When making reference to laws, bills, and other legal materials, you will need to follow the style of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, regardless of which CSE Manual system you are using. Because the format of legal material is prescribed by the legislative community, you cannot modify these citations to meet the guidelines of any of the three CSE Manual systems.
For detailed information on the Bluebook, please contact the Goodson Law Library. Otherwise, you will find basic citation information for major types of legal material below.
Case
Case name, Reporter volume Reporter name First page of the case (Name of court Year of decision).
When referring to a case within the text, italicize the case name and only abbreviate widely known acronyms and these 8 words: &, Ass'n, Bros., Co., Corp., Inc., Ltd., and No. The first time you mention a case, use its full name. In subsequent references to the case within the same general discussion, you can simply refer to the first party's name which you may shorten.
The case of Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms (2010), casts doubt on a court's equitable discretion to tailor relief when a statutory remedy plainly prescribes a particular remedial outcome.98 More specifically, Monsanto calls into question a district court's decision...
Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms, 561 U.S. 139 (2010).
Example taken from: Hausman N. Monsanto Co. v. Geertson Seed Farms: Breaking sigh of equitable relief. Tulane Environ Law J. 2011;25(1):155-206.
Statute, rule, or regulation
Name of the act, Published source (Year).
In the name–year system, begin the parenthetical in-text citation with the first word or first few words of the legislative material's title, followed by an ellipsis and the year of publication. If the name of the material is part of the sentence, the first mention of a statue, rule, or regulation requires its full name. However, subsequent citations may be in short form that clearly identifies the statue, rule, or regulation.
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) (1980), is best known for establishing a scheme for cleaning up sites contaminated by releases of hazardous substances through "response actions" selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or other delegated agencies. In §107(a), CERCLA defines four categories of parties that may be liable…
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 et seq. (1980).
Example taken from: Brighton WD, Glaser, DA, King, RE. Natural resource damages under CERCLA and OPA. 2024. Environ Law Report;54(7):10569-10603.
Legislative material
Title of the material, Legislative body Number assigned to material, Number of legislative season (year of publication).
In the name–year system, begin the in-text citation with the first word or first few words of the legislative material's title, followed by an ellipsis and the year of publication.
A recently introduced bill hopes to protect waterways and ensure that polluters don't introduce PFAS into our water (Water Systems...2025).
Water Systems PFAS Liability Protection Act, H.R. 1267, 119th Cong. (2025).