How to cite a case — unreported (docket number)

Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format, B10 / R10.8.1.

Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format for a case — unreported (docket number), governed by B10 / R10.8.1. Worked example, required elements, and the rules that apply.

Slip opinions, pending cases, and decisions available only on a court website or in a newspaper. Docket number, court, and the exact date.

Example

Ross v. Weissman, No. 90-345, slip op. at 6 (D. Mass. Dec. 4, 1990).

Governing rules

B10 / R10.8.1

• 10.2.2 — additional rules for case names in citations.
• 10.8.1 — pending and unreported cases.
• 10.8.1(b) — slip opinions: docket number, court, and full date of disposition.
• 10.5(b) — the exact date for unreported cases and cases in other sources.
• 10.4 — court & jurisdiction parenthetical (omit court if reporter conveys it, R10.4(b)).

Required elements

• Court
• Exact date — R10.5(b): the full date of the most recent major disposition.

Optional elements

• Docket number — As it appears on the court's papers (R10.8.1(a)) — keep its “No.” or other designation.
• What the date marks — R10.5(c): say what a date other than the decision marks.
• Slip-opinion pincite — “slip op. at 6”. A starred screen number (“*2”) gives “at *2”.
• First page (not separately paginated) — R10.8.1(b): “slip op. 3458, 3465” — the page it begins on, then the page cited.
• Database, where it assigns no identifier — R10.8.1(a): name the collection in a closing parenthetical.
• Newspaper, service or website instead — R10.8.1(c): where there is no slip opinion or database.
• URL
• Explanatory parentheticals (one per line) — R10.6, in R1.5 order.

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