Table That: Using Tables in the Bluebook

Last night, we held our Research Certificate Seminar on Bluebooking and Zotero and had a great turnout.  One topic we discussed was using the tables in the Bluebook.

Most Bluebook tables are located in the second half of the Bluebook, in the pages that are white with a blue edge. Probably about 50% of the time you’ll be using the Bluebook, you’ll be checking something in a table, so it’s worth getting familiar with them.

Table T1 covers United States jurisdictions, including federal and all states.  This table will help you construct correct citations by telling you which source to use (like citing to United States Reports, abbreviated U.S. for U.S. Supreme Court cases). In T1, you’ll also find information on Ohio.

Other tables that get frequent use are T2 on foreign jurisdictions, T6 on the proper abbreviations for case names (like abbreviating Commissioner as “Comm’r” when it is a party name), and T13 on the proper abbreviations for journal names (like abbreviating Cleveland State Law Review as “Clev. St. L. Rev.”).