Learn
California citation, learned by doing
Short, practical lessons for law students and anyone filing in a California court for the first time. Each practice tool opens the converter on a real example, so you learn the rule by watching it apply.
Practice tools
Each opens the converter on a real exampleConvert 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)
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.
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)
Quick tips
Thirty seconds eachCSM closes up reporter abbreviations: Cal.App.4th, not Cal. App. 4th. The checker fixes this automatically.CSM § 1:12Reporter abbreviations
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 form
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 citations
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