What is the best way to write a court case name?
<p>I can think of four ways to write the name of a court case (using Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization as an example):</p>
<ul>
<li>Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization</li>
<li>Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization</li>
<li>Dobbs vs Jackson Women's Health Organization</li>
<li>Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health
Organization</li>
</ul>
<p>Which is correct/best?</p>

<p>There is no &quot;correct&quot; way unless there is a binding set of rules for writing case names, and no such rules exist.</p>
<p>There is no &quot;best&quot; way without reference to some set of preferences. If you're trying to save keystrokes, the first is best; if you're trying to fill as much space as possible, the last is best.</p>
<p>If the question is, &quot;How do American lawyers write court case names,&quot; the most widely accepted reference would be <a href="https://www.legalbluebook.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Bluebook</a>, which would render the case as <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Org.</em></p>
<p>If the question is, &quot;How do American journalists write court case names,&quot; the most widely accepted reference would the the <a href="https://twitter.com/apstylebook/status/763846160821940224?lang=en" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AP Stylebook</a>, which would render the case as &quot;Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.&quot;</p>

<p><a href="/questions/tagged/australia" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;australia&#39;" rel="tag">australia</a></p>
<p>Australian courts (to the extent that the title page of the judgement contains the correct citation) and universities apply the <a href="https://law.unimelb.edu.au/mulr/aglc" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Australian Guide to Legal Citation</a>. A free-to-view version is <a href="https://www.mulr.com.au/aglc/AGLC4-2021-v1.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>.</p>
<p>US case law is dealt with in section 25.1:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/grDuw.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/grDuw.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>So, for your example: <em>Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization</em>, 597 US _ (2022).</p>
<p>AGTLC supports Short Titles so the first mention could be <em>Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization</em> (‘<em>Dobbs</em>’) and subsequent citations would be <em>Dobbs</em>.</p>
<p>AGTLC is a footnote-based reference system but you can use the name of the case in-line but would need to reference the other details in a footnote. Something like:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We now consider the decision in <em>Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization</em> (‘<em>Dobbs</em>’).<sup>23</sup></p>
<hr />
<p><sup>23</sup>597 US _ (2022) (‘<em>Dobbs</em>’)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>or</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In a rare move, the US Supreme Court has overturned its own precedent.<sup>23</sup></p>
<hr />
<p><sup>23</sup><em>Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization</em>, 597 US _ (2022) (‘<em>Dobbs</em>’)</p>
</blockquote>

united-states us-supreme-court language