Spelling, Font, and Treatment of Words
Some foreign words and phrases commonly used in legal writing are not italicized, e.g.,
ad hoc | etc. | pro tempore |
ad hominem | habeas corpus | quid pro quo |
ad valorem | mandamus | remittitur |
de facto | per curiam | subpoena |
en banc | pro rata | vice versa |
Other less common foreign words and phrases that are italicized include the following. When using such words in the body of an opinion, use the periods and diacritical marks as set out below.
a priori | i.e. | quantum meruit |
ab initio | id. | quantum valebant |
ad litem | in camera | quo warranto |
amicus curiae / amici curiae | in limine | res ipsa loquitur |
arguendo | in re | res judicata |
certiorari | in toto | respondeat superior |
contra | inter alia | scienter |
coram nobis | ipse dixit | sic |
de novo | ipso facto | sine qua non |
dictum | non sequitur | stare decisis |
dubitante | nunc pro tunc | sua sponte |
duces tecum | per se | sub silentio |
e.g. | post hoc | ultra vires |
et al. | prima facie | vice |
et seq. | pro hac vice | vis-à-vis |
ex parte | pro se | viz. |
ex post facto, but | qua | voir dire |
Ex Post Facto Clause |
Introductory signals such as cf., accord, see, e.g., compare / with, and see generally are italicized. "See" is not italicized when it functions as a verb and not as a signal, e.g.,
For discussion on the merits, see Smith, 300 Or App at 150.
Case names are italicized, as are the titles of books and other authorities. Please refer to the Citation Section for examples.
When a case or other authority takes a possessive ending, the apostrophe and "s" are not italicized:
Miranda's holding has been called into question.
Uppercase: | Not Uppercase: (exceptions noted) |
Alaska Supreme Court | the court |
Appellate Commissioner | the commissioner |
Assistant Attorney General John Jones | assistant attorney general |
Attorney General | the Attorney General (exception) |
Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision | the board |
City of Eugene | the city |
Clackamas County District Attorney's Office | the district attorney's office |
Criminal Law Revision Commission | the commission |
Department of Revenue | the department |
Deputy Sheriff Stanley | the deputy |
Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services | the director |
Governor | the Governor (exception) |
House of Representatives | the House (exception) |
Judge Atwater | the judge |
Multnomah County Circuit Court | the court, or the circuit court |
Officer Krupke | the officer |
Oregon Court of Appeals / Court of Appeals | the court |
Oregon Legislative Assembly / 1997 Legislative Assembly | the legislature |
Oregon State Bar | the Bar (exception) |
Oregon Supreme Court / Supreme Court | the court |
Magistrate Jones | the magistrate |
Portland Police Officer | the officer |
Secretary of State | the secretary |
Representative Smith | the representative |
Salem-Keizer School District | the district |
Senate | the Senate (exception) |
Senator Jones | the senator |
State of Oregon | the state |
Oregon Tax Court / Tax Court | the court |
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | Ninth Circuit (exception) |
United States Supreme Court | the Court (exception) |
Washington County Jail | the jail |
Workers' Compensation Board | the board |
NOTE: In state jurisdictions having more than one appellate court at the same level, do not use uppercase for any shortened version of the name of that court. For example, the full form "California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District" uses uppercase, but the shortened form "court of appeal" does not. (There is no "s" after "appeal" for the California courts of appeal.) Similarly, "New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department" uses uppercase, but the shortened form "supreme court" does not. (In New York, the Court of Appeals is the highest court, while the appellate divisions of the supreme court are the intermediate appellate courts.) However, it is permissible to use uppercase for shortened names of federal appellate courts, e.g., the Ninth Circuit.
He filed the motion on Monday, January 23, 1993.
The action occurred in November 2013.
Defendant appeals from the January 16, 1994, order.
