Introduction

Note: The Canadian Legal Citation and Style Handbook is undergoing revisions and will be republished in September 2025. This is a pilot project for LAWS 1014/1024: Legal Research & Writing taught at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University.

Introduction

Effective legal writing relies on more than a compelling argument or well-researched content; it demands adherence to precise citation and formatting standards that ensure clarity, professionalism, and credibility. The Canadian Legal Citation and Style Handbook serves as a guide for learning these critical aspects of legal research and writing. Tailored to law students, legal professionals, and scholars, this Handbook provides guidance on the proper citation of legal sources and the formatting of documents, addressing a wide range of citation rules and stylistic practices.

Why Care About Legal Citation?

Legal citation, while sometimes seen as a technicality, is a fundamental skill for law students, legal professionals, and legal scholars. Accurate and consistent citation enables readers to verify sources, assess the strength of legal arguments, and quickly communicate pertinent information about legal precedents and authorities. A well-cited document not only demonstrates the author’s competence but also upholds the integrity of the legal profession. Accuracy and clarity are paramount, and proper citation ensures that legal arguments are transparent, verifiable, and persuasive. In an academic setting, for both students and scholars, legal citation plays an equally important role by ensuring intellectual honesty, giving credit to original ideas, and allowing others to engage with the referenced materials. Inaccurate or inconsistent citation can undermine an otherwise strong argument.

The Canadian Legal Citation and Style Handbook (the “Handbook”) is designed to help users navigate the intricate rules and conventions that govern legal citation in Canada. It draws upon two key resources: the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (10th ed), commonly known as the “McGill Guide,” which is the standard reference for legal citation in Canada, and the Canadian Open Access Legal Citation Guide, commonly known as “COAL”, a new and freely accessible resource available via CanLII, which offers a complementary perspective on citation practices. The Handbook provides readers with clear, practical explanations and examples from both guides, making it easier to apply even the most complex citation rules. The primary goal is not to replace either guide or encourage favouring one guide over the other, but to teach the foundational principles of legal citation with added explanatory content and illustrative examples.

Why Care About Style?

Style guides are an essential tools for anyone engaged in legal writing, from students and academics to practicing lawyers and judges. However, in the context of legal writing, style guides that address formatting, rather than citation, are uncommon. Certain general guidelines are often adopted from broader academic or professional writing style guides, however there is a need for an accessible general style guide for legal writing for students, academics, and practitioners. The Handbook is an effort to fill this gap.

While legal content is the core of any argument or decision, the presentation of that content can significantly affect its reception. A legal style guide provides the framework for consistent, clear, precise, and professional writing. By following established guidelines for language use, formatting, and structure, arguments and ideas can be conveyed more effectively and with greater credibility.

Organisation 

The Handbook is divided into two Parts. The first Part addresses legal citation. The second Part addresses writing and style. The Handbook is organised to address a wide range of citation needs that arise in Canadian legal writing, though it is not comprehensive, rather it is supplemental. Reliance on the McGill Guide and COAL are absolutely still necessary. Each chapter focuses on a specific type of source or aspect of legal writing, offering detailed guidance on how to cite cases, legislation, secondary sources, and government publications. Additionally, there are chapters on writing essay proposals and legal essays, as well as on style and formatting for different types of legal writing. By incorporating both citation and stylistic elements, the Handbook ensures that users are equipped not only to properly reference legal authorities but also to present their work in a polished and professional manner.

For citation, each chapter is designed to provide an explanation of the significance and value of the relevant citation rules, followed by a general format and specific examples that demonstrate how to apply these rules in practice. Additional reference tools, such as charts and tables, are included throughout as visual aids. Citation chapters include:

• Case Law
• Legislation
• Secondary Sources
• Government Publications

For writing, chapters have been contributed by practitioners and scholars. These chapters include an interactive document and an essay. Writing chapters include:

• Writing a Legal Essay Proposal
• Legal Essays: A Checklist

For stylistic choices in writing, an abbreviated version of the the Dalhousie Law Journal style guide has been adapted with permission. Style chapters include:

• Style for Legal Essays

There are also appendices of tables and charts elaborating on commonly used abbreviations and acronyms.

The Handbook also aims to include a Part on formatting for legal documents. Formatting for Legal Documents: Legal documents must not only be well-written but also properly formatted. This chapter would provide guidance on the formatting standards for memoranda and facta, specific to margins, fonts, footnote formatting, table of authorities, and ensuring that documents adhere to professional norms.

Conclusion

The Canadian Legal Citation and Style Handbook intends to be a practical, user-friendly resource. Rather than listing citation rules, the Handbook provides explanations and illustrative examples including added features, such as colour-coding and interactive tables, that make it easier for users to understand and apply these rules in real-world situations. Each chapter is carefully structured to build the user’s confidence in navigating complex citation rules and scenarios and bridging the gap between print and online sources.

Acknowledgements

This pilot project was co-authored by Lowell McLaughlin and edited by Alex Fox. They have made outstanding contributions towards adapting course materials, locating novel examples, creating visuals, and editing.