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Footnotes vs. In-Text Citation
Ever hunt through lengthy paragraphs of string cite in search of a few sentences of argument? If professor Wayne Schiess of the Legal Writing Blog has his way, you won't have to deal with this problem any longer. In a blog post where form is also function (take a look -- you'll see what I mean), Schiess argues that "the legal writing community should stop using in-text references" and "use footnote form instead."
What's your preference -- the footnote or the body of the brief for citation? I moved to the footnote camp for memos long ago and have been making the transition in briefs (though much of my work involves issues of first impression where there's not enough case law to string cite). Of course, as we move more and more towards a paperless profession, perhaps the in-text versus footnote debate will be rendered moot with use of hyperlinks.
Posted by Carolyn Elefant on September 27, 2007 at 03:37 PM | Permalink
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