OFFICIAL EDITION New York Law Reports

Style Manual 2007 Edition Prepared By THE LAW REPORTING BUREAU OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

FOREWORD As with the 2002 Style Manual, I begin by thanking our terrific State Reporter, Gary Spivey, and the entire Law Reporting Bureau of the State of New York, both for the 2007 Style Manual and for inviting this Foreword. In preparing this message, I was reminded of the "strength of the common law to respond, albeit cautiously and intelligently, to the demands of commonsense justice in an evolving society." (Madden v Creative Servs., 84 NY2d 738, 744 [1995].) Five years ago, the Law Reporting Bureau substantially overhauled, expanded and modernized the Style Manual. As a former copy editor (before and during law school), I regarded that event as nothing short of thrilling. Imagine, no more unnecessary Latinisms, legalisms, commas and supras! Truly we had moved with the times, cautiously and intelligently, toward simpler, clearer, cleaner text. Like the common law itself, the updating continues. This time it is more akin to filling crevices than bridging chasms: new abbreviations, fewer capitalizations, simplified procedures for altering or omitting language in quoted materials. Always the movement, happily, is toward more readable text. This update reflects movement with the times in other ways as well. For example, it recognizes the essential place of modern technology in our world. Right alongside citation forms for ancient research materials we now have formats for tabular or abstracted cases, Internet materials and weblogs. And the 2007 edition reflects society's heightened awareness of privacy protection and people with disabilities. Again like the development of the law, the Style Manual retains so much of the "tried and true." No need for change simply for the sake of change. Here I find most impressive, and welcome, the consultative process the Law Reporting Bureau engaged in, to determine what needed to be changed and what did not. Anyone who thinks this update was a simple task should have a look at the redlined version, showing every change from the 2002 version of the manual as amended by the 2004 supplement. It was a massive project! All of which brings me, finally, to the most cherished thing that remains unchanged, enduring: the gratitude of the Chief Judge, the Court of Appeals and the Unified Court System to the Law Reporting Bureau for its extraordinary competence, diligence and vigilance in this updated Style Manual as well as its everyday work. We recognize our extraordinary good fortune in the State of New York to have this phenomenal resource.

For more than 50 years, the New York Law Reports Style Manual has been issued by the Law Reporting Bureau with the approval of the Court of Appeals as a guide for New York judges and their staffs in the preparation of opinions for publication in the Official Reports. It also prescribes the style applied by the Law Reporting Bureau in editing the opinions for publication in the Reports. Although not binding on them, many lawyers find the Manual useful in preparing papers for submission to New York courts. The Style Manual provides a guide for opinion writers and editors in five primary areas: citation, abbreviation, capitalization, quotation, and word style and usage. Additionally, it specifies for editors the format and typographical standards for the Reports.

General References

This Manual supplements general citation and style authorities, providing more detail on New York materials and a more specific focus on judicial opinions. General authorities should be consulted on matters not covered by this Manual. These authorities include:

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (Colum L Rev Assn et al. eds, 18th ed 2005)

Association of Legal Writing Directors & Darby Dickerson, ALWD Citation Manual (Aspen Publs 3d ed 2006)

Bryan A. Garner, The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style (2d ed 2006)

The Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed 2003)

Webster's Third New International Dictionary (2002)

Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed 2004)

Gerald Lebovits, Advanced Judicial Opinion Writing (7.4 ed 2004)

Richard C. Wydick, Plain English for Lawyers (5th ed 2005)

Important Changes

This 2007 Edition has been revised to provide updated and expanded examples of citation formats, including those for electronic sources; to conform to modern style practices; to further reduce unnecessary style variations from standard sources; and to resolve residual style inconsistencies. This edition further promotes the use of plain English and a writing style respectful of the privacy and dignity of persons referred to in decisions. It incorporates and makes permanent the changes published in the 2004 Supplement to the 2002 Edition. The most noteworthy of the changes found in this Manual are:

