Office of Reporter of Decisions

STYLE SHEET

This style sheet is effective January 7, 2005 and is subject to revision.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

  


 The Seventeenth Edition of The Bluebook:  A Uniform System of Citation is the basic citation resource for Washington appellate court opinions except as noted below.




  

 The Practitioners' Notes section of the Bluebook (section P at 10-19 on light blue paper) applies specifically to court documents.  Bluebook I.1, at 3 and § P at 11.  Conflicts between section R of the Bluebook (General Rules of Citation and Style at 20-181) and section P of the Bluebook are resolved in favor of section P with the exception that for typefaces, a manuscript opinion may follow the rules of section P or section R.




  

 The latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style is the authority for punctuation and style matters not covered by the Bluebook.




  

 Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language is the authority for spelling, including spacing and hyphens between nouns (e.g., boyfriend, girl friend, day care, baby-sitter).  Where two or more spellings are listed, use Webster's preferred spelling rather than the variant.




  

 For matters not covered by the Bluebook, The Chicago Manual of Style, or Webster's, the Office of Reporter of Decisions applies formal, traditional, noncolloquial English.




ABBREVIATIONS

The following abbreviations are used for citing to primary Washington legal materials.  The list replaces the list of abbreviations for Washington materials found in Bluebook table T.1, at 239.



TITLE

ABBREVIATION


Washington Constitution

Const. art. VI, § 1


Revised Code of Washington (Official)

RCW


Revised Code of Washington Annotated (West)

RCWA


Annotated Revised Code of Washington (LEXIS)

ARCW


Session Laws

Laws of 2002, ch. 107, § 3


  special sessions

Laws of 1995, 2d Spec. Sess., ch. 14, § 21


  extraordinary sessions

Laws of 1963, 1st Ex. Sess., ch. 26


Washington Reports, 2d Series

Wn.2d 


Washington Reports

Wash.


Washington Territory Reports

Wash. Terr.


Washington Appellate Reports

Wn. App.


Washington Administrative Code

WAC


Washington State Register

Wash. St. Reg.







Early Statutes


Ballinger Code

Bal. Code


Code of 1881

Code of 1881 


Hill's Code of Procedure

Hill's Code of Proc.


Hill's General Statutes

Hill's Gen. Stat.


Pierce's Code

Pierce's Code


Remington Revised Statutes

Rem. Rev. Stat.


Remington's 1915 Code

Rem. 1915 Code


Note:  In citations, "Const.," "Laws," and the names of codes are printed in the official reports in large and small caps but ordinary typeface is acceptable in manuscript opinions.  In text, both the official reports and manuscript opinions use ordinary typeface.

EXCEPTIONS TO BLUEBOOK

  


 Exception to Bluebook practitioners’ note P.3, at 14:  For Washington cases, pinpoint citations are made to Wn.2d or Wn. App. pages, paragraph numbers, or both; pinpoint citations to P., P.2d, or P.3d pages are optional; pinpoint citations should not be made to P.3d paragraph numbers.  For non-Washington cases, pinpoint citations are made to the official report or the unofficial report.  Maintain consistency throughout the opinion.




  

 Exception to Bluebook practitioners’ note P.6, at 17-18 and rule 8, at 51-53:  Ignore these sections.  The Reporter’s Office generally follows The Chicago Manual of Style to resolve capitalization issues although, other than capitalizing proper nouns and maintaining consistency throughout the opinion, the judicial author’s preference governs.




  

 Exception to Bluebook practitioners’ note P.7, at 18:  Cite court documents without parentheses.




  

 Exceptions to Bluebook rule 6.2(a) at 49-50:  In text, spell out numbers zero to nine.  Use arabic numerals for higher numbers.  Use commas in numbers 1,000 and higher (e.g., 9,876) except when citing a page number in a case or court document.




  

 Exception to Bluebook rule 6.2(d) at 50:  In text, always write out "percent" rather than using a percentage sign (%).




  

 Exception to Bluebook rule 10.3.1, at 62:  Cite official reports and regional reporters for all cases for which official reports are published.  For California, Illinois, and New York, include the state specific reporter (Cal. Rptr. 2d, Ill. Dec., N.Y.S.2d) in addition to the official reports and regional reporters.




  

 Exception to Bluebook rule 12.3.2, at 80:  Do not add the year in parentheses after a citation to a presently effective version of a statute or code.




  

 Exception to Bluebook rule 12.8.2, at 85:  Do not add "Wash." for codes and ordinances of Washington local governments.




  

 Exception to Bluebook table T.1, at 183:  Cite United States Supreme Court cases as follows:

__ U.S. __, __ S. Ct. __, __ L. Ed. or L. Ed. 2d __ (year).




ADDITIONS TO BLUEBOOK

  


 Subsequent history of cases.  For review denied and review granted of Washington cases, cite to Wash. or Wn.2d; citing P., P.2d, or P.3d in addition to Wash. or Wn.2d is optional.  For non-Washington cases, cite to the regional reporter; citing the official report in addition to the regional reporter is optional.  For cert. granted or cert. denied in the United States Supreme Court, cite only to U.S. if therein; otherwise, cite to one of the following:  S. Ct., L. Ed. or L. Ed. 2d, or U.S.L.W. in that order of preference.  When subsequent history results in an opinion (such as aff’d, rev’d, vacated, and overruled by), use a full case cite.




  

 Add the following to the list of short citations to cases from the Bluebook practitioners’ note P.4, at 15:  Smith, 123 Wn.2d 51.




  

 When a case is amended and has a single Wn.2d or Wn. App. citation but two Pacific Reporter citations, cite as follows:  Queen City Farms, Inc. v. Cent. Nat’l Ins. Co. of Omaha, 126 Wn.2d 50, 882 P.2d 703, 891 P.2d 718 (1994).  Use the year that the opinion was filed, not the year of the amendment.