CITATIONS: (1) Cases and (2) Statutes 1 Are you using the official cite? CITATION CHECKLIST # Court of Appeals: NY, NY2d, NY3d 58 NY2d 34 # Appellate Division: AD, AD2d, AD3d 89 AD3d 666 # Appellate Term: Misc, Misc 2d, Misc 3d 25 Misc 3d 555 # All Trial Courts: Misc, Misc 2d, Misc 3d 201 Misc 2d 888 # Never: NYS, NYS2d, NE, NE2d 693 NYS2d 999 2 Is the case name the right name under the Citator Services? 3 Are you using the proper identifiers? # Court of Appeals: (Year) 58 NY2d 34 (1986) # Appellate Division: ( Dept Year) 89 AD3d 666 (1st Dept 2008) # Appellate Term: ( Dept Year) 25 Misc 3d 555 (2d Dept 2006) # All Trial Courts: (Court, Location Year) 201 Misc 2d 888 (Civ Ct, Bronx County 2000) Page 1 of 6
(1) CASE CITATIONS You need: (1) Tanbook (on line) (2) Citator services In Westlaw, you found the following case you want to cite in your memo: 28 Misc.3d 788, 902 N.Y.S.2d 810, 2010 N.Y. Slip Op. 20223 Evelyn DAVIS and James Davis, Plaintiffs, v. BROOKDALE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL & Medical Center, XYZ Com pany and John Doe # 1 (individual intended as security person), Defendants. How do you convert this into a cite you can use in your memo of law? 1. FIND THE OFFICIAL CITE: We know that NY, AD and Misc are the official reporters in New York, while NYS is an unofficial or a parallel cite. 28 Misc.3d 788, 902 N.Y.S.2d 810, 2010 N.Y. Slip Op. 20223 Evelyn DAVIS and James Davis, Plaintiffs, v. BROOKDALE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL & Medical Center, XYZ Com pany and John Doe # 1 (individual intended as security person), Defendants. The official cite is: 28 Misc.3d 788. Next clean up the Reporter: REPORTER FIRST SERIES SECOND SERIES THIRD SERIES New York Reports NY NY2d NY3d Appellate Division Reports AD AD2d AD3d Miscellaneous Reports Misc Misc 2d Misc 3d The way you cite Miscellaneous cites under the NY Style Manual (Tanbook) is to get rid of the period and to put a space between the reporter and the series: 28 Misc 3d 788 Page 2 of 6
2. FIND THE OFFICIAL NAME OF THE CASE: The name we have right now is: Evelyn DAVIS and James Davis, Plaintiffs, v. BROOKDALE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL & Medical Center, XYZ Company and John Doe # 1 (individual intended as security person), Defendants. The way we get it is to go the Citator Services: http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/citator_menu.htm There are three (3) buttons you can click. Use the first one: New York Official Reports Citator That takes you to a page where you have three (3) options: Search by Party Name, Official Citation Or Slip Citation. Choose the second option and go to the middle section and enter the official cite: In the first box, enter the volume number: 28 In the middle box, use the pulldown menu to enter the reporter: Misc 3d In the third box, enter the page number: 788 Click: Search This gives you the official name of the case: Davis v Brookdale Univ. Hosp. & Med. Ctr. We know that names of cases are in italics and followed by a comma: Davis v Brookdale Univ. Hosp. & Med. Ctr., 28 Misc 3d 788 Davis v Brookdale Univ. Hosp. & Med. Ctr., 3. PUT IT IN ORDER SO FAR Davis v Brookdale Univ. Hosp. & Med. Ctr., 28 Misc 3d 788 Page 3 of 6
