Memo or law review? Which typeface rules apply (Bluepages vs Whitepages in plain words)
Why does the same case look roman in a law-review footnote and italic in a brief? Which system should a memo use? And what are the Bluepages and the Whitepages, in plain words?
Reply below with what your office, court or journal tells you to do (no client facts) and members can weigh in.
The team’s answer
Short answer. Decide by the document you are writing, not by the source you are citing. A memo, brief, motion or letter uses court-document typeface: case names, titles and citation words such as signals in italics (or underlined), the rest in plain roman. A law-review or journal footnote uses the academic system, where a full case citation goes roman and several kinds of sources are set in large and small capitals.
Bluepages and Whitepages, in plain words
The Bluebook's publisher describes the manual in three parts. The Bluepages are a how-to guide for everyday citation by students, clerks and practicing lawyers, and their examples use the plain typeface of court documents. The second part, printed on white paper, holds the rules of citation and style themselves, and its examples are printed the way they would appear in a law-journal footnote. Then come the tables and an index.
So an example copied from the white pages into a memo can carry law-review typeface with it. The publisher's own overview: https://www.legalbluebook.com/introduction (opens in a new tab)
In a memo, brief or motion [Convention]
Italicize case names in full and short cites, signals, id. and supra, history words such as aff'd, and book and article titles. Reporters, codes, courts, dates and journal names stay in plain roman type.
[Requirement] Only for papers filed in a federal court of appeals: Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32(a)(6) says case names "must be italicized or underlined." It does not govern memos or law reviews.
In a law-review footnote [Convention]
A full case name in a citation is roman, though a procedural phrase such as In re or ex rel. usually stays italic.
Large and small capitals (capital letters at two heights) for constitutions, state codes, court rules, book authors and titles, and journal names.
Article titles, signals, id. and supra stay italic.
Case names go back to italics in short forms and wherever you discuss a case in a sentence.
[Unresolved] Journals do not all agree on these details. The journal's style sheet controls.
One source, two documents
In a memo:
Brianne J. Gorod, The Adversarial Myth: Appellate Court Extra-Record Factfinding, 61 Duke L.J. 1 (2011).
In a law-review footnote, the article title stays italic and "Duke L.J." goes into large and small capitals, which this forum cannot display.
In a memo:
Brownback v. King, 592 U.S. 209, 215 n.3 (2021).
In a law-review footnote, the same citation is all roman, and a later short form goes back to Brownback.
[House style] Pick one system per document. A brief that cites a law review still uses court-document typeface; an article that cites a brief still uses the academic system. Your professor, office or journal can override that choice.
Common mistakes
Pasting a citation from a journal footnote into a brief and keeping its roman case name.
Small capitals in a memo.
Treating FRAP 32(a)(6) as a rule for memos or articles.
Underlining in one section and italics in the next.
Read more
Real law review article citations, part by part: https://citationcode.com/examples/how-to-cite-a-law-review-article (opens in a new tab)
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)