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Article
Checking Up on Court Citation Standards: How Neutral Citation Improves Public Access to Case Law
Legal Reference Services Quarterly (2012)
  • Michael Umberger, William & Mary Law School
Abstract
A small number of appellate courts require neutral citation, a legal citation format that frees citation to judicial decisions from adherence to particular formats or vendors. As law libraries increasingly rid their print collections of case law reporters, a gap appears in public access to the law, as many courts still require citation to print-based formats from particular commercial publishers. With widespread availability of case law in electronic formats through commercial databases and government Web sites, law librarians must continue to urge courts to consider adopting neutral citation principles to ensure greater accessibility to court opinions. This article retraces the history and quirks of neutral citation and aims to ground the arguments for more widespread adoption of neutral citation in the increasing concern over public access to the law.
Keywords
  • neutral citation,
  • legal citation,
  • public access,
  • legal publishing
Publication Date
December, 2012
Citation Information
Michael Umberger. "Checking Up on Court Citation Standards: How Neutral Citation Improves Public Access to Case Law" Legal Reference Services Quarterly Vol. 31 (2012) p. 312 - 340
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/michael-umberger/1/