4. ADD ANY IDENTIFIERS THAT ARE NECESSARY. a. All case cites require a year b. All Appellate Division cases need the specific Department before the year c. All Miscellaneous cites require, the specific court, the location (Department for Appellate Term; County for Trial Court). REPORTER NAM E LOCATION YEAR NY, NY2d, NY3d Court of Appeals NO NO YES AD, AD2d, AD3d Appellate Division NO YES YES Misc, Misc 2d, Misc 3d Appellate Term YES YES YES Trial Court YES YES YES EXAMPLES: REPORTER NY, NY2d, NY3d AD, AD2d, AD3d Misc, Misc 2d, Misc 3d Court of Appeals Appellate Division Appellate Term NAM E LOCATION YEAR CASE EXAM PLE NO NO (1999) Alex v Betts, 22 NY3d 22 (1999) NO (2d Dept 2001) People v Tree, 23 AD3d 17 (1st Dept 2007) (App Term, 1st Dept 2002) Can v Drum, 2 Misc 3d 34 (App Term, 2d Dept 2003) Trial Court (Sup Ct, Queens County 2003) People v Arc, 164 Misc 2d 333 (Fam Ct, Kings County 1995) In this case, we have a trial court, so we need: Court, County and Year: (Supreme Court, Kings County 2010). New Now go to the Tanbook and find in the Abbreviation Part of section 2.2 that we can abbreviate Supreme Court to: Sup Ct So in this case the identifiers are: (Sup Ct, Kings County 2010). 5. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER: Davis v Brookdale Univ. Hosp. & Med. Ctr., 28 Misc 3d 788 (Sup Ct, Kings County 2010). And that is the official citation. Page 4 of 6
EXAMPLES OF CASE CITES PROPER CITE Smith v Anderson, 59 NY2d 123 (1996) People v Brooks, 123 AD2d 543 (4th Dept 1989) Clatter v Clatter, 45 Misc 3d 666 (Sup Ct, Kings County 1999) IN A SENTENCE If the plaintiff still has a hat on after being hit on the head, the defendant cannot be sued for battery (Smith v Anderson, 59 NY2d 123 [1996]). A bruised ego is not a physical injury (People v Brooks, 123 AD2d 543 [4th Dept 1989]). Giving your spouse the stink eye is not cruel and inhuman treatment, a ground for divorce under Domestic Relations Law 170 (Clatter v Clatter, 45 Misc 3d 666 [Sup Ct, Kings County 1999]). (2) STATUTE CITATIONS You need: (1) Tanbook (on line) In Westlaw, you found the following statute you want to cite in your memo: McKinney's CPLR 214, subdivision 1. This one is real simple: 1. GET RID OF McKINNEY S McKinney's CPLR 214, subdivision 1. 2. FIND THE STATUTE NAME IN APPENDIX 4 OF THE TANBOOK CPLR is the Civil Practice Laws and Rules. In Appendix 4, there are two ways you can cite it CPLR Civil Practice Laws and Rules Page 5 of 6
So, it is either CPLR 214 Civil Practice Laws and Rules 214 3. ADD THE SUBDIVISION IN BRACKETS CPLR 214 (1) Civil Practice Laws and Rules 214 (1) MYTHS & REALITIES MYTH AD2d means the Appellate Division, Second Department All statutes are McKinney s (e.g., McKinney s 120) All statutes are the CPLR All statute titles must have a section sign after is (e.g., CPLR 3211) REALITY # AD2d means Appellate Division Reporter, 2d Series. # AD2d can mean Appellate Division, 1st Dept, 2d Dept, 3d Dept, or 4th Dept McKinney s is a brand name, not the title of the statute. # Civil Practice Laws and Rules is one of many titles CPLR is the Civil Practice Laws and Rules. It is one of many titles. # CPL is another title # Penal Law is another title # Domestic Relations Law is another title The Tanbook will tell you which statutes have a section sign and which ones don t. Examples: # CPLR does not use a section sign (e.g. CPLR 3211 # CPL does not use a section sign (e.g. CPL 30.30) # Penal Law uses a section sign (Penal Law 120.00 [1]). Page 6 of 6