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Law Practice,
Appellate Practice

Jun. 4, 2024

‘Cleaned up’ California: 7 years on

The “cleaned up” citation format, proposed by attorney Jack Metzler in 2017, has gained popularity in legal writing, with nearly 100 California opinions using the signal.

Benjamin G. Shatz

Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP

Appellate Law (Certified), Litigation

Email: bshatz@manatt.com

Benjamin is a certified specialist in appellate law who co-chairs the Appellate Practice Group at Manatt in the firm's Los Angeles office. Exceptionally Appealing appears the first Tuesday of the month.

Patrice Ruane

Associate, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP

Shutterstock

An astounding amount of time, effort, and education is spent on legal citation format. For the uninitiated, this is surprising because the essential principles of citation boil down to two simple rules. First, tell the reader where the idea came from so the reader can find it and evaluate its strength and relevance. Second, alert the reader if the writer has changed anything from the original.

This second principle, combined with citation ...

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