Article I, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution (but "state constitution") Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution (but "federal constitution")
Contract Clause dormant Commerce Clause Due Process Clause Ex Post Facto Clause Privileges and Immunities Clause Proportionality Clause
In the phrase "Oregon and United States constitutions," do not uppercase "constitutions," because the full title of neither document is being used. Note that either of the following formulations is preferred: "state and federal constitutions" or "the Oregon Constitution and the United States Constitution."
NOTE: When used within the text on an opinion, those terms do not start with uppercase letters, e.g., "The Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, reversed."
(Those are proper names for particular breath testing equipment.)
"Ziploc" or "Taser" (trademarked names)
(but zippered bag or stun gun)
(When referring to misdemeanor or felony charges), e.g.,
Class A felony
Count 1 of the indictment
Counts 1 and 2
(When referring to drugs), e.g.,
Schedule I drug
(When referring to the full title of specific Acts or Codes), e.g.,
The Oregon Condominium Act specifically lists those conditions. The act does not set out the condition on which appellant relies.
The Bankruptcy Code provides for that situation. The code further provides a remedy in the event of a violation.
Civil Code | Oregon Public Records Law |
Criminal Code | Unlawful Trade Practices Act |
Oregon Evidence Code | Workers' Compensation Law |
SSA
Social Security number
Her income consisted of Social Security and wages from part-time employment.
"federal" or "state,"
as in
the state
state constitution
federal constitution
statute of frauds
statute of limitations
BUT do use uppercase when part of a full proper name, e.g.,
Federal Land Bank
State of Oregon
(When referring to a specific chapter or section within a sentence), e.g.,
ORS chapter 10; Article I, section 9.
But
Chapter 7 (when referring to the Bankruptcy Code)
A horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test
The doctor ordered x-rays of the claimant's lower back.
The administrative law judge (ALJ)
He was convicted of driving under the influence (DUII).
It is now okay to wear white in the fall after Labor Day!
In the eighteenth century, women could wear white only as a petticoat.
She was convicted of wearing a red petticoat in the fall of 1858. (or, fall 1858)
In General
Numbers one through nine are spelled out when used in text, except when listing a series of like objects, e.g.,
Judges from five states came to the conference: 5 from Washington, 2 from California, 10 from Oregon, 6 from Idaho, and 1 from Alaska.
All numbers after nine are expressed as numerals, except when they begin a sentence, e.g.,
Thirty-four judges attended the conference.
Defendant raises 10 assignments of error.
Very large numbers are expressed in figures followed by million, billion, etc., e.g.,
5 million people; 2 billion particles; $10 million
All ordinal numbers (i.e., numbers that measure position) are spelled out when used in narrative, e.g.,
Plaintiff's twelfth assignment of error is not well taken.
I chased my cat Jethro off the sofa for the one hundredth time.
This is the court's seventy-third oral argument day this year.
NOTE: (1) Ordinal numbers consisting of more than one word are hyphenated if the corresponding cardinal number is hyphenated, e.g., "seven hundred and twelfth" is not hyphenated, because "seven hundred and twelve" is not hyphenated, but "eighty-second" is hyphenated, because "eighty-two" is hyphenated. (2) Ordinal numbers are expressed numerically to identify reports and courts in citations, e.g., Boston v. Cream Pie, 283 F2d 1 (9th Cir 1999).
Fractions appearing in nonquoted text either alone or with numbers less than 10 are spelled out; fractions appearing with numbers 10 or higher are expressed as numerals, e.g.,
Four and one-half years old
23 1/4
One third
When fractions are expressed as numerals, insert a space between the whole number and the fraction. Do NOT use a hyphen. ("10 2/3," not "10-2/3.")
Use numerals when using a decimal point, e.g.,
.08 percent blood alcohol content
Use numerals when denoting ratios, e.g.,
4:1 or ratio of 4 to 1 (as they are easier to read inside text)
However, spell out numbers when denoting measurement, e.g.,
The subject was five feet eight inches tall.
