Editing ALWD Guide to Legal Citation

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[[Image:ALWDcvr.jpg|thumb|''ALWD Citation Manual'']]

'''''ALWD Guide to Legal Citation''''', formerly '''''ALWD Citation Manual''''', is a [[style guide]] providing a [[legal citation]] system for the United States, compiled by the [[Association of Legal Writing Directors]]. Its first edition was published in 2000, under editor [[Darby Dickerson]]. Its seventh edition, under editor Carolyn V. Williams, was released in May 2021 by [[Aspen Publishing]].  The ''ALWD Guide to Legal Citation'' is published as a spiral-bound book as well as an online version. 

It primarily competes with the ''[[Bluebook]]'' style, a system developed and still updated by law reviews students at [[Harvard Law School|Harvard]], [[Yale Law School|Yale]], [[University of Pennsylvania Law School|University of Pennsylvania]], and [[Columbia Law School|Columbia]].  Citations in the two formats are essentially identical.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guide to Legal Citation: FAQ |url=https://www.alwd.org/guide-faqs |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=www.alwd.org}}</ref> ''ALWD'' primarily focuses on citations for legal and court documents while the Bluebook focuses on academic writing, although both manuals provide citation guidance for both kinds of writing.

==Adoption==

Three U.S. jurisdictions have adopted ''ALWD'':
* [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit]]
**This court accepts citations in either ''ALWD'' or ''Bluebook'' format, but also requires that citations to [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]] decisions provide both official "U.S." and [[West (publisher)|West]]'s "S.Ct." citations, when available.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rules/Addena |url=http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/rules/index.php |access-date=6 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601113415/http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/rules/index.php |archive-date=1 June 2013 }}</ref>
* [[United States District Court for the District of Montana]]
**This court specifically accepts either ''ALWD'' or ''Bluebook''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Local Rules of Procedure: United States District Court for the District of Montana |url=http://www.mtd.uscourts.gov/mtd/documents.nsf/3a55ca523f1ad3ef882563fb0080c38f/3fa0ae63fdb1bd99872570c9006b1f14/$FILE/LOCAL%20RULES%202005.pdf |access-date=April 8, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924021814/http://www.mtd.uscourts.gov/mtd/Documents.nsf/3a55ca523f1ad3ef882563fb0080c38f/3fa0ae63fdb1bd99872570c9006b1f14/%24FILE/LOCAL%20RULES%202005.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2006 }}</ref>
* [[United States Bankruptcy Court]], Montana
**This court accepts any "nationally recognized citation form", and specifically names the ''ALWD Citation Manual''. It does not mention ''Bluebook'' by name, but given its national recognition (it is the dominant legal style guide in the United States), it should be accepted.<ref>{{cite web|title=LOCAL BANKRUPTCY RULES FOR THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MONTANA |url=http://www.mtd.uscourts.gov/mtd/documents.nsf/3a55ca523f1ad3ef882563fb0080c38f/460c7c7d0ea0e6a587256ee800679ef9/$FILE/2001%20Mont.%20Local%20Bankr%20Rules.pdf |access-date=April 8, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924021750/http://www.mtd.uscourts.gov/mtd/Documents.nsf/3a55ca523f1ad3ef882563fb0080c38f/460c7c7d0ea0e6a587256ee800679ef9/%24FILE/2001%20Mont.%20Local%20Bankr%20Rules.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2006 }}</ref>

In addition to those, some law schools and paralegal schools have fully adopted ''ALWD''. Law journals such as ''Animal Law'', ''NAELA'', and ''Legal Writing'' have also adopted ''ALWD''.<ref>{{cite web|title=ALWD Citation Manual adoptions|publisher=ALWD|url=http://www.alwd.org/publications/adoptions/|access-date=2016-04-22|archive-date=May 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508225510/http://www.alwd.org/publications/adoptions/|url-status=dead}} Law school adoption numbers reported as of December 2002.</ref> However, a lack of reliable or recent data does not appear to exist regarding school usage.<ref>{{cite web|title=ALWD Citation Manual adoptions|publisher=ALWD|url=http://www.alwd.org/publications/adoptions/|access-date=2016-04-22|archive-date=May 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508225510/http://www.alwd.org/publications/adoptions/|url-status=dead}} Law school adoption numbers reported as of December 2002.</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[Bluebook|The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation]]''
* ''[[Oxford Standard for Citation of Legal Authorities]]'' (''OSCOLA'')
* [[Case citation]]

==References==
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==External links==
* [https://www.alwd.org/publications/citation-manual/ The ''ALWD Citation Manual''] Aspen Publishers' dedicated ''ALWD Citation Manual'' website.
* Cornell Legal Information Institute, [https://www.law.cornell.edu/citation Introduction to Basic Legal Citation], 2006, by Peter Martin.(Discusses differences between the ''Bluebook'' and ''ALWD''.) 

[[Category:Bibliography]]
[[Category:Legal citation guides]]


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