Books UnBound subscribers, the revised title is automatically included in the subscription.
Subscribers to the State Bar’s automatic supplementation service receive future updates to the Guide at a discount off the regular price.
To order or for more information, visit the WisBar Marketplace or call the State Bar at (800) 728-7788 or (608) 257-3838.
