NALA Legal Research & Citation Methods 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Bluebook, which abbreviation correctly represents the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit?
- U.S. App. 9th
- 9th Cir. (Correct answer)
- C.A. 9
- Fed. App. 9th
Correct answer: 9th Cir.
The Bluebook abbreviates federal circuit courts of appeals as '[Number] Cir.' in case citations.
Question 2: Secondary sources such as legal encyclopedias, treatises, and law review articles are most useful for:
- Establishing binding precedent in court
- Getting an overview of an area of law and finding primary source leads (Correct answer)
- Replacing statutory research when no relevant statute exists
- Determining the current validity of a case
Correct answer: Getting an overview of an area of law and finding primary source leads
Secondary sources explain and synthesize the law and often point researchers to relevant primary authorities, but they are not themselves binding.
Question 3: Which component of a case citation indicates the specific page within a reporter where a quoted passage appears?
- Parallel citation
- Pinpoint (pincite) citation (Correct answer)
- Star pagination marker
- Reporter abbreviation
Correct answer: Pinpoint (pincite) citation
A pinpoint citation (pincite) directs the reader to the exact page within the reporter where the cited material appears.
Question 4: A legal assistant finds a 1985 federal district court opinion that appears to support the client's position. Which statement about this authority is most accurate?
- It is binding on all federal courts in that circuit
- It is persuasive but not binding, even within the same district (Correct answer)
- It is mandatory authority for state courts in the same geographic area
- It overrides all contrary circuit court decisions before 1985
Correct answer: It is persuasive but not binding, even within the same district
Federal district court opinions are persuasive authority only; they are not binding even on other judges in the same district.
Question 5: When using Westlaw or LexisNexis to search for cases, a Boolean connector such as '/p' or 'w/p' retrieves documents where the search terms appear:
- Anywhere in the document
- Within the same paragraph (Correct answer)
- Within the same sentence
- Within 10 words of each other
Correct answer: Within the same paragraph
The '/p' or 'w/p' connector requires the search terms to appear within the same paragraph of the retrieved document.
Question 6: Which publication reprints the full text of U.S. Supreme Court slip opinions before they appear in the official United States Reports?
- Federal Supplement
- Supreme Court Reporter (S. Ct.)
- United States Law Week (Correct answer)
- American Law Reports (A.L.R.)
Correct answer: United States Law Week
United States Law Week (U.S.L.W.) publishes Supreme Court slip opinions shortly after they are issued, before official publication.
Question 7: In a Bluebook citation, parenthetical information following a citation is used to:
- Replace the need for a pincite
- Provide additional context such as the holding, quoting source, or weight of authority (Correct answer)
- Indicate that the source is from a foreign jurisdiction
- Signal that the source has negative subsequent history
Correct answer: Provide additional context such as the holding, quoting source, or weight of authority
Parentheticals add explanatory information—like the court's holding, that the case is quoting another source, or that it is a per curiam decision—without requiring separate prose.
NALA Legal Research & Citation Methods 4
Under the Bluebook, which abbreviation correctly represents the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit?