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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. 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".

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
¢ — Claim

0–9

1A First Amendment

through

27A Twenty-Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

A

A. — Atlantic Reporter
A.2d — Atlantic Reporter, 2nd Series
a/a/o — as assignee of
AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis
ABA — American Bar Association
AC — Appeal Cases (United Kingdom law report)
ACC — Association of Corporate Counsel
AD - South African Law Reports, Appellate Division
ad., ads., adsm. — ad sectam (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."
adj. — see "ad." above.
Aff'd - affirmed
AG or A-G - Advocate general (European Union)
AG - Attorney General for England and Wales
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
All SA — All South African 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
Anor — Another
Anors — Others
Ap. const. — apostolic constitution
Ariz. Admin. Code — Arizona Administrative Code (unofficial text)
Ariz. Admin. Reg. — Arizona Administrative Register (unofficial text)
Ariz. Rev. Stat. — Arizona Revised Statutes (unofficial text)
A.C.A — Arkansas Code Annotated (unofficial text)
Art. – Article
Artt. – Articles
Ass'n — Association
A.S.S. — Acta Sanctae Sedis
ATS — At the suit of
Atty — Attorney

B

B. — baron (a judge of various Courts of Exchequer)
B.A.P. — Bankruptcy Appellate Panel
BCLR - Butterworths Constitutional Law Reports (South Africa)
BFP — Bona fide purchaser
Bla.Com. or Bl. Com. — Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England
BLLR - Butterworths Labour Law Reports (South Africa)
b/o — behalf of, on behalf of; see also o/b/o
BR or B/R — Bankruptcy (also the abbreviation for the United States bankruptcy courts reporter, West's Bankruptcy Reporter)

C

c. — Canon^[1] or chapter
cc. — Canons^[1] or chapters
CA — Class action
CB — Casebook
CBJ — California Bar journal
CC — Commerce Clause
CCEO — Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches
CCH — Commerce Clearing House, a publisher of case law reporters owned by Wolters Kluwer
C-C — Counterclaim
CE — Collateral estoppel
CD — Closing disclosure
CL — Common law
CNeg — Contributory negligence
CA # — Court of Appeals (Court of Appeals for the #th Circuit)
CA Fed. — Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit^[2]
Cx — Constitution
Cx-C — Cross-claim
Cxl — Constitutional
Cal. Code — California Code (unofficial text?^[3])
Cal. Code Reg. — California Code of Regulations (see: CCR below)
CCR — California Code of Regulations (official text?) (source: Thomson/West)
Cert. — Certiorari (appeal to a higher court)
CIC — Codex Iuris Canonici, the Code of Canon Law (further specified as 1983 CIC or 1917 CIC)
CIF — Coming into force
C.F.R. — Code of Federal Regulations
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.)
CJ - Postnominals of the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and, formerly, of the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
CJEU - Courts of Justice of the European Union
CJS — Corpus Juris Secundum
CLSA — Canon Law Society of America
Co. Lit. or Co. Litt. — Coke on Littleton
Co. — company
Comm'n — commission
Comm'r — commissioner
Cong. Rec. — Congressional Record
Cor. — Coram, a cause heard "in the presence of" an auditor of the Roman Rota
Corp. — Corporation
CRS — Congressional Research Service
Ct. Cl. — the United States Court of Federal Claims Reporter
C — Contract

D

Δ (Greek letter delta) or D — Defendant
DAC — Days After Contract
d/b/a — doing business as
Decr. — Decretum
Dep't — department
DLR — Dominion Law Reports (Canadian law report)
DoCRA — Duty of Care Risk Analysis Standard
DWOP — dismissal for want of prosecution

E

ECHR - European Convention on Human Rights
ECtHR - European Court of Human Rights
EComHR - European Commission of Human Rights
ECJ - European Court of Justice
ELR - European Law Reporter
ER — Employer
EE — Employee
Esq. — Esquire
et als. — et alia, Latin for "and others"
et seq. — et sequens, Latin for "and following"
ex. p. - Ex parte (United Kingdom)

F

F. — Federal Reporter
F.2d — Federal Reporter, 2nd Series
F.3d — Federal Reporter, 3rd Series
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/k/a — formerly known as
F. Supp. — Federal Supplement
F. Supp. 2d — Federal Supplement, 2nd Series
f/t/a — failed to appear

