What is a legal citation?

A legal citation is a reference that identifies a legal authority, such as a case, statute, regulation, or secondary source, in a standardized format. This standardization helps legal professionals and researchers locate the cited material efficiently and understand its significance within the context of legal arguments or discussions.

Legal citations typically include elements such as the name of the case, the volume number, the reporter abbreviation, the page number, and the year of the decision. For example, a citation like "Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)" provides specific details that allow someone to find the case within legal resources. Utilizing a standardized format is crucial since it promotes consistency and accuracy in legal writing, thus facilitating effective communication among legal practitioners, scholars, and the courts.

This clarity and organization are what set legal citations apart from other options, such as an opinion statement, a case summary, or an analytical discussion, which serve different purposes in the realm of legal writing and research. While those elements may offer valuable insights or commentary on legal matters, they do not fulfill the specific function of identifying authoritative legal texts through a concise reference system.