This is a list of abbreviations used in law and legal documents. It is common practice in legal documents to cite 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. Publishers adopt different practices regarding how abbreviations are printed, and abbreviations may be 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".
Legal citations
Canon law CCEO — Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches CIC — Codex Iuris Canonici, the Code of Canon Law (further specified as 1983 CIC or 1917 CIC) CJS — Corpus Juris Secundum S.R.R. — Sacræ Rotæ Romanæ, the Tribunal of the Roman Rota SRRDec — Sacræ Rotæ Romanæ DecisionesBeal, New Commentary xxvii
Common law AD - South African Law Reports, Appellate Division All SA — All South African Law Reports BAILII - British and Irish Legal Information Institute B.A.P. — Bankruptcy Appellate Panel BCLR – Butterworths Constitutional Law Reports (South Africa) BLLR – Butterworths Labour Law Reports (South Africa) CJEU – Court of Justice of the European Union CBJ — California Bar journal CCH — Commerce Clearing House, a publisher of case law reporters owned by Wolters Kluwer CCR — California Code of Regulations (official text?) (source: Thomson/West) DLR — Dominion Law Reports (Canadian law report) I.L.M. — International Legal Materials ILJ – Industrial Law Journal ILJ – Industrial Law Journal (South Africa) IRB — Internal Revenue Bulletin (from July 2003 to date) ILRM — Irish Law Reports Monthly IR — Irish Law Reports IRC — Internal Revenue Code R.I.A.A. — Reports of International Arbitral Awards SA – South African Law Reports S.A. - Société Anonyme SACR – South African Criminal Law Reports SALLR – South African Labour Law Reports SC – Senior Counsel 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 So. — Southern Reporter S.R. & O. — Statutory Rules and Orders (Ireland)
United Kingdom AC — Appeal Cases (United Kingdom law report) All ER — All England Law Reports Bla.Com. or Bl. Com. — Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England EWCA — England and Wales Court of Appeal EWCA Crim — England and Wales Court of Appeal Criminal Division MLR – Modern Law Review WLR — Weekly Law Reports
United States A. — Atlantic Reporter A.L.R. — American Law Reports Am. Jur. — American Jurisprudence BR or B/R — Bankruptcy (also the abbreviation for the United States bankruptcy courts reporter, West's Bankruptcy Reporter) C.F.R. — Code of Federal Regulations Ct. Cl. — the United States Court of Federal Claims Reporter F. — Federal Reporter F.App'x — Federal Appendix F.Cas. — Federal Cases 1789–1880 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 GATT — General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade KRS - Kentucky Revised Statutes L.Ed — Lawyers' Edition L.Ed.2d — Lawyers 2nd Edition MPC — Model Penal Code N.E. — North Eastern Reporter N.W. — North Western Reporter O.R.C. — Ohio Revised Code P. — Pacific Reporter RCW — Revised Code of Washington Rev. Commrs. — Revenue Commissioners Rev. Proc. — Revenue Procedure (published in IRB) Rev. Rul. — Revenue Ruling (published in IRB) Stat. — United States Statutes at Large (See United States Code) S.W. — South Western Reporter T.C. — Reported decisions of the United States Tax Court T.D. — Treasury Decision 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.) WAC — Washington Administrative Code W. Va. Code — West Virginia Code (unofficial text)
International law ECHR – European Convention on Human Rights ECtHR – European Court of Human Rights EComHR – European Commission of Human Rights ECJ – European Court of Justice ECLI – European Case Law Identifier ECR – European Court Reports EGC – European General Court ELR – European Law Reporter
Symbol © or [Copr.] or C — Copyright (meaning someone claims ownership of the text, book, music, software, etc.) ® — Registered Trademark (typically a word or phrase identifying a company or product, e.g. Coca-Cola) ™ — Trademark (interim symbol used after an application for Trademark protection has been filed with the appropriate trademark office (in U.S. - USPTO), but before it has been approved) ¶ (Pilcrow) — Paragraph ¶¶ — Multiple Paragraphs § — section §§ — Multiple Sections Π (Greek letter Pi) or P — Plaintiff Δ (Greek letter Delta) or D — Defendant
Acronyms ABA — American Bar Association ATS — At the suit of CA — Court of Appeal CFR — Call for Response (At the US Supreme Court, if the other side has stated it will not respond to a petition for cert., any Justice may direct the Clerk to call for a response.) CRS — Congressional Research Service DJ — District judge (United Kingdom) DWOP — dismissal for want of prosecution GAL — Guardian ad litem GC — General Counsel GmbH - Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (limited liability company) GVR — Grant, Vacate, and Remand HC — High Court HDC — Holder in due course ICJ – International Court of Justice ISLN — International Standard Lawyer Number JMOL — Judgment as a matter of law JNOV — Judgment notwithstanding verdict L/C — Letter of credit LP — Limited partnership LLP — Limited liability partnership LLLP — Limited liability limited partnership LOI — Letter of Intent MIL — Motion in limine MOU — Memorandum of Understanding M.P. — motu proprio MSJ — Motion for summary judgment NDA — Non-Disclosure Agreement PA — Professional association PC — Professional corporation PLLC – Professional limited liability company POA — power of attorney SCOTUS — Supreme Court of the United States (Supreme Court of the United States) SI — Statutory instruments S/J — Summary judgment SMJ — Subject-matter jurisdiction SOL — Statute of Limitations UKPC – Privy Council of the United Kingdom UKSC – Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
