Court Abbreviations
87 abbreviations · part of Legal Abbreviations
Abbreviations for US federal and state courts, judicial districts and circuits, specialized and international tribunals, and the judges, prosecutors and defenders who appear before them. Citation forms follow The Bluebook (S.D.N.Y., 9th Cir., Del. Ch.), while news reports and practitioners often drop the periods (SDNY, EDNY). Judicial titles such as J., C.J. and LJ follow a judge's surname in opinions and law reports, and neutral citation codes such as UKSC and EWCA identify courts in the United Kingdom.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 10th Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit | Denver-based appeals court for Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming, plus the parts of Yellowstone National Park that extend into Idaho and Montana. |
| 11th Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | Atlanta-based federal appeals court for Alabama, Florida and Georgia, created on October 1, 1981, by splitting the old Fifth Circuit. |
| 1st Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit | Smallest of the regional federal courts of appeals, with six authorized judgeships, hearing appeals from Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Puerto… |
| 2d Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit | Appeals court for New York, Connecticut and Vermont, sitting in the Thurgood Marshall courthouse in Lower Manhattan. |
| 3d Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit | Philadelphia-based federal court of appeals for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and the U.S. |
| 4th Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit | Richmond-based federal appeals court for Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. |
| 5th Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | Covering Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, this New Orleans court reviews cases from Texas's busy federal districts, including frequent challenges to federal… |
| 6th Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | Cincinnati-based federal appeals court for Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee, hearing appeals from nine district courts. |
| 7th Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit | Chicago's federal court of appeals, hearing cases from Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin in the Dirksen Federal Building. |
| 8th Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit | Seven Midwestern and Great Plains states make up this circuit: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. |
| 9th Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | Largest federal appellate court, covering California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. |
| AAG | Assistant attorney general | Lawyer in an attorney general's office. |
| ADA | Assistant district attorney | Line prosecutor working under an elected district attorney, handling arraignments, grand jury presentations, hearings and trials in state criminal court. |
| AG | Attorney General | Chief law officer of a government. |
| ALJ | Administrative law judge | Judge who presides over hearings inside a government agency, taking evidence, ruling on motions and issuing decisions in matters such as Social Security disability… |
| APD | Assistant public defender | Staff attorney in a public defender's office who represents indigent clients from arraignment through trial, sentencing and sometimes appeal. |
| App. Div. | Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York | New York's main intermediate appellate court, divided into four Departments based in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Albany and Rochester. |
| ASA | Assistant state's attorney | Line prosecutor working under an elected state's attorney in Illinois, Maryland or Connecticut, or under an elected State Attorney in one of Florida's judicial circuits. |
| AUSA | Assistant United States Attorney | Federal prosecutor or civil litigator working in one of the 94 US Attorney's offices under the presidentially appointed US Attorney for that district. |
| Bankr. | Bankruptcy court | Citation abbreviation identifying a decision of a federal bankruptcy court, placed before the district in the court-and-date parenthetical, as in "(Bankr. |
| BAP | Bankruptcy Appellate Panel | Three-judge panel of sitting bankruptcy judges that hears appeals from bankruptcy court orders as an alternative to review by a district judge. |
| BIA | Board of Immigration Appeals | Highest administrative body for interpreting and applying US immigration law, sitting within the Executive Office for Immigration Review. |
| C.D. Cal. | United States District Court for the Central District of California | The most populous federal judicial district in the country, serving more than 19 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa… |
| C.J. | Chief Justice or Chief Judge | Title placed after the surname of a court's chief judge or a supreme court's chief justice, as in "Roberts, C.J." It identifies opinions written by the court's… |
| CAAF | United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces | Highest court of the military justice system, made up of five civilian judges appointed for 15-year terms. |
| Cal. Ct. App. | California Court of Appeal | California's intermediate appellate court, organized into six appellate districts with divisions in cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego… |
| CAVC | United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims | Article I federal court in Washington, D.C., with exclusive jurisdiction to review final decisions of the Board of Veterans' Appeals on disability compensation, pension… |
| CIT | United States Court of International Trade | Federal trial court in New York City with nationwide jurisdiction over civil actions involving customs duties, tariff classification, antidumping and countervailing… |
| CJEU | Court of Justice of the European Union | Judicial institution of the European Union, based in Luxembourg, which ensures EU law is interpreted and applied the same way in every member state. |
| COFC | United States Court of Federal Claims | Federal court in Washington, D.C., that hears money claims against the United States, including government contract disputes, bid protests, takings claims, military pay… |
| D. Del. | United States District Court for the District of Delaware | Single-district federal court in Wilmington with one of the heaviest patent dockets in the country, especially pharmaceutical disputes between brand-name and generic… |
| D. Mass. | United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts | Federal trial court for Massachusetts, sitting in Boston, Worcester and Springfield. |
| D.C. Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit | Federal appellate court in Washington that reviews a large share of federal agency rules and orders, many of them directly from the agency under special review statutes. |
| D.D.C. | United States District Court for the District of Columbia | Washington's federal trial court, where many lawsuits against federal agencies, challenges to regulations and executive actions, and disputes involving Congress are… |
| D.N.J. | United States District Court for the District of New Jersey | Statewide federal trial court for New Jersey, with courthouses in Newark, Trenton and Camden. |
| DA | District attorney | Elected or appointed prosecutor who brings criminal charges on behalf of the state in a county or judicial district and supervises a staff of assistant prosecutors. |
