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Cite a court case in Chicago (author-date)

We’ll detect the type and pull metadata via CrossRef (DOIs), Open Library (ISBNs), or Open Graph tags (URLs). Edit anything before copying.

Citation fields

Court cases are the source type where Chicago (author-date) (17th ed.) diverges most from ordinary author-date patterns. Legal citations privilege the case name, reporter volume, reporter abbreviation, first page, court, and year. Some styles keep legal punctuation almost intact, while others adapt cases into reference-list entries, so every locator must be copied exactly.

Chicago (author-date) rules for a court case

  • Case name is italicized in APA and Harvard, but plain in MLA and Chicago author-date.
  • Include the reporter volume number.
  • Copy the reporter abbreviation exactly, such as U.S. or F. Supp.
  • Include the first page of the reported decision.
  • Add the court abbreviation when it is not clear from the reporter.
  • End with the decision year and URL when citing an online copy.
  • Chicago legal notes follow footnote conventions more closely than author-date references.
  • Use plain case names in author-date reference entries.

Worked example

Chicago (author-date) · court case

A real court case formatted using the Chicago (author-date) rules above.

Court, United States Supreme. 1954. "Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483." Legal Information Institute. accessed January 15, 2025. https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/347/483.

Build your own Chicago (author-date) reference

Paste a URL, DOI, or ISBN into the generator at the top of this page. It is already set to Chicago (author-date).

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