1. Citation Style:

• To eliminate guesswork about how to cite decisions by name, a new rule (2.1 [a] [1]) requires that published New York decisions be cited by the case names specified in the newly published Official Case Name and Citation Locator (http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/lawReporting/SearchCitation) and in the "Cite Title As" fields of the on-line Reports. The Locator compiles and conforms to modern style the case names in the tables of cases in the printed Reports.
• To give authors a means to avoid interrupting their text with citations, a rule (1.2 [e]) first introduced in the 2004 Supplement permits the use of the citational footnote style, and a model opinion in that style has been included as Appendix 7.
• In accordance with standard authorities, a revised rule first included in the 2004 Supplement makes mandatory the formerly optional use of year of decision in full case citations (1.1 [a]).
• In a continuing effort to eliminate useless citation formalities, the use of supra to indicate that an authority has been cited previously is no longer permitted with shortened citations (1.3 [b] [2]) and is no longer required for any subsequent reference (1.3 [c]); and the placement of a comma between a citation signal and the citation is no longer permitted (1.4 [a]).
• A number of changes stem from the migration of legal research from print to electronic formats. Thus, the requirement to supply print page references where the electronic source cited does not provide them has been eliminated (1.5 [e]; 7.1 [a]). Formats for citing tabular or abstracted cases (table in print, full text on line) have been added (2.2 [b] [2]; 2.4 [a] [2]). The restrictions on citing Internet materials have been eased to permit Internet citations where the cited material is not readily available in another form (2.4 [a] [3]; 7.1 [c] [1]). And a format for citing weblogs has been provided (7.1 [c] [4]).
• Use of the names of student authors of law review notes (7.2 [b]) and authors of American Law Reports annotations (7.5 [b]), in accordance with the modern rule in standard citation authorities, now is required.
• Additional or revised forms of citation have been provided for commission and agency documents and materials (2.4 [b] [1]); statutes (3.1-3.3, Appendix 4); regulations, court rules and jury instructions (4.1-4.2); legal periodicals, treatises and other works (7.2-7.6); and legal documents such as transcripts, exhibits and affidavits (7.7).

2. Abbreviation:

3. Capitalization:

• A new rule clarifies that the word "the" is not capitalized as part of the name of an entity (e.g., the New York Times) (10.4 [c]).
• Rules have been added on capitalization of regional names (10.1 [n]), animal breeds (10.1 [o]) and numbered items such as indictments and exhibits (10.1 [p]).

4. Quotations:

• As first required in the 2004 Supplement, an elision is to be indicated by three ellipsis points (. . .), not by asterisks (11.1 [c]).
• For simplicity, the use of three ellipsis points, rather than four points (three ellipsis points and a period), to indicate the omission of language between quoted sentences now is preferred (11.1 [c]).
• In accordance with standard authorities, the use of "emphasis in original" is no longer permitted, since quotations are presumed to be faithful to their source unless an alteration is indicated (11.1 [f]).

5. Word Style and Usage:

• In recognition of privacy and security concerns, the rule (12.4), introduced in the 2004 Supplement, on the redaction of personal identifying information has been expanded.
• To promote the use of plain English, the rule on avoiding Latinisms has been expanded to include legalisms (12.3).
• Many examples have been added to the list showing the style of particular words, with a continuing modern style emphasis on reducing excessive use of hyphens and italics (Appendix 5), and recurrent style inconsistencies have been addressed by new rules (e.g., 10.3 [e] [specifying 1920s, not 1920's]).
• A new rule (12.5) provides guidance on describing persons with disabilities.

6. Other Changes:

Exceptions and Changes

Internet Version of this Manual

RULES REQUIRING CITATION TO OFFICIAL REPORTS

"New York decisions shall be cited from the official reports, if any." (CPLR 5529 [e].)

"Where New York authorities are cited in any submissions, New York Official Law Report citations shall be included, if available." (Rules of Ct of Appeals [22 NYCRR] § 500.1 [c].)

"Where New York authorities are cited in any paper, New York Official Law Report citations must be included." (Rules of Ct of Appeals [22 NYCRR] § 510.1 [a].)

"New York decisions shall be cited from the official reports, if any." (Rules of App Div, 1st Dept [22 NYCRR] § 600.10 [a] [11].)

"New York decisions shall be cited from the official reports, if any." (Rules of App Div, 4th Dept [22 NYCRR] § 1000.4 [f] [7].)

1.0 CITATION STYLE IN GENERAL

2.0 CASES

3.0 STATUTES AND LEGISLATIVE MATERIALS

4.0 REGULATIONS, COURT RULES AND JURY INSTRUCTIONS

5.0 CONSTITUTIONS

6.0 TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

7.0 LEGAL PERIODICALS, TREATISES AND OTHER WORKS AND DOCUMENTS

8.0 TITLES OF ACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS

9.0 APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL

10.0 CAPITALIZATION, NUMERALS AND NUMBERS, DATES AND TIME, AND NAMES

11.0 QUOTATIONS AND QUOTATION MARKS

12.0 WORD STYLE IN GENERAL

13.0 TYPOGRAPHY

14.0 SPACING

APPENDIX 1 — COMMON CASE NAME ABBREVIATIONS
APPENDIX 2 — ABBREVIATION OF CASE LAW REPORTS
APPENDIX 3 — APPELLATE HISTORY AND OTHER ABBREVIATIONS USED IN CITATIONS
APPENDIX 4 — STYLE AND ABBREVIATION OF PARTICULAR STATUTES
APPENDIX 5 — STYLE OF PARTICULAR WORDS
APPENDIX 6 — TITLES IN VARIOUS ACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS, WITH CASE NAMES
APPENDIX 7 — CITATIONAL FOOTNOTE STYLE (MODEL OPINION)
APPENDIX 8 — FORMULATION OF SUMMARIES (APPEAL STATEMENTS)

