{"id":5421,"date":"2023-04-03T11:44:34","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T11:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/?p=5421"},"modified":"2024-05-06T13:08:12","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T13:08:12","slug":"lets-put-citations-in-footnotes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/lets-put-citations-in-footnotes\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s put Citations in Footnotes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whether in academic legal writing, brief-writing, or judicial writing, let\u2019s stop cluttering the body of our work \u201cwith jumbles of letters and numbers.\u201d Mark P. Painter, \u201830 Suggestions to Improve Readability,\u2019 14 (srln.org<\/a> [accessed 19 Feb. 2023]).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Algebra like [2011] 16 NWLR (Part 1272), 62, 75 <\/em>shouldn\u2019t appear in the body of our work, but in footnotes. We went to law school, not to math school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Name the authority in the body, but provide the citation in footnotes: \u201cAs to citations, they BELONG in footnotes. Putting goofy letters and numbers in the middle of paragraphs destroys readability.\u201d M & M Metals International Inc. v Continental Casualty Company,<\/em> 870 N.E.2d 167 (Ohio Court of Appeal 2006), 167 (Painter J).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putting citations in the body of your brief \u201cclutters the text, slows the reader, and hampers the writer\u2019s ability to construct a coherent paragraph. Few writing reforms would benefit the legal world more than adopting the following rules: (1) put all citations in footnotes; and (2) ban footnotes for all purposes other than providing citations.\u201d Bryan A. Garner, Garner\u2019s Dictionary of Legal Usage<\/em>, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2011), 158.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So put all citations in footnotes, and put only citations in footnotes. \u201c[T]he system used for citing references should be designed to give minimum interruption to readers\u2019 progress through the text. It should allow them to concentrate on primary information.\u201d Christopher Turk & John Kirkman, Effective Writing: Improving Scientific, Technical, and Business Communication<\/em>, 2d ed. (Routledge, 1989), 69\u201370.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exporting citations to footnotes enhances readability. Before they ever think of looking up any authority you cite, judicial readers want to read through your brief, preferably at one sitting. Putting your citations in the text suggests you expect the judge to pause at each authority, go to the library, and study the authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reserve footnotes for citational hieroglyphics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But avoid \u2018talking footnotes.\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Citation footnotes are all right, but talking or textual footnotes are not. Use footnotes for citations, and seldom for anything else. Do not use \u201ctalking footnotes\u201d\u2014footnotes containing amplification, further argument, or further discussion. Avoid those substantive or textual footnotes. \u201cIf your point is important, it belongs in the text; if it is not important, it does not belong in the brief.\u201d Harvey C. Couch, \u2018Writing the Appellate Brief,\u2019 17 Practical Lawyer<\/em> (1971), 27, 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking footnotes detract and distract from readability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They interrupt the reader\u2019s enjoyment of your prose, a pleasure not incomparable to other, more familiar pleasures: \u201cEncountering a [talking] footnote is like going downstairs to answer the door while making love,\u201d laments Judge Mark Painter in \u201830 Suggestions to Improve Readability,\u2019 13 (srln.org <\/a>[accessed 19 Feb. 2023]).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinua Asuzu, Brief-Writing Masterclass<\/a><\/em>(Partridge, 2017), 356\u2013358.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether in academic legal writing, brief-writing, or judicial writing, let\u2019s stop cluttering the body of our work \u201cwith jumbles of letters and numbers.\u201d Mark P. Painter, \u201830 Suggestions to Improve Readability,\u2019 14 (srln.org [accessed 19 Feb. 2023]). Algebra like [2011] 16 NWLR (Part 1272), 62, 75 shouldn\u2019t appear in the body of our work, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[108,130],"class_list":["post-5421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-brief-writing","tag-legal-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5424,"href":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5421\/revisions\/5424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writehouseng.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}