34 Referencing in Legal Writing
Melanie Lovich and Theresa Buller
Learning Outcomes
After reading this chapter, you will be able to:
- understand the reasons for the citation of legal authorities in student work;
- apply specific rules of the New Zealand Law Style Guide to correctly cite legal material.
Referencing is a key part of legal writing.
It is important that you show your reader (and marker) where they can find the legal authorities, quotes, words and ideas you used to create your legal argument.
Within your written work you need to:
- correctly attribute where you found the material you used as evidence for your argument;
- apply a consistent referencing style so that others can find the material you used.
Not doing so can led to accusations of plagiarism and can affect your study or even your ability to practise law in the future.