Titles AG or A-G – Advocate general (European Union), Attorney general B. — baron (a judge of various Courts of Exchequer) BFP — Bona fide purchaser CJ – Chief justice LJ – Postnominals of a Lord or Lady Justice of Appeal (United Kingdom) LJJ – Postnominals of Lords or Ladies Justice of Appeal, plural (United Kingdom) LL.B. – Legum Baccalaureus — Bachelor of Laws LLC — Limited liability company LL.D. – Legum Doctor — Doctor of Law LL.M. – Legum Magister — Master of Laws MR — Postnominals of the Master of the Rolls J — Judge or Justice or Journal, according to jurisdiction JA – Appellate judge JD — Juris Doctor JCD — Juris Canonici Doctor, Doctor of Canon Law JCL — Juris Canonici Licentiatus, Licentiate of Canon Law JJ — Judges or Justices, plural KC – King's Counsel (United Kingdom and Commonwealth) QC – Queen's Counsel (United Kingdom and Commonwealth) VC or V-C – Postnominals of the Vice-Chancellor of the High Court (England and Wales)
Short-form
A a/a/o — as assignee of ad., ads., adsm., adj. — (Latin), at the suit of. Used in colonial and Federal Era American cases when the defendant is listed first; e.g., "John Doe v. Richard Roe" is labeled "Richard Roe ads. John Doe." The long script "S" of the period often makes this appear as "adj." Aff'd – affirmed Anor — Another Anors — Others Art. – Article Artt. – Articles Ass'n — Association Atty — Attorney
B b/o — behalf of, on behalf of; see also o/b/o
C c. — CanonBeal, New Commentary xxii or chapter cc. — Canons or chapters Cert. — Certiorari (appeal to a higher court) Co. — company Corp. — Corporation C — Contract
D Δ (Greek letter delta) or D — Defendant d/b/a — doing business as Decr. — decree Dist. Ct. — district court
E Esq. — Esquire et al. — et alia, Latin for "and others" (occasionally written, "et als") et seq. — et sequens, Latin for "and following" ex. p. — Ex parte (United Kingdom)
F f/k/a — formerly known as
H H. Ct. — High Court
I Id. — "idem," Latin for "the same" Inc. — Incorporated Ins. — insurance Instr. — Instructio, a kind of decree (canon law) In re – in the matter of (United States) Int'l — international
K K — Contract
N Nat'l — national n/k/a — Now Known As
O oao – on the application of (United Kingdom) o/b/o — on behalf of Opp'n — opposition Org. — organization Ors — "Others" (see also, Anor, Anors)
P ¶ (Pilcrow) — Paragraph Π (Greek letter Pi) — Plaintiff p. — Page pp. — Pages Prae. — Praenotanda Pty – proprietary company Pub.L. — Public Law
Q QDRO — Qualified Domestic Relations Order
R R — Rex or Regina Re – In re (United Kingdom and Commonwealth) Reh'g — Rehearing Relv. — Relevant Rescr. — Rescriptum Resp. — Responsum Resp't — Respondent Rev'd — reversed
S § or s. — Section §§ ss. — Multiple Sections Sarl - Société à responsabilité limitée or Sociedade anónima de responsabilidade limitada (limited company) sc. — scilicet sd — said
T ™ or TM — Trademark (such as a word or phrase identifying a company or product)
V v. — versus. Used when plaintiff is listed first on a case title. John Doe v. Richard Roe.
W WOP or w/o/p — without prejudice
X XFD — Examination for Discovery XN — Examination in Chief XXN — Cross-examination
See also List of legal abbreviations (canon law)
References
Beal, John P. et al., eds. New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law (New York/Mahway, NJ: Paulist Press, 2000).
Further reading Columbia Law Review Association, Inc., Harvard Law Review Association, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and Yale Law Journal (Eds.) (2015). The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. 20th ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law Review Association. Garner, Brian. Black's Law Dictionary. 10th ed. St. Paul, MN: West Pub. Co., 2014. Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law. 4th ed., 2015. London: Sweet & Maxwell. McGill Law Journal. Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation. 6th ed. Toronto: Carswell, 2006. Prince, Mary Miles. Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations. 6th ed. Buffalo, NY: Hein, 2009. Trinxet, Salvador. Trinxet Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Series. A Law Reference Collection, 2011, and Trinxet, Salvador. Trinxet Reverse Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms, 2011, and . Raistrick, Donald. Index to Legal Citations and Abbreviations. 3rd ed. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2008. This book focuses more on British and non-American/international abbreviations. Kavass, World Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations
External links Legal acronyms and abbreviations, Retrieved 2014-30-06. Abbreviations and Acronyms of the U.S. Government (maintained by U.S. Government Publishing Office) The Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations (maintained by Cardiff University).