This work first appeared in 1993. It was most recently revised in November of 2020 to take account of a new edition of The Bluebook (the 21st). Like all prior revisions this one included a thorough review of the relevant rules of appellate practice of federal and state courts. The guide also takes account of the latest editions of the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation (2017), published in 2015, and The Supreme Court's Style Guide. Point-by-point, it is linked to the free citation guide, The Indigo Book. As has been true of all editions released since 2010, it is also indexed to the The Bluebook and the ALWD Guide. Importantly, though, it documents the many respects in which contemporary professional legal writing, very often following guidelines set out in court rules or local style guides, diverges from the citation formats specified by those academic reference works. The work's current online format, introduced in early 2016, was created with the assistance of students enrolled in a graduate software engineering course at Cornell.
The content of this guide is also available in a PDF version that can be printed out in whole or part and also used with hyperlink navigation on an iPad or other tablet, indeed, on any computer (Be aware, though, that not all PDF readers allow the user to follow links. You'll want one that does.) To access it, select "eBook" at the top of the page.
Since the guide is online, its further revision is not tied to a rigid publication cycle. Any user seeing a need for clarification, correction, or other improvement is encouraged to "speak up." What doesn't work, isn't clear, is missing, appears to be in error? Has a change occurred in one of the fifty states that should be reported? Comments of these and other kinds can be sent by email addressed to peter.martin@cornell.edu. (Please include "Citation" in the subject line.) Many of the features and some of the coverage of this reference are the direct result of past user questions and advice. The current version benefited enormously from the close editorial scrutiny of one of them. My thanks to Roger Sperberg.
A complementary series of video tutorials offers a quick start introduction to citation of several major categories of legal sources. They may also be useful for review. Currently, the following are available:
Finally, for those with an interest in current issues of citation practice, policy, and instruction, there is a companion blog, "Citing Legally," at: http://citeblog.access-to-law.com.
Peter W. Martin