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Reference

Glossary

44 terms, each pointing to the chapter that develops it.

44 of 44

Allegation
A party’s assertion, often in a pleading. Its appearance in a complaint does not make it a judicial finding. See Chapter 9.
Annotated code
A code publication with editorial features such as case notes. Separate those features from enacted statutory text. See Chapter 10.
Authority
A source used in legal analysis. Its format alone does not establish binding force, continuing validity, or support for a sentence. See Chapter 17.
Bates number
A production identifier used for discovery pages. It may need a separate filed-record locator. See Chapter 9.
Binding authority
Authority a court is required to follow under applicable law. Citation permission and binding force are separate questions. See Chapter 7.
Block quotation
A long quotation set apart and indented under the applicable format, without outer quotation marks. See Chapter 4.
Case history
Decisions and events within a litigation sequence. Distinguish them from unrelated later treatment. See Chapter 8.
Citation clause
A citation integrated into a textual sentence and set off by punctuation. It commonly supports a portion of the sentence. See Chapter 2.
Citation sentence
A separately punctuated citation following a supported proposition. See Chapter 2.
Code
An organized compilation of statutory or regulatory provisions. Identify which kind before choosing its pattern. See Chapters 10 and 12.
Concurrence
An opinion agreeing with a result while supplying reasoning that must be distinguished from the majority’s adopted reasoning. See Chapter 8.
Court-assigned identifier
A decision identifier in a neutral citation system; it is distinct from its paragraph pinpoint. See Chapter 7.
Dissent
An opinion disagreeing with the majority. Identify its status when using its reasoning. See Chapter 8.
Docket entry
A record item with a court-system identifier. An attachment may have its own identifier. See Chapter 9.
Edition
An identified publication version. Pagination and content can change across editions. See Chapter 14.
Effective date
The date a provision becomes operative, which can differ from enactment or publication. See Chapter 10.
Explanatory parenthetical
A parenthesized description of a source’s relevance, status, or supporting passage. See Chapter 3.
First page
The opening page identifying a reported decision or article. It is not interchangeable with a pinpoint. See Chapter 1.
Full citation
A source-specific citation supplying its necessary identifying information. See Chapter 5.
History phrase
An expression such as aff’d or rev’d describing a procedural event. See Chapter 8.
House style
A documented editorial preference subject to actual receiving requirements. See Chapter 16.
Id
A context-dependent short reference to one immediately preceding cited source. See Chapter 6.
Local rule
A receiving jurisdiction or institution’s applicable instruction. Verify its scope and current text. See Chapter 7.
Model law
Proposed text for adoption, distinct from a jurisdiction’s enacted version. See Chapter 11.
Neutral citation
A publisher-independent decision identification system, often combined with paragraph pinpoints. See Chapter 7.
Nonprecedential
A disposition status that must be distinguished from availability or permission to cite. See Chapter 7.
Opinion type
Majority, concurrence, dissent, plurality, or another identified role. See Chapter 8.
Parallel citation
Identification of the same source in another required or useful publication/system. Corresponding pinpoints require verification. See Chapter 7.
Pinpoint
A precise page, paragraph, section, line, timestamp, or other real locator for the passage used. Also called a pincite. See Chapter 4.
Preamble
Introductory material or explanation; a regulatory preamble must be distinguished from codified commands. See Chapter 12.
Proposition
The factual or legal claim a sentence makes. Check its support separately from source formatting. See Chapter 17.
Reporter
A publication collecting judicial decisions. Its series is part of its identity. See Chapter 5.
Restatement
A legal-doctrine synthesis whose adoption and force require separate research. See Chapter 11.
Retrieval date
When a source was accessed, distinct from publication, enactment, and effective dates. See Chapter 15.
Session law
A publication of legislation as enacted, useful for enactments, uncodified text, and historical work. See Chapter 13.
Short form
A source-specific shortened citation relying on clear earlier identification. See Chapter 6.
Signal
A term identifying the relationship between a proposition and cited material. See Chapter 3.
Slip opinion
An issued opinion outside or before its bound reporter version. Its locator must be updated appropriately if replaced. See Chapter 7.
Source card
A research record preserving identity, version, passage, proposition, access, and limits. See Chapter 1.
Star pagination
Database pagination marked with an asterisk; it is not a court-assigned paragraph number. See Chapter 7.
Subsequent treatment
Later material discussing or affecting an authority, potentially outside its own litigation history. See Chapter 8.
Supra
An eligible cross-reference to an earlier full citation, subject to source-specific limits. See Chapter 6.
Uniform act
Text drafted for adoption across jurisdictions; each enactment may differ. See Chapter 11.
Verification scope
A description of what was actually checked and what remains unresolved. See Chapter 17.