G

GAL — Guardian ad litem
GATT — General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GC — General Counsel
GVR — Grant, Vacate, and Remand
NGO — Non Government Organization
Gov't — government

H

HC — Hypothetical Client
HDC — Holder in due course

I

ICJ - International Court of Justice
Id. — "idem," Latin for "the same"
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
ISLN — International Standard Lawyer Number
Inc. — Incorporated
Ins. — insurance
Instr. — Instructio, a kind of decree (canon law)
In re - in the matter of (United States)
Int'l — international

J

J — Judge or Justice or Journal, according to jurisdiction
JA – Appellate judge
JD — Juris Doctor
JDX — jurisdiction
JCD — Juris Canonici Doctor, Doctor of Canon Law
JCL — Juris Canonici Licentiatus, Licentiate of Canon Law
JOL - Judgments Online (South Africa)
JJ — Judges or Justices, plural
JMOL — Judgment as a matter of law
JNOV — Judgment notwithstanding verdict
Jx — Jurisdiction
JU — disposed of by Judge
JUST. — Justice

K

K — Contract^[4]
KC - King's Counsel (United Kingdom and Commonwealth)

L

L/C — Letter of credit
L.Ed — Lawyers' Edition
L.Ed.2d — Lawyers 2nd Edition
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
LP — Limited partnership
LLP — Limited liability partnership
LLLP — Limited liability limited partnership
LOI — Letter of Intent
Ltd. — Limited (in the context of corporations)

M

MIL — Motion in limine
MLR - Modern Law Review
MOU — Memorandum of Understanding
M.P. — motu proprio
MPC — Model Penal Code
MR — Postnominals of the Master of the Rolls
MSJ — Motion for summary judgment

N

Nat'l — national
NDA — Non-Disclosure Agreement
n/k/a — Now Known As
N.E. — North Eastern Reporter
N.E.2d — North Eastern Reporter, 2nd Series
No. — Number
N.W. — North Western Reporter
N.W.2d — North Western Reporter, 2nd Series

O

oao - on the application of (United Kingdom)
o/b/o — on behalf of
Opp'n — opposition
O.R.C. — Ohio Revised Code
Org. — organization
Ors — "Others" (see also, Anor, Anors)

P

¶ (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
PA — Professional association
PC — Professional corporation
PH - Prentice Hall Weekly Legal Service
PL — Public Law
PLLC - Professional limited liability company
POA — power of attorney
Prae. — Praenotanda
Pty – proprietary company
Pub.L. — Public Law

Q

QC - Queen's Counsel (United Kingdom and Commonwealth)
QDRO — Qualified Domestic Relations Order

R

R — Rex or Regina
RCW — Revised Code of Washington
R.E. or R/E — Real Estate
Re - In re (United Kingdom and Commonwealth)
Reh'g — Rehearing
Relv. — Relevant
Rescr. — Rescriptum
Resp. — Responsum
Resp't — Respondent
Rev'd — reversed
Rev. Proc. — Revenue Procedure (published in IRB)
Rev. Rul. — Revenue Ruling (published in IRB)
RJ – Restorative justice
R.O.I - Release of Information
- Canon law: Regulæ Juris of Boniface VIII (sometimes abbreviated "RI")
- Common law: Recurring Judgement. (published in All In Reports)
R.I.A.A. — Reports of International Arbitral Awards

S

§ or s. — Section
§§ ss. — Multiple Sections
SA - South African Law Reports
SACR - South African Criminal Law Reports
SALLR - South African Labour Law Reports
sc. — scilicet
sd — said
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
SCOTUS — Supreme Court of the United States (Supreme Court of the United States)
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
S.R.R. — Sacræ Rotæ Romanæ, the Tribunal of the Roman Rota
SRRDec — Sacræ Rotæ Romanæ Decisiones^[5]
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

T.C. — Reported decisions of the United States Tax Court
T.D. — Treasury Decision
™ or TM — Trademark (such as a word or phrase identifying a company or product)

U

UD — Unnatural Death (used in FIR)
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))^[6]
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.)

V

v. — versus. Used when plaintiff is listed first on a case title. John Doe v. Richard Roe.

See also "ad." above. "vs." is used in most scholarly writing in other fields, but "v." alone in legal writing.

VC or V-C - Postnominals of the Vice-Chancellor of the High Court (England and Wales)

Symbol

0–9

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

See also

References

Further reading

External links