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California citation, learned by doing

Short, practical lessons in the California Style Manual (CSM) for law students and anyone filing in a California court for the first time. Each practice tool comes with a real example: copy it, open the converter, and watch the rule apply.

Practice tools

Copy the example, then open the converter

Convert a Westlaw citation

See how a regional-reporter cite copied from Westlaw gains the official California citation your filing needs under CRC 3.1113(c).

Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 532 P.2d 1226 (Cal. 1975)

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Fix CSM spacing

Paste a citation you already wrote in CSM and watch the checker close up the reporter and correct the pinpoint, with a before-and-after list.

Nazir v. United Airlines, Inc. (2009) 178 Cal. App. 4th 243, at p. 248.

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Get short forms

Convert a full citation and read the supra, id., and ibid. variants generated beneath it, each labeled for when to use it.

People v. Anderson, 447 P.2d 942 (Cal. 1968)

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The converter is free for 10 citations a month.See pricing

Quick tips

Thirty seconds each

CSM closes up reporter abbreviations: Cal.App.4th, not Cal. App. 4th. The checker fixes this automatically.

CSM § 1:12Reporter abbreviationsCite a California case

The year comes right after the case name in CSM: People v. Anderson (1968) 70 Cal.2d 15, not at the end.

CSM § 1:1[D]Case citation formCite a California case

Use ibid. only when citing the same page of the same authority as the immediately preceding citation; a different page takes id.

CSM § 1:2[C]Short forms

Statute cites name the code, then the section: Civ. Code, § 1714. The code name is never omitted on first reference.

CSM § 2:8Statutory citationsCite a California statute

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