§ School Law Page: Abbreviations §

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Abbrevations used in legal citation may at first be daunting. Legal decisions are typically cited by name, volume number, reporter, page number, and date: Thus, Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 611 (1971), is a citation to a case, decided in 1971, that appears in volume 403 of the United States Reports (the official reporter of Supreme Court decisions), beginning at page 602, and specifically to a passage that appears on page 611. More recent cases are frequently cited first to the privately published Supreme Court Reporter, abbreviated "S. Ct.": School v. Acton, 115 S. Ct. 2386 (1995). Decisions of the federal courts of appeals are generally cited to the Federal Reporter, 2d or 3d series, along with page numbers, and a reference to the court of appeals that decided the case - (1st Circuit through 11th Circuit, District of Columbia Circuit, or Federal Circuit) and page numbers: e.g., Bercovitch v. Baldwin School, 133 F.3d 141, 147-51 (1st Cir. 1998). Federal statutes are generally cited to a particular Title and Section of the United States Code: 20 U.S.C. § 1401, for example, refers to section 1401 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Use the form below to extend the current list of abbreviations or to clarify a posted definition. Thank you for your submission.

Abbreviations Defined	Use of Abbreviation in Legal Citation

A.D.A. - Americans with Disabilities Act	"Americans with Disabilities Act" (ADA)
A.L.R. - American Law Reports	t.b.a.
A. or A.2d - Atlantic Reporter Second Series	Sheff v. O´Neill, 678 A.2d 1267 (Conn. 1996)
Cal. Rptr. - California Reporter	Lopez v. Board of Trustees, 40 Cal. Rptr.2d 762 (Cal. 1995)
C.F.R. - Code of Federal Regulations	34 C.F.R. § 104.4 (1997)
Congressional Record - Congressional Record	118 Cong. Rec. 5807 (daily ed. Feb. 28, 1972) (statement of Sen Bayh)
F. - Federal Reporter	t.b.a.
F.2d - Federal Reporter, Second Series	Tallulah Morgan, et al., v. John Kerrigan, et al., 509 F.2d 580 (1st Cir. 1974)
F.3d - Federal Reporter, Third Series	Bercovitch v. Baldwin School, 133 F.3d 141, 147-51 (1st Cir.1998)
F.A.P.E. - free and appropriate public education	..."free appropriate public education" (FAPE)
Fed. Reg. - Federal Register	44 Fed. Reg. 71,413 (1979)
F.R.D. - Federal Rules Decisions	t.b.a.
F. Supp. - Federal Supplement	Null v. Board of Educ., 815 F. Supp. 937 (S.D. W. Va. 1993)
F. Supp. 2d - Federal Supplement, Second Series	Tannahill v. Lockney Indep. Sch. Dist., 133 F. Supp. 2d 919 (N.D. Tex. 2001)
I.D.E.A. - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act	Under Section 1401 of the IDEA...20 U.S.C. § 1401 (1997)
I.E.P. - individualized education program	..."individualized education program" (IEP)
L. Ed. and L. Ed. 2d - United States Supreme Court Reports Lawyers' Edition	t.b.a.
L.R.E. - least restrictive environmnet	..."least restrictive environment" (LRE)
N.D.L.R. (LRP) - National Disability Law Reporter	Hamilton v. City College, 22 N.D.L.R. (LRP) 90 (S.D.N.Y. 2001)
N.E. or N.E.2d - Northeastern Reporter Second Series	McDuffy et al. v. Secretary, 415 Mass. 545, 615 N.E.2d 516 (1993)
N.W. or N.W.2d - Northwestern Reporter Second Series	People v. Bennett, 501 N.W.2d 106 (Mich. 1993)
N.Y.S. - New York Supplement	Jastrzebski v. School District, 637 N.Y.S.2d 439 (A.D. 1996)
P.L. - Public Law	Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974-P.L. 93-380
P. or P.2d - Pacific Reporter Second Series	Clark v. Shoreline School District No. 412, 720 P.2d 793 (Wash.1986)
S. Ct. - Supreme Court Reporter	School v. Acton, 115 S. Ct. 2386 (1995)
S. Ct. Bull - Supreme Court Bulletin	t.b.a.
S.E. or S.E.2d - Southeastern Reporter Second Series	Board of Education v. Wirt, 453 S.E.2d 402 (W. Va. 1994)
So. Or So.2d - Southern Reporter Second Series	Summerall v. School Board, 665 So.2d 734 (La. 1995)
Stat. - United States Statutes at Large	t.b.a.
S.W. or S.W.2d - Southwestern Reporter Second Series	Higginbotham v. School District, 966 S.W.2d 877 (Ark. 1998)
U.S. - United States Reports	New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985)
U.S.C. - United States Code	20 U.S.C. § 1412 - Title 20, Section 1412
U.S.C.A. - United States Code Annotated	20 U.S.C.A. § 1414
U.S.C.S. - United States Code Service	t.b.a.
U.S.L.W. - United States Law Week	t.b.a.