1.0 CITATION STYLE IN GENERAL

Contents of Section

1.1 ELEMENTS OF A CITATION

1.1 (a) Case Citation Elements

1.1 (b) Statutory Citation Elements

1.2 PLACEMENT OF CITATIONS

1.2 (a) Where to Place

1.2 (b) Citations in Running Text

1.2 (c) Citations within Parentheses

(1) How to Reference

(2) Punctuation

1.2 (d) Citations in Footnotes

1.2 (e) Citational Footnote Style

1.2 (f) Footnote Numbers in Relation to Punctuation

1.3 REFERENCE TO PREVIOUSLY CITED AUTHORITY

1.3 (a) Options for Referencing Previously Cited Authority

1.3 (b) Short-Form References

(1) Shortened Case Names and Popular Names

(2) Shortened Citations

1.3 (c) Full Citation with "Supra"

1.3 (d) Subsequent Reference to Immediately Preceding Authority

1.3 (e) Subsequent Reference to Parallel Citations

1.4 INTRODUCTORY SIGNALS

1.4 (a) Citations Introduced by Signals

1.4 (b) Signal Word Serving as a Verb

1.5 ELECTRONIC SOURCES IN GENERAL

1.5 (a) Electronic Services

1.5 (b) Internet Material

1.5 (c) CD-ROM Material

1.5 (d) New York Slip Opinions

1.5 (e) Page References

2.0 CASES

Contents of Section

2.1 CASE NAMES

2.1 (a) New York Cases

(1) Cases Officially Reported

(2) Cases Not Officially Reported

2.1 (b) Supreme Court of the United States Cases

2.1 (c) Other Cases

2.2 NEW YORK COURT DECISIONS

2.2 (a) Decisions Officially Reported

2.2 (b) Unofficially Reported or Unreported Decisions

2.3 FEDERAL AND OUT-OF-STATE DECISIONS

2.3 (a) Supreme Court of the United States

2.3 (b) Other Federal Courts

2.3 (c) Out-of-State and Unofficial Case Citations

2.4 OTHER SOURCES OF DECISIONS

2.4 (a) Electronic Case Citations

(1) On-Line Services

(2) Citing Tabular Cases

(3) Internet Material

2.4 (b) Commission, Agency and Ethics Opinions

(1) Commission and Agency Documents and Materials

(2) Ethics Opinions

3.0 STATUTES AND LEGISLATIVE MATERIALS

Contents of Section

3.1 NEW YORK STATUTES AND LEGISLATIVE MATERIALS

3.1 (a) Statutory Abbreviation Style in General

3.1 (b) Statutory Citation Style

(1) Basic Citation Form

(2) Citation Strings and Multiple Statutory Citations

(3) Statutory Amendments, Additions and Renumbering

(4) Former Statutes

3.1 (c) Nonstatutory Material in Statutory Compilations

3.1 (d) Session Laws and Unconsolidated Laws

3.1 (e) Model Codes, Proposed Codes and Uniform Laws

3.1 (f) Legislative and Other Materials

3.2 FEDERAL STATUTES AND LEGISLATIVE MATERIALS

3.2 (a) Federal Statutory Abbreviations

3.2 (b) Federal Statutory Citation Style

3.2 (c) Federal Legislative Materials

3.3 OUT-OF-STATE STATUTES

4.0 REGULATIONS, COURT RULES AND JURY INSTRUCTIONS

Contents of Section

4.1 NEW YORK RULES, REGULATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS

4.1 (a) Basic Citation Form

4.1 (b) Particular Rules and Regulations

(1) New York City Civil Service Commission Rules and Regulations

(2) Rules of the City of New York

(3) Rules of the Court of Appeals

(4) Rules of the Appellate Division

(5) Uniform Rules for the New York State Trial Courts

(6) Code of Professional Responsibility, Rules Governing Judicial Conduct and Code of Judicial Conduct

(7) Rent Statutes and Regulations

(8) New York State Building Code

(9) Insurance Department Regulations

4.1 (c) Pattern Jury and Criminal Jury Instructions

(1) Pattern Jury Instructions

(2) Criminal Jury Instructions

4.2 FEDERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS

4.2 (a) Basic Citation Form

4.2 (b) Particular Rules and Regulations

(1) Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

(2) Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure

(3) Federal Rules of Evidence

(4) Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure

(5) Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure