Legal writing means building an argument from legal authority, such as cases, legislation and scholarship, and citing each authority precisely. UK law schools mostly use OSCOLA; US law schools use the Bluebook.
This guide covers how to structure law essays and problem questions, then shows how to cite cases, legislation, books and journal articles in OSCOLA 4th edition and the Bluebook, with the most common mistakes to avoid.
The Essentials of Legal Writing and Citation
- Answer the question asked: essays argue a position; problem questions apply the law to facts.
- Support every legal proposition with authority, and explain how it applies.
- Prefer primary authority (cases and legislation) for what the law is; use scholarship for analysis and critique.
- Cite in footnotes in OSCOLA; in the Bluebook, follow your school's guidance on footnotes or in-text citations.
- Be precise: pinpoint the page or paragraph you rely on.
Law Essays and Problem Questions
Law assessments usually take one of two forms, and each needs a different structure.
| Type | What it asks | How to structure it |
|---|---|---|
| Essay | Critically discuss a statement, area of law or reform | Introduction with a clear position, themed analysis, conclusion |
| Problem question | Advise parties on a set of facts | Issue by issue, applying the law to the facts (IRAC) |
| Case note | Analyse a single judgment | Facts, decision, reasoning, significance, critique |
| Dissertation | Research a legal question in depth | Chapters with a literature review and sustained argument |
Law markers look for accurate statements of the law, analysis rather than description and an answer that addresses the exact question, not the topic in general.
Answering Problem Questions with IRAC
IRAC gives problem answers a clear, repeatable shape. Work through each legal issue in turn.
- Issue: identify the legal question raised by the facts.
- Rule: state the relevant law, with authority.
- Application: apply the rule to the specific facts, considering arguments on both sides.
- Conclusion: state the likely outcome for that issue.
Example (negligence, UK). Issue: does the café owe Ama a duty of care for the wet floor? Rule: occupiers owe visitors a common duty of care under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957, s 2. Application: Ama was a lawful visitor; the floor was mopped without a warning sign during opening hours, so reasonable care was arguably not taken. Conclusion: the café is likely to be in breach, subject to causation and any contributory negligence.
Keep the application section the longest. Students lose marks for stating rules at length and then applying them in a single sentence.
Writing a Strong Law Essay
A law essay needs a thesis: your answer to the question, stated in the introduction and defended throughout.
- Define the scope: which jurisdiction, area of law and period.
- Explain the current law accurately, with leading cases and statutes.
- Analyse critically: tensions in the case law, policy arguments, academic debate.
- Consider counterarguments and respond to them.
- Conclude with a clear answer and, where relevant, proposals for reform.
Use academic commentary to support analysis, not to replace it. "Smith argues X" is description; explaining why Smith is right or wrong is analysis.
Using Legal Authority Well
Legal arguments rest on a hierarchy of authority. Knowing which sources carry the most weight helps you choose what to cite and how much to rely on it.
| Source | Weight | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Legislation | Binding | Quote or paraphrase the exact section that applies |
| Decisions of higher courts | Binding on lower courts | State the principle and pinpoint the passage |
| Decisions of courts at the same or lower level | Persuasive | Use to show how the law has been applied |
| Academic articles and books | Persuasive commentary | Use for critique, context and reform arguments |
| Law Commission and policy reports | Persuasive | Use for reform debates and the purpose of legislation |
Read the judgments themselves, not only textbook summaries. Markers can tell when a student has relied on a summary, because the analysis stays at the level of headnotes.
Citing in OSCOLA 4th Edition
OSCOLA (the Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities) uses footnotes and minimal punctuation: no full stops in abbreviations, and a full stop only at the end of each footnote.
Case with law report: Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL).
Pinpoint: Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL) 580.
Neutral citation and report: R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union [2017] UKSC 5, [2018] AC 61.
Statute: Human Rights Act 1998, s 3.
Book: Rose Hale, Principles of Tort Law (3rd edn, Northgate Press 2021) 112.
Journal article: Tom Ward, 'Duty of Care after Robinson' (2020) 136 LQR 451, 455.
The book and article above are invented to show the format; the cases and statute are real. Square brackets around a year mean the year identifies the volume; round brackets mean the volume number does.
Later References, Ibid and the Bibliography
After the first full citation, use a short form and a cross-reference to the earlier footnote, such as Hale (n 4) 120. Use "ibid" (lowercase in the middle of a footnote, no full stop, not italic) for the source in the immediately preceding footnote.
Longer works have a table of cases, a table of legislation and a bibliography of secondary sources. Bibliography entries put the author's surname first with initials, such as Hale R, and have no closing full stop.
Citing in the Bluebook
The Bluebook is the standard citation system in the United States. Law reviews follow its main rules; court documents and student memos often follow its Bluepages, which use simpler typeface conventions.
Case: Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
Pinpoint: Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 495 (1954).
Short form: Brown, 347 U.S. at 495.
Immediately preceding authority: Id. at 494.
Statute: 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
Law review article: Tom Ward, Duty of Care in the Digital Age, 120 Yale L.J. 451, 455 (2020).
The law review article is invented to show the pattern. Statutes are often cited with the year of the code edition in parentheses; follow your school's preference.
Signals
Bluebook citations often begin with a signal showing how the authority supports your point. Common signals include see (supports indirectly), see also (additional support), cf. (supports by analogy) and but see (contrary authority).
OSCOLA Versus Bluebook
| Feature | OSCOLA | Bluebook |
|---|---|---|
| Main users | UK and many Commonwealth law schools | US law schools, courts and law reviews |
| Case names | Italic, "v" with no full stop | Italic, "v." with a full stop |
| Abbreviations | No full stops (AC, QB, LQR) | Full stops in many abbreviations (U.S., L.J.) |
| Repeat citations | ibid and cross-references (n 4) | Id. and short forms with "at" |
| Pinpoints | Page or paragraph after the citation | Page after a comma, or "at" in short forms |
| Signals | Used sparingly, in plain words | Formal system of introductory signals |
Common Legal Writing Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Describing cases without applying them | Explain how each authority answers the issue |
| Citing textbooks for the law itself | Cite the case or statute; use books for commentary |
| Full stops in OSCOLA abbreviations | Write AC, not A.C. |
| Missing pinpoints | Give the exact page or paragraph you rely on |
| Mixing OSCOLA and Bluebook conventions | Use one system consistently |
| Citing a newspaper report of a case | Find and cite the judgment or law report |
Our free citation generator helps with books, articles and websites in many styles. Case and legislation citations still need checking against OSCOLA or the Bluebook directly.
How Bibloq Helps with Legal Writing
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities, the main legal citation system in UK law schools. The current edition is the 4th.
The standard legal citation system in the United States, used by law schools, courts and law reviews.
Yes. OSCOLA citations go in footnotes, with full stops only at the end of each footnote.
Case name in italics, then the neutral citation and law report where available, for example Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 (HL).
Case name in italics, volume, reporter, first page and year, for example Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
A structure for problem questions: issue, rule, application and conclusion.
Longer works usually need tables of cases and legislation plus a bibliography of secondary sources. Check your module guidance.
Avoid them for legal propositions. Cite the primary authority or scholarly commentary instead.
Use single quotation marks for short quotations. Quotations longer than three lines are indented as a block, without quotation marks, with the footnote marker after the final punctuation.