List of legal abbreviations explained

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. — (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 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)

W

• WAC — Washington Administrative Code
• WTO — World Trade Organization
• W. Va. Code — West Virginia Code (unofficial text)
• 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).
• Common Abbreviations and Legal Citation Examples for Selected Federal Government Documents: Legislative, Regulatory and Statutory (maintained by LLSDC.org)

Notes and References

1. Beal, New Commentary xxii
2. Web site: See, e.g., Mathis v. McDonald, 834 F. 3d 1347 (Fed. Cir., 2016) (denial of hearing en banc), cert. denied, Mathis v. Shulkin, U.S. No. 16-677, slip op. (Sotomayor, J., statement) (June 26, 2017). United States Supreme Court. October 11, 2017.
3. For more information on official, unofficial, and authenticated online state laws and regulations, see Matthews & Baish, State-by-State Authentication of Online Legal Resources, American Association of Law Libraries, 2007.
4. Web site: K . Wex . Cornell Law School . 1 November 2021.
5. Beal, New Commentary xxvii
6. Web site: U.S. Reports. 2021-10-09. www.supremecourt.gov.