The Bluebook Doesn't Govern in Louisiana

Court decisions rarely comment on the legal citations used in court filings that paralegals spend so much time getting right. Sometimes however, the way in which cases and statutes are cited can become important issues in a case.

In Smith v. Sutherland Bldg. Material Ctrs., No. 1:16-CV-00811, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34831 (W.D. La. Jan. 27, 2017), Magistrate Judge Joseph H.L. Perez-Montes ruled on a motion to remand to state court, which turned on whether or not the Defendants had properly removed to federal court on the basis of the inclusion of a federal claim in an amended petition. The amended petition referred to the violation of Smith's civil rights "to privacy, Due Process of Law, and rights of the accused provided under the Louisiana Constitution", Id. at *4 (citing ECF No. 1-1). The Defendants contended the capitalized reference to the 'Due Process of Law', should have been read as a reference to the Constitution of the United States of America, rather than the Constitution of the State of Louisiana. The Plaintiff had specifically cited the U.S. Constitution in their original petition.

The Defendants cited Bluebook Rule 8 which specifies rules for capitalization in legal briefs. Indeed, the Bluebook does direct its readers to, ". . . capitalize nouns that identify specific parts of the U.S. Constitution when referring to them in textual sentences, but not in citations.", and gives this example: "Students in this class have studied the full faith and credit clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The students agree that the clause in that constitution is substantially similar to the Full Faith and Credit Clause in the U.S. Constitution." The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation R. 8 at 85 (19th ed. 2010).

Luckily for the Plaintiff (and the paralegal working for his attorney) Judge Perez-Montes did not accept the Defendants' rather clever argument. "The Blue Book is a widely used style guide for legal citation, but it is not uniformly followed. For instance, many states, including the State of Louisiana, do not follow Blue Book format for state case law. In addition, there are other legal citation style guides. Therefore, citation style does not dictate whether a federal or state claim is presented in a complaint. Instead, the well-pleaded complaint rule governs whether federal jurisdiction exists." Id. at *9, (citing Caterpillar, Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 392, 107 S. Ct. 2425, 96 L. Ed. 2d 318 (1987), Gully v. First Nat. Bank, 299 U.S. 109, 57 S. Ct. 96, 97-98 (1936)).

In general, the well-pleaded complaint rule is the principle that a complaint must refer to a specific federal issue, and not anticipate a defense that will arise under federal law. Here, the Court invoked the well-pleaded complaint rule to support the position that a federal question must appear on the face of the complaint.

The Court granted the motion to remand the case to Louisiana state court.

Lexis notes in this guide, that in Louisiana state courts, the Louisiana Law Review Streamlined

Citation Manual (SCM), The Bluebook, and the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation are all used as citation authorities, and in practice citation formats can vary between the various local courts.

/s/ Conformed Signatures

The use of conformed signatures, with '/s/' followed by a typed name, e.g., '/s/ John R. Smith', has been common for a long time, and will be more widespread now than ever with so many attorneys working from home. Be sure to know the correct term to use for this form of signing. 'Electronic signature' can describe a digital image of a handwritten signature, but should also be a method that allows for the detection of any changes to a document after the signature is applied, and provide a key the signer can use to verify his or her identity. A 'digital signature' is a type of electronic signature that uses encryption to confirm the identity of the signer.

Some courts specify that a conformed signature can substitute for an actual signature on a legal filing. The Northern District of California on its website states that, "A conformed signature is used to indicate that a 'real' signature is in place of an original.", but requires a signature attestation for conformed signatures used on documents filed by another attorney. The attestation can be added at the end of the filing, or be appended as a separate document.

Delaware law allows filings for businesses to use conformed signatures. "Any signature on any certificate authorized to be filed with the Secretary of State under any provision of this chapter may be a facsimile, a conformed signature or an electronically transmitted signature." 6 Del. C. § 17-206.

Armesto Schedules

The Tip of the NIght for December 17, 2020, discussed Redfern schedules - tables used in arbitration to organize a party's discovery requests. The alternative Armesto schedule uses a vertical form to track the requests rather than a horizontal one. See this example on the Wolters Kluwer site:

The Armesto schedule is color coded, with the requesting parties entries in pink, and the responding parties entries in blue. Each request is listed on a new page. The schedule has three rows for a specific description, the relevancy basis, and an indication that the requesting party does not have the documents. There are then six rows for each of the grounds on which a party may request that evidence be excluded pursuant to Article 9 of the International Bar Association's Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration. The request will be dismissed if any of three requirements can't be established, or if one of the objections applies. As you go from top to bottom, if any one of the necessary criteria doesn't apply the process can stop.