WSR 18-14-093
RULES OF COURT
STATE SUPREME COURT
[June 29, 2018]
IN THE MATTER OF THE SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS TO GR 14APPENDIX STYLE SHEET
)
)
)
ORDER
NO. 25700-A-1226
The Office of the Reporter of Decisions, having recommended the expeditious adoption of the suggested amendments to GR 14Appendix Style Sheet, and the Court having considered the amendments and comments submitted thereto, and having determined that the suggested amendments will aid in the prompt and orderly administration of justice;
Now, therefore, it is hereby
ordered:
(a) That the suggested amendments as shown below are adopted.
(b) That the suggested amendments will be published expeditiously in the Washington Reports and will become effective upon publication.
dated at Olympia, Washington this 29th day of June, 2018.
 
 
Fairhurst, C.J.
Johnson, J.
 
Wiggins, J.
Madsen, J.
 
Gonzalez, J.
Owens, J.
 
Gordon McCloud, J.
Stephens, J.
 
Yu, J.
OFFICE OF REPORTER OF DECISIONS
STYLE SHEET
Effective December 8, 2015 July 3, 2018 and Subject to Revision
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
1. The Twentieth Edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is the basic citation resource for Washington appellate court opinions except as noted below.
2. The latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style is the authority for punctuation and style matters.
3. Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language (as updated by the online version, Merriam-Webster Unabridged) is the authority for spelling, including spacing and hyphens between nouns (e.g., website, seat belt, decision-maker). Where two or more spellings are listed, use Webster's preferred spelling rather than the variant.
4. For matters not covered by the Bluebook, The Chicago Manual of Style, or Webster's, the Office of Reporter of Decisions applies formal, traditional, noncolloquial English.
5. Use and cite to official sources, which in most instances are printed publications. Do not cite to an unofficial source unless the official source is unavailable.
ABBREVIATIONS
The following abbreviations are used for citing to primary Washington legal materials. The list replaces the list of abbreviations for Washington materials found in Bluebook table T1.3, at 300.
TITLE
ABBREVIATION
Washington Constitution
Const. art. VI, § 1
Revised Code of Washington (Official)
RCW
Revised Code of Washington Annotated (West)
RCWA
Annotated Revised Code of Washington (LEXIS)
ARCW
Session Laws
Laws of 2002, ch. 107, § 3
special sessions
Laws of 1995, 2d Spec. Sess., ch. 14, § 21
extraordinary sessions
Laws of 1963, 1st Ex. Sess., ch. 26
Washington Reports, 1st & 2d Series
Wash.; Wn.2d
Washington Territory Reports
Wash. Terr.
Washington Appellate Reports
Wn. App.; Wn. App. 2d
Washington Administrative Code
WAC
Washington State Register
Wash. St. Reg.
Early Statutes
Ballinger Code
Bal. Code
Code of 1881
Code of 1881
Hill's Code of Procedure
Hill's Code of Proc.
Hill's General Statutes
Hill's Gen. Stat.
Pierce's Code
Pierce's Code
Remington's Revised Statutes
Rem. Rev. Stat.
Remington's 1915 Code
Rem. 1915 Code
Note: In citations, "Const.," "Laws of," and the names of codes and statutes (e.g., "Code of 1881," "Rem. Rev. Stat.") are printed in the official reports in large and small caps, but ordinary typeface is acceptable in manuscript opinions. In text, both the official reports and manuscript opinions use ordinary typeface.
EXCEPTIONS TO BLUEBOOK
1. Exception to Bluebook rules 2.1 & 2.2, at 67-70: Ignore rules about using roman type for case names. Case names should be in italics no matter where or how they are used.
2. Exception to Bluebook rule 5.3 (b)(iv) at 86: The deletion of matter after the final punctuation of a sentence may be indicated by a three-dot ellipsis.
3. Exception to Bluebook rule 6.1(b) at 88: Do not use abbreviations for entities with widely recognized initials in text (unless previously set out in a parenthetical), in case citations (unless abbreviated in source) (this is also an exception to Bluebook rule 10.2.1(c) at 98), or as institutional authors.
