Author Question: Describe the guides that have been published on how to cite legal sources in your written work. ... (Read 54 times)

Bernana · **on:** Aug 3, 2018

Describe the guides that have been published on how to cite legal sources in your written work.

Help with this, thanks.

Question 2

What are the Restatements of the Law?

Help with this question, thanks.

ebe · **Reply #1 on:** Aug 3, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Several guides have been published on how to cite legal sources. Traditionally, the most widely used guide has been The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, published by the Harvard Law Review Association. This book explains the proper format for citing cases, statutes, constitutions, regulations, and other legal sources. It is a good idea to memorize the basic format for citations to cases and statutory law because these legal sources are frequently cited in legal writing. An alternative guide is a booklet entitled ALWD Citation Manual: A Professional System of Citation, which is published by the Association of Legal Writing Directors. Legal practitioners should check the rules of their jurisdiction for guidelines on the proper format for citations in documents submitted to a court.

Answer to Question 2

The Restatements of the Law are a helpful resource, and one on which judges often rely as a persuasive authority when making decisions. The Restatements are compilations of the common law that have been drafted and published by the American Law Institute. They are available online via Lexis and Westlaw.
There are Restatements in the areas of contracts, torts, agency, trusts, property, restitution, security, judgments, and conflict of laws. Many of the Restatements are now in their second or third editions. Each section in the Restatements contains a statement of the principles of law that are generally accepted by the courts or embodied in statutes, followed by a discussion of those principles. The discussions present cases as examples and also discuss variations.