Legal Definitions - citation order

Definition: Citation order refers to the proper arrangement of legal authorities used to support a legal argument or proposition.

For example, when writing a legal brief, a lawyer may use various sources such as cases, statutes, and secondary sources like law review articles. The citation order is the order in which these sources are presented and ranked in terms of their relevance and importance to the argument being made.

Another example is when a judge is writing an opinion. The judge must carefully consider the various legal authorities and arrange them in a logical and persuasive order to support their decision.

Overall, citation order is an important aspect of legal writing and analysis as it helps to ensure that legal arguments are well-supported and persuasive.