Case citation

When you read a storybook, you might have noticed that the author mentions where they got information from or where an idea is from. Well, when lawyers write about a court case or a law, they do the same thing too. They tell you where they found the information or the law, so you can look it up yourself to see if they got it right.

In the legal world, this information about where they found the law or the court case is called a "case citation". It's basically a way of telling you where to find the law or the court case, like a big signpost that says "Hey, look here!"

The case citation usually has three main parts:

1. The name of the case
2. The volume number or book where you can find the case
3. The page number where you can find the case in that book

For example, if a lawyer wrote an article about a case called "Smith v. Brown", and they said the case can be found in the "10th volume of the Federal Reporter, 2nd series, on page 123", that's a case citation. This information will help other people, like judges, lawyers, or law students, to find and read the case too.

So, next time you read a legal article or a court decision, take a look at the case citation. It might look a little confusing at first, but once you understand how it works, it can be really helpful in finding and understanding the law!