Court-assigned neutral citation
Original research draft · October 2026
Working pattern
[Case name], [assigned decision identifier], ¶ [paragraph].
Capture from the source
Exact assigned identifier; court; decision date; numbered paragraph; publication status
Check before you use it
Copy the court's identifier and assigned paragraph, including meaningful suffixes.
Common error: A docket number or OCR paragraph count is not automatically a neutral citation.
Completed example
The court, assigned identifier, docket, replacement suffix, and paragraph text are all stipulated fictional training facts. No actual jurisdiction's neutral-citation or publication rules are represented.
Vale Orchard v. Inland Mill, 2025 TRAIN-NMSC 14-R, ¶ 32.
Read the supplied source facts
Fictional packet TRAIN-O02 contains Vale Orchard v. Inland Mill. Its heading gives the fictional Northmere Supreme Court's assigned identifier as 2025 TRAIN-NMSC 14-R. A separate docket line reads TRAIN-24-208. The court has numbered the opinion's paragraphs, and paragraph 32 contains the passage assigned for discussion. The suffix R identifies a replacement decision in this exercise. A text-processing export splits paragraph 32 into three blocks and calls the relevant block paragraph 47. The assignment supplies no rule allowing the exporter to renumber the court's paragraphs.
Why this works
The assigned decision identifier and the docket number are different identifiers. Use the identifier displayed by the fictional court for citation and preserve its meaningful replacement suffix. The paragraph locator comes from the court's numbering, so the exporter's forty-seventh block does not become paragraph 47 of the opinion. A neutral citation allows the reader to identify the decision without choosing a commercial reporter. It does not eliminate the need to verify the correct document, the publication designation, or the passage supporting the proposition. Record the docket and decision date in the source card even when the selected display form does not repeat them.
When the facts change
If the passage spans the court's paragraphs 32 and 33, change the locator to ¶¶ 32–33. If only an unnumbered PDF is available and it lacks a court-assigned citation, do not manufacture a neutral identifier from its docket. Use an appropriate slip-opinion form and the printed page, while retaining the docket as a docket number.
Apply the receiving court or publication’s requirements. These working forms do not establish citation permission, precedential weight, or support for a legal proposition.