| DDA | Deputy district attorney | Prosecutor title used in California, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and some other states for the lawyers who work under an elected district attorney. |
| Del. Ch. | Delaware Court of Chancery | Equity court in Delaware that hears corporate governance disputes, merger litigation, stockholder suits and fiduciary-duty claims without juries. |
| E.D. Pa. | United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia's federal trial court, also sitting in Allentown, Reading and Easton. |
| E.D. Tex. | United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas | East Texas federal trial court with divisions in Marshall, Tyler, Sherman, Beaumont, Texarkana and other cities. |
| E.D. Va. | United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia | Nicknamed the "rocket docket" because it has long ranked among the fastest federal courts from filing to trial, this court sits in Alexandria, Richmond, Norfolk and… |
| ECHR | European Convention on Human Rights | Council of Europe treaty, signed in Rome in 1950 and in force since 1953, protecting rights such as life, liberty, fair trial, private life, expression and freedom from… |
| ECJ | European Court of Justice | Common name for the Court of Justice, the higher of the two courts within the Court of Justice of the European Union. |
| ECtHR | European Court of Human Rights | International court in Strasbourg that rules on applications alleging violations of the European Convention on Human Rights by the Council of Europe's member states. |
| EDNY | United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | Brooklyn-based federal trial court for Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island's Nassau and Suffolk counties, with a second courthouse in Central Islip. |
| EWCA | Court of Appeal of England and Wales | Neutral citation code for the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court immediately below the UK Supreme Court. |
| EWHC | High Court of Justice of England and Wales | Neutral citation code for the High Court of England and Wales, the main first-instance court for serious civil cases. |
| Fed. Cir. | United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit | National appellate court whose jurisdiction depends on subject matter rather than geography. |
| FISC | Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court | Special federal court that reviews government applications for electronic surveillance, physical searches and other investigative orders for foreign intelligence… |
| FPD | Federal public defender | Federal defender office, or a lawyer in one, that represents people charged with federal crimes who cannot afford counsel. |
| ICC | International Criminal Court | Permanent court in The Hague that tries individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression when national courts are unwilling or… |
| ICJ | International Court of Justice | Principal judicial organ of the United Nations, which settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions on questions of international law referred by UN… |
| IJ | Immigration judge | Attorney employed by the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review who presides over removal proceedings, asylum claims and bond hearings in… |
| J. | Judge or Justice | Title placed after a judge's surname in opinions, case reports and citations to identify who wrote an opinion, as in "Kagan, J., dissenting". |
| JJ. | Judges or Justices | Plural of J., placed after two or more surnames to show which judges joined an opinion or wrote separately. |
| JP | Justice of the peace | Local judicial officer who handles minor civil claims, misdemeanors, traffic offenses, warrants and sometimes weddings. |
| JPML | Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation | Panel of seven federal judges, designated by the Chief Justice, that decides whether civil cases pending in different districts that share common factual questions… |
| JSC | Justice of the Supreme Court | Post-nominal title for a justice of New York's trial-level Supreme Court, written "J.S.C." on orders, and for justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, as in… |
| KB | King's Bench | Division of the High Court of England and Wales that hears contract and tort claims, defamation, personal injury and judicial review, and the Law Reports series… |
| L.J. | Lord Justice of Appeal | Title used in England and Wales for judges of the Court of Appeal, written after the surname without full stops: "Arden LJ". |
| M.D. Fla. | United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida | Covering 35 counties in central and northeast Florida, this federal trial court sits in Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Fort Myers and Ocala. |
| M.J. | Magistrate judge | Title abbreviation for a United States magistrate judge, a federal judicial officer who handles initial appearances, warrants, detention hearings and discovery disputes… |
| N.D. Cal. | United States District Court for the Northern District of California | Federal trial court for the San Francisco Bay Area and the northern coast, with courthouses in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. |
| N.D. Ill. | United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois | Chicago's federal trial court, sitting in the Dirksen Federal Building and in Rockford. |
| N.D. Tex. | United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas | Federal trial court for Dallas, Fort Worth and much of north and west Texas, including Amarillo, Lubbock, Abilene and Wichita Falls. |
| OSG | Office of the Solicitor General | Division of the US Department of Justice that conducts and supervises the federal government's litigation in the Supreme Court and must approve every government appeal… |
| P.J. | Presiding Justice or Presiding Judge | Title abbreviation for the judge who leads a court or one of its divisions, used in California Court of Appeal opinions and in the New York Appellate Division. |
| PCA | Permanent Court of Arbitration | Intergovernmental organization at the Peace Palace in The Hague, founded by the 1899 Hague Convention, that administers arbitrations and conciliations between states… |
| PD | Public defender | Government-employed lawyer, or the office of such lawyers, assigned to represent criminal defendants who cannot afford private counsel. |
| PTAB | Patent Trial and Appeal Board | Administrative tribunal within the US Patent and Trademark Office that hears appeals from patent examiners' rejections and conducts trials challenging issued patents… |
| QB | Queen's Bench | Name used during the reigns of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II for the High Court division that is now the King's Bench Division, and for the Law Reports series… |
| S.D. Fla. | United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida | South Florida's federal trial court, covering Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Monroe and several Treasure Coast counties, with courthouses in Miami, Fort Lauderdale… |
| S.D. Tex. | United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas | Houston-centered federal district that also sits in Galveston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, Laredo, McAllen and Victoria. |
| SCC | Supreme Court of Canada | Final court of appeal for Canada, sitting in Ottawa with nine judges, at least three of whom must come from Quebec's civil-law bar. |
| SCOTUS | Supreme Court of the United States | Highest court in the federal judiciary, consisting of a Chief Justice and eight associate justