Court opinions

How to cite a Federal Circuit opinion

Cite a Federal Circuit opinion as case name, volume, reporter and first page, a pinpoint, and “(Fed. Cir. [year])”: the circuit and the year of decision.

The Federal Reporter prints the opinions of every circuit, so the parenthetical has to name the court.

The examples below use F.3d.

3 real examples

Each citation is printed as the book prints it, from an authority the book checked against its source.

Corus Staal BV v. Dep't of Com., 395 F.3d 1343 (Fed. Cir. 2005).
Case name
Corus Staal BV v. Dep't of Com.
Volume, reporter and first page
395 F.3d 1343
Court and date
(Fed. Cir. 2005)
The authority
- Corus Staal BV v. Dep't of Com. (Fed. Cir., Jan. 21, 2005)
Where the book teaches this
- 14.2 Citation forms, court by court
DG21, LLC v. Mabus, 819 F.3d 1358 (Fed. Cir. 2016).
Case name
DG21, LLC v. Mabus
Volume, reporter and first page
819 F.3d 1358
Court and date
(Fed. Cir. 2016)
The authority
- DG21, LLC v. Mabus (Fed. Cir., May 6, 2016)
Where the book teaches this
- 14.2 Citation forms, court by court
Hamp’s Constr. LLC v. Sec’y of the Army, No. 24-1528 (Fed. Cir. June 30, 2026).
Case name
Hamp’s Constr. LLC v. Sec’y of the Army
Docket number
No. 24-1528
Court and date
(Fed. Cir. June 30, 2026)
The authority
- Hamp’s Constr. LLC v. Sec’y of the Army (Fed. Cir., June 30, 2026)Source (cafc.uscourts.gov)
Where the book teaches this
- 14.7 Unreported opinions, slip opinions and pending cases