List of legal abbreviations
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 or C — Copyright
- ® — Registered Trademark
- ™ — Trademark
- ¶ — Paragraph
- ¶¶ — Multiple Paragraphs
- § — section
- §§ — Multiple Sections
- Π or P — Plaintiff
- Δ or D — Defendant
- ¢ — Claim
0–9
- 1A First Amendment to the United States Constitution
- 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
- ACC — Association of Corporate Counsel
- AD - South African Law Reports, Appellate Division
- ad., ads., adsm. — , 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
- AG – Attorney General for England and Wales
- Ala. Admin. Code —
- Ala. Code —
- Alaska Admin. Code —
- Alaska Stat. —
- 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 —
- Ariz. Admin. Reg. —
- Ariz. Rev. Stat. —
- A.C.A —
- Art. – Article
- Artt. – Articles
- Ass'n — Association
- A.S.S. — Acta Sanctae Sedis
- ATS — At the suit of
- Atty — Attorney
B
- B. — baron
- BAILII - British and Irish Legal Information Institute
- B.A.P. — Bankruptcy Appellate Panel
- BCLR – Butterworths Constitutional Law Reports
- BFP — Bona fide purchaser
- Bla.Com. or Bl. Com. — Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England
- BLLR – Butterworths Labour Law Reports
- b/o — behalf of, on behalf of; see also [|o/b/o]
- BR or B/R — Bankruptcy
C
- c. — Canon or chapter
- cc. — Canons or chapters
- CA — Class action or Court of Appeal
- 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
- CA Fed. — Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- Cx — Constitution
- Cx-C — Cross-claim
- Cxl — Constitutional
- Cal. Code —
- Cal. Code Reg. — California Code of Regulations
- CCR —
- Cert. — Certiorari
- CIC — Codex Iuris Canonici, the Code of Canon Law
- CIF — Coming into force
- C.F.R. — Code of Federal Regulations
- CFR — Call for Response
- CJ – Postnominals of the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and, formerly, of the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
- CJEU – Court 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 or D — Defendant
- DAC — Days After Contract
- d/b/a — doing business as
- Decr. — Decretum
- Dep't — department
- Dist. Ct. — district court
- DJ — District judge
- DLR — Dominion Law Reports
- DoCRA —
- 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
- ECLI – European Case Law Identifier
- ECR – European Court Reports
- EGC – European General Court
- 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
- EWCA — England and Wales Court of Appeal
- EWCA Crim — England and Wales Court of Appeal Criminal Division
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. — Federal Register
- Fed. R. Bankr. P. — Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure
- Fed. R. Civ. P. — Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
- Fed. R. Crim. P. — Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
- Fed. R. Evid. — 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
- GmbH - Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
- GVR — Grant, Vacate, and Remand
- NGO — Non Government Organization
- Gov't — government
H
- HC — Hypothetical Client or High Court
- H. Ct. — High Court
- 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
- IRB —
- 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
- In re – in the matter of
- 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
- JIC — Justis Irish Reports
- JJ — Judges or Justices, plural
- JMOL — Judgment as a matter of law
- JNOV — Judgment notwithstanding verdict
- JOL – Judgments Online
- Jx — Jurisdiction
- JU — disposed of by Judge
- JUST. — Justice
K
- K — Contract
- KC – King's Counsel
- KRS - Kentucky Revised Statutes
L
- L/C — Letter of credit
- L&T - Landlord & Tenant
- L.Ed — Lawyers' Edition
- L.Ed.2d — Lawyers 2nd Edition
- LJ – Postnominals of a Lord or Lady Justice of Appeal
- LJJ – Postnominals of Lords or Ladies Justice of Appeal, plural
- 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
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
- o/b/o — on behalf of
- Opp'n — opposition
- O.R.C. — Ohio Revised Code
- Org. — organization
- Ors — "Others"
P
- ¶ — Paragraph
- Π — 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
- 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
- Reh'g — Rehearing
- Relv. — Relevant
- Rescr. — Rescriptum
- Resp. — Responsum
- Resp't — Respondent
- Rev'd — reversed
- Rev. Commrs. — Revenue Commissioners
- Rev. Proc. — Revenue Procedure
- Rev. Rul. — Revenue Ruling
- RJ – Restorative justice
- R. of Ct. – Rule of Court
- R.O.I – Release of Information
- * Canon law: Regulæ Juris of Boniface VIII
- * Common law: Recurring Judgement.
- R.I.A.A. — Reports of International Arbitral Awards