Legal Abbreviations

References to cases, statutes, and other law-related items are often in an abbreviated format.  This can make locating cited material difficult for those who are unfamiliar with legal citation formats.  Listed below are samples of common citation formats, and a table of some common legal citations.  Also included are some sources which are helpful when translating legal abbreviations. 

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  • Common Citations

    Cases

    68 U.S. 455.

    Statutes

    8 U.S.C.A. 1101.

    Fla. Stat. Ann. 397.705.

    97 Stat. 78.

    Regulations

    12 C.F.R. 204.

    Law Reviews

    46 U. Mia. L. Rev. 119.

  • What are Parallel Citations

    Cases are often published, or reported, in more than one place.  You may see several citations following one case name.  These notations of all the reporters in which a case is published are called parallel citations.  For example:

    United States v. American Library Association, et al., 539 U.S. 194, 123 S. Ct. 2297, 156 L. Ed. 2d 221 (2003).

    This is the same decision, just in different resources.  With the current versions of The Bluebook, only one source needs to be cited.  Table 1 of The Bluebook will identify which is the preferred citation and source.  

  • Table of Common Abbreviations

    Abbreviations Translation Brief Example
    A.
    A.2d
    A.3d    		 West's Atlantic Reporter 241 A.3d 327
    A.L.R. American Law Reports 93 A.L.R. 1385
    B.R. Bankruptcy Reporter 134 B.R. 402 
    Cal. Rptr. West's California Reporter 191 Cal. Rptr. 832 
    C.F.R. Code of Federal Regulations 27 C.F.R. § 4.30.
    F.
    F.2d
    F.3d    		 Federal Reporter 171 F.3d 1364
    Fed. Reg.
    F.R.    		 Federal Register 45 Fed. Reg. 81251 (Dec. 10, 1980).
    Fla.  Florida Reports 71 Fla. 714 (1916).
    Fla. Admin. Code. Ann. Florida Administrative Code Annotated Fla. Admin. Code Ann. r. 9J-14.006.
    Fla. L. Weekly Florida Law Weekly 31 Fla. L. Weekly D2289a (Sept. 1, 2006).
    F.R.D. Federal Rules Decisions 141 F.R.D. 348 
    F. Supp.
    F. Supp. 2d
    F. Supp. 3d
    		 Federal Supplement
    119 F. Supp. 2d 1288 
    I. & N. Dec. Administrative Decisions under the Immigration and Nationality Laws 3 I. & N. Dec. 209 (1950).
    L.Ed
    L.Ed 2d    		 United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition (Lexis) 92 L.Ed 2d 209 
    N.E.
    N.E.2d
    N.E.3d
    		 North Eastern Reporter 187 N.E.3d 373
    N.W.
    N.W. 2d    		 North Western Reporter 914 N.W.2d 708
    N.Y.S.
    N.Y.S.2d
    N.Y.S.3d
    		 West's New York Supplement 58 N.Y.S.2d 140 
    P.
    P.2d
    P.3d    		 Pacific Reporter 39 P.3d 174
    S. Ct. Supreme Court Reporter (West) 102 S. Ct. 3348
    S.E.
    S.E.2d    		 South Eastern Reporter 375 S.E.2d 785 
    So.
    So. 2d
    So. 3d    		 Southern Reporter 431 So.2d 515 
    Stat. United States Statutes at Large 128 Stat. 644 (2014).
    S.W.
    S.W.2d
    S.W.3d
    		 South Western Reporter 816 S.W.2d 614 
    U. Miami L. Rev. 
    U. Mia. L. Rev.     		 University of Miami Law Review 46 U. Mia. L. Rev. 119 (1991).
    U.S.  United States Reports 575 U.S. 134
    U.S.C. United States Code 7 U.S.C. § 2000(e).
    U.S.C.A. United States Code Annotated 20 U.S.C.A. § 1474.
    U.S.C.S. United States Code Service 21 U.S.C.S. § 331(e).

  • Sources for Translating Abbreviations

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