List of legal abbreviations

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It is common practice in legal documents to cite to other publications by using standard abbreviations for the title of each source. Abbreviations may also be found for common words or legal phrases. Such citations and abbreviations are found in court decisions, statutes, regulations, journal articles, books, and other documents. Below is a basic list of very common abbreviations. Because publishers adopt different practices regarding how abbreviations are printed, one may find abbreviations with or without periods for each letter. For example, the Code of Federal Regulations may appear abbreviated as "C.F.R." or just as "CFR."

For abbreviations not found in this list, here are alternate websites to search:

- Abbreviations and Acronyms of the U.S. Government (maintained by IUPUI)
- The Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations (maintained by Cardiff University).

For legal abbreviations not found online, try searching one of the following print sources. These publications are regularly found at law and other libraries.

Prince, Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, 5th ed., 2001.
Garner, Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., 2004.
Raistrick, Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations, 2nd ed., 1993.

List Of Common Legal Abbreviations Or Terms

® -- Registered Trademark (typically a word or phrase identifying a company or product. Ex: Coca Cola)
A. −− Atlantic Reporter
A.2d −− Atlantic Reporter, 2nd Series
Ala. Admin. Code -- Alabama Administrative Code (unofficial text)
Ala. Code -- Code of Alabama 1975 (unofficial text)
Alaska Admin. Code -- Alaska Administrative Code (unofficial text)
Alaska Stat. -- Alaska Statutes (unofficial text)
All ER -- All England Law Reports
A.L.R. -- American Law Reports
A.L.R.2d -- American Law Reports, 2nd Series
A.L.R.3d -- American Law Reports, 3rd Series
A.L.R.4th -- American Law Reports, 4th Series
A.L.R.5th -- American Law Reports, 5th Series
A.L.R.6th -- American Law Reports, 6th Series
A.L.R. Fed. -- American Law Reports, Federal
Am. Jur. -- American Jurisprudence
Am. Jur. 2d. -- American Jurisprudence, 2nd Series
Ariz. Admin. Code -- Arizona Administrative Code (unofficial text)
Ariz. Admin. Reg. -- Arizona Administrative Register (unofficial text)
Ariz. Rev. Stat. -- Arizona Revised Statutes (unofficial text)
Ark. Code -- Arkansas Code (unofficial text)
B.A.P. -- Bankruptcy Appellate Panel
BFP -- Bona fide purchaser
BR or B/R -- Bankruptcy (also the abbreviation for the United States bankruptcy courts reporter, West's Bankruptcy Reporter)
c. −− Chapter
cc. −− Chapters
CA -- Class Action
CB -- Case Book
CC -- Commerce Clause
C-C -- Counter-Claim
CE -- Collateral Estoppel
CL -- Common Law
CNeg -- Contributory Negligence
COA -- Court of Appeals
Cx -- Constitution
Cx-C -- Cross-Claim
Cxl -- Constitutional
Cal. Code -- California Code (unofficial text?^[1])
Cal. Code Reg. -- California Code of Regulations (see: CCR below)
CCR -- California Code of Regulations (official text?) (source: Thomson/West)
CIF −− Coming into force
C.F.R. −− Code of Federal Regulations
CJS -- Corpus Juris Secundum
Cong. Rec. -- Congressional Record
Ct. Cl. -- the United States Court of Federal Claims Reporter
Δ (Greek letter Delta) -- Defendant
ER −− Employer
EE −− Employee
et al. -- Latin for "and others".
F. −− Federal Reporter
F.2d −− Federal Reporter, 2nd Series
F.3d −− Federal Reporter, 3rd Series
Fed. Reg. (sometimes FR) -- Federal Register (see Federal Register for full text from 1994 to date)
Fed. R. Bankr. P. -- Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
Fed. R. Civ. P. (sometimes FRCP) −− Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Fed. R. Crim. P. -- Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Fed. R. Evid. (sometimes FRE) -- Federal Rules of Evidence
F.Supp. −− Federal Supplement
F.Supp.2d −− Federal Supplement, 2nd Series
GATT -- General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
HDC -- Holder in due course
I.L.M. -- International Legal Materials
IRB -- Internal Revenue Bulletin (from July 2003 to date)
IRC -- Internal Revenue Code
ISLN −− International Standards Lawyer Number
J −− Judge
JMOL −− Judgment as a Matter of Law
JNOV −− Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict
K −− Contract
L/C -- Letter of credit
LLC -- Limited liability company
LLP -- Limited liability partnership
N.E. −− North Eastern Reporter
N.E.2d −− North Eastern Reporter, 2nd Series
N.W. −− North Western Reporter
N.W.2d −− North Western Reporter, 2nd Series
¶ (Pilcrow)-- Paragraph
Π (Greek letter Pi) -- Plaintiff
P. −− Pacific Reporter
P.2d −− Pacific Reporter, 2nd Series
P.3d −− Pacific Reporter, 3rd Series
p. −− Page
pp. −− Pages
PL −− Public Law
Pub.L. −− Public Law
R.E. or R/E -- Real Estate
Rev. Proc. -- Revenue Procedure (published in IRB)
Rev. Rul. -- Revenue Ruling (published in IRB)
s. or § −− Section
ss. or §§ −− Sections
S.C.R. (or SCR) -- Supreme Court Reports (Supreme Court of Canada)
S.Ct. −− Supreme Court Reporter (Supreme Court of the United States)
S.E. −− South Eastern Reporter
S.E.2d −− South Eastern Reporter, 2nd Series
SI −− Statutory Instruments
S/J -- Summary judgment
SMJ −− Subject Matter Jurisdiction
So. −− Southern Reporter
So.2d −− Southern Reporter, 2nd Series
SOL −− Statute of Limitations
SOR −− Statutory Orders and Regulations
Stat. −− United States Statutes at Large (See United States Code)
S.W. −− South Western Reporter
S.W.2d −− South Western Reporter, 2nd Series
S.W.3d −− South Western Reporter, 3rd Series
T.D. -- Treasury Decision
TM -- Trademark (such as a word or phrase identifying a company or product)
UCC −− Uniform Commercial Code
UCMJ -- Uniform Code Of Military Justice (Laws of the U.S. military)
UPC -- Uniform Probate Code
U.S. −− United States Reports (beginning with v. 502 (1991))
USC −− United States Code (A free website for the full text is at U.S. Code. This text is maintained by the U.S. Gov't Printing Office, but must be checked for revisions or amendments after its effective date.)
USCA −− United States Code Annotated
USCCAN -- United States Code Congressional and Administrative News
USCS −− United States Code Service
UST −− United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (See Treaty series.)
WTO -- World Trade Organization
W. Va. Code -- West Virginia Code (unofficial text)