Dear 1L, Learn when to capitalize “court.”

RULE:

In addition to the obvious (that you must capitalize “court” whenever you write out its full Bluebook citation), there are only 3 other instances that require or permit capitalization:

1️⃣ 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.

2️⃣ 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 judicial preference).

Although arguably clear, it is not correct to write:

❌ “This court should grant the motion.”

—It’s incorrect because “court” should be capitalized. {—You also don’t need the “this” before “court” (most of the time).}

✔️ Correct: “The Court should grant the motion.”

3️⃣ IF YOU’RE IN STATE COURT . . .

If your case is pending in a state court, you ALWAYS must capitalize “court” when referring to that state’s highest court.

📌 DO NOT CAPITALIZE OTHER COURTS

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

* * *

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 ok. I’m thinking of you always.

Fondly,
💌 Amanda

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