4. Exceptions to Bluebook rule 6.2(a) at 88-89: In text, spell out numbers zero to nine. Use arabic numerals for higher numbers. Use commas in numbers 1,000 and higher (e.g., 9,876) except when citing a page number in a case or court document.
5. Exception to Bluebook rule 6.2(d) at 89: In text, always write out "percent" rather than using a percentage sign (%).
6. Exception to Bluebook rule 8, at 91-93: Ignore this section. The Reporter's Office generally follows The Chicago Manual of Style to resolve capitalization issues although, other than capitalizing proper nouns and maintaining consistency throughout the opinion, the judicial author's preference governs.
7. Exception to Bluebook rule 9(a) at 94: When a judge is named in text, the use of the judge's first and middle names/initials is discretionary with the author.
8. Exception to Bluebook rule 10.2.1(a) at 97: When a case has both an adversary and a nonadversary name, cite to only the first case name in the official reports caption.
9. Exception to Bluebook rule 10.3.1, at 102-03 and Table T1: Cite official reports and regional reporters for all cases for which official reports are published. Include public domain citations when available. For California, Illinois, and New York, include the state specific reporter (Cal. Rptr. 3d, Ill. Dec., N.Y.S.2d) in addition to the official reports and regional reporters. For Washington cases, pinpoint citations are made to Wn.2d or Wn. App. pages, paragraph numbers, or both; pinpoint citations to P., P.2d, or P.3d pages are optional; pinpoint citations should not be made to P.3d paragraph numbers. For non-Washington cases, pinpoint citations are made to the official report or the unofficial report. Maintain consistency throughout the opinion.
10. Exception to Bluebook rule 10.7, at 109-11: Review denied and review granted: for Washington cases, cite to Wash. or Wn.2d; citing P., P.2d, or P.3d in addition to Wash. or Wn.2d is optional; for non-Washington cases: cite to the regional reporter; citing the official reporter in addition to the regional reporter is optional. Cert. granted or cert. denied in the United States Supreme Court: cite only to U.S. if therein; otherwise, cite to one of the following: S. Ct., L. Ed. or L. Ed. 2d, or U.S.L.W. in that order of preference. When subsequent history results in an opinion (such as aff'd, rev'd, vacated, overruled by, and abrogated by), use a full case citation.
11. Exception to Bluebook rule 10.7.1(c) at 110: "Overruled by" (or "abrogated by") is appropriate when a case explicitly repudiates (or effectively overrules or departs from) an earlier decision of a lower court as well as an earlier decision of the same court. Do not use "superseded by statute" or "superseded by constitutional amendment" subsequent history.
12. Exception to Bluebook rule 12.3.1(d) at 124: When citing to a current or former, official or unofficial, version of a statute that is published by a private publisher, do not add the name of the publisher and year of publication, e.g., "(West)" or "(LexisNexis 2003)," unless the volume is being cited for something other than the text of the statute, in which case include the publisher name and year.
13. Exception to Bluebook rule 12.3.2, at 124-25: Do not add the year in parentheses after a citation to a presently effective version of a statute or code.
14. Exception to Bluebook rule 12.9.2, at 130: Do not add "Wash." for codes and ordinances of Washington local governments. Do not add the year in parentheses after a citation to a presently effective version of a local code or ordinance.
15. Exception to Bluebook rule 12.10(c) at 134: "Section" may be spelled out in text when referring to U.S.C. sections.
16. Exception to Bluebook table T1.1, at 233: Cite United States Supreme Court cases as follows: __ U.S. __, __ S. Ct. __, __ L. Ed. or L. Ed. 2d __ (year).
17. Exception to Bluebook table T1.3, at 289: For Pennsylvania Superior Court cases, omit the public domain citation after the A.3d citation becomes available.
Reviser's note: The typographical errors in the above material occurred in the copy filed by the State Supreme Court and appear in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.