Do you italicize case names, and is the comma after italic?
Is the whole case name italic, v. included? What about the comma after it, the possessive 's, and the short form? And is underlining still acceptable?
Reply below with a citation you are unsure about (no client facts) and members can weigh in.
The team’s answer
Short answer. In briefs, motions and memos, yes: italicize the case name, or underline it if that is what you have been told to do, in full and short citations alike. The comma after the name is not italic, and neither is anything after it: volume, reporter, page, court and year.
The rules behind it
[Requirement] In the federal courts of appeals, Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32(a)(6) says case names "must be italicized or underlined." Rule 27(d)(1)(E) applies that type-style rule to motions, and Rule 32(c)(2) to other papers, such as petitions for rehearing. The rule is about case names; it says nothing about signals or other citation words.
[Convention] The national convention italicizes the entire name, v. and procedural phrases like In re included, in full and short cites. Signals, id. and supra, and history words such as aff'd are italic too.
[Convention] The comma after the name stays roman. So does a possessive ending, as in Brownback's footnote, and see when you use it as an ordinary verb in your sentence.
[House style] Choose italics or underlining and stick with it for the whole document. We use italics: they read more easily, and underlining looks like a link. A free public-domain citation manual also prefers italics where you have the choice.
[Jurisdiction-specific] State appellate rules and court style manuals vary. If yours speaks to it, follow it.
Examples (each checked against its source)
Full citation:
Brownback v. King, 592 U.S. 209, 215 n.3 (2021).
Short form, still italic:
Brownback, 592 U.S. at 215 n.3.
A procedural phrase and a history phrase:
In re Walt Disney Co. Derivative Litig., 907 A.2d 693 (Del. Ch. 2005), aff'd, 906 A.2d 27 (Del. 2006).
The italics stop at "Litig." and start again only for aff'd.
Where the line falls
Italic: the parties' names, v., In re and ex rel., signals, id., history words like aff'd and cert. denied.
Roman: the comma after the name, the volume, reporter and page, the court and year, a possessive 's, and attribution words such as quoting and citing inside a parenthetical.
Law review footnotes are different
In a journal footnote, the case name in a full citation is conventionally set in roman type, though a procedural phrase such as In re usually stays italic. Short forms and case names in the text go back to italics. If you are writing for a journal, its style sheet controls.
Common mistakes
Italicizing the comma, or the whole citation.
Mixing italics and underlining in one document.
A short form left roman.
Pasting a roman case name from a law-review footnote into a brief.
Read more
The free video lesson on typeface by document: https://citationcode.com/lessons/l06-typeface (opens in a new tab)
The Typeface chapter (its opening is free to read): https://citationcode.com/book/typeface (opens in a new tab)