Spell out the word "percent" when used in text. Use the percent sign (%) in tables, e.g.,
Fifteen percent of the people in 1993 voted against the ballot measure.
In 1995, 15 percent of the people voted against the ballot measure.
Year | Percent |
1991 | 10% |
1992 | 20% |
1993 | 15% |
Include minutes and a.m. or p.m., e.g.,
Oral arguments begin at 8:00 a.m. (not "8 a.m.")
We will break for lunch at 12:15 p.m.
The defendant was last seen at 8:00 p.m. (not 8 o'clock in the evening)
Three-part dates are set off with a comma between the day and the year and, generally, a comma after the year, e.g.,
Defendant appeals from the January 16, 1994, order.
When indicating an inclusive period of time, omit the comma after the first year, e.g.,
Defendant was on probation from June 14, 1980 to July 30, 1982.
When referring to a date by month and day, do not use endings with the day, e.g.,
the September 19 hearing (not September 19th)
When indicating time by month and year only, there is no comma before or after the year, unless the sentence structure requires a comma after the year, e.g.,
Three lawyers attended the April 1990 deposition.
The trial, which was scheduled for June 1990, was postponed several times.
When indicating a period of several years, use "to" or "through," not a hyphen, e.g.,
Judge Caspar was on the bench from 1900 to 1921.
EXCEPTION: Hyphens are used for tax years. Do not repeat the "19" for inclusive years, e.g., tax years 1995-97, but tax year 1999-2000. For years ending in double "00" repeat the entire sequence, e.g., 2000-2001.
An indication of a decade does not take an apostrophe, e.g.,
1980s
Indications of time, as shown here, take an apostrophe, e.g.,
24 months' incarceration (or 24 months of incarceration) six weeks' time (or six weeks of time)
When referring to dollars, use the dollar sign; do not spell out "dollars," e.g.,
$5 million; $2 billion
Use $25.00 if there are other mixed dollar and cents amounts referred to, otherwise use $25 if standing alone, e.g.,
Plaintiff sought $10,000.00 in attorney fees and $875.45 in costs.
The court entered judgment in the amount of $10,000.
Use a comma in numbers larger than three digits, e.g.,
$1,500
Acronyms are composed of the initial letters or parts of a compound term. An acronym is usually read or spoken as a single word, rather than letter by letter, e.g., AIDS. Initialisms are abbreviations pronounced letter by letter, e.g., ORCP, LCDC, DWS, HGN, JNOV, etc. Periods are usually omitted to improve readability. In either event, all but the most common acronyms / initialisms are spelled out upon first usage, followed by the acronym / initialism enclosed in parentheses, e.g.,
Mountain View Hospital District (MVHD) filed a motion for summary judgment.
The article that precedes an acronym or initialism depends on how the abbreviation reads: If it is pronounced beginning with a vowel sound, then use "an." If it is pronounced beginning with a consonant sound, then use "a."
an LCDC order
an ORAP provision
an ORCP ruling
a LUBA opinion
a Umatilla County sheriff
Generally, add an "s" when forming a plural of something singular, e.g., SSNs, UFOs, MDs, CCRs, and add an apostrophe to show possession, e.g., LUBA's analysis or PERS's liabilities.
Chief Justice Balmer
chief justice of the Supreme Court
Your Honor
The Honorable Thomas A. Balmer
Queen Mary the queen
Dr. Smith (becomes Smith after first reference)
Academic Degrees
Ph.D. ("Ph.D." is preferred over "PhD" with no periods.)
Corpus Juris Secundum
Corpus Juris Secundum (an encyclopedia of United States law at the federal and state levels) is abbreviated as CJS without periods.
Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict
When abbreviating, use "JNOV" instead of "j.n.o.v."
Months of the Year (no periods, when appearing in citations):
January - Jan | July - July |
February - Feb | August - Aug |
March - Mar | September - Sept |
April - Apr | October - Oct |
May - May | November - Nov |
June - June | December - Dec |