Dear 1L: Learn When to Capitalize “Court”

Dear 1L, Too many of you are capitalizing the word “court” when you shouldn’t, and not capitalizing it when you should.

Learn the rules governing court capitalization now, and you’ll never need to think about the topic again.

RULES

Beyond capitalizing “court” whenever you write out the full Bluebook citation for a case (obviously), there are only 3 other times when you should capitalize.

🔷 CAPITALIZE SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States)

Always capitalize “court” when it refers to the U.S. Supreme Court, regardless of where your case is pending.

🔷 CAPITALIZE YOUR COURT

If your case is pending in the court to which you are writing or refering, you should capitalize that court, (absent any contrary, applicable local-rule or individual judge preference).

Although arguably clear, it is not correct to write, “This court should grant the motion,” in your briefs.

You don’t need to (and I argue, you typically should not) specify the word “this” before “court,” and you should capitalize “court.”

Correct: “The Court should grant the motion.”

🔷 IF YOU’RE IN STATE COURT . . .

I don’t think this category applies to any 1L briefs, but if your case is pending in a state court, you must ALWAYS capitalize “court” when referring to the state’s highest court.

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📌 DO NOT CAPITALIZE OTHER COURTS

Beyond the above-three situations, do not capitalize “court” unless writing out the full, proper name of the court.

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Please let me know what questions you might have. The above issue seems to trip up a lot of folks.

Hope you’re hanging in through this long, winter study-slog. I’m thinking of you always.

Fondly,
💌 Amanda

P.S. Follow —> #Dear1L (2,000+ followers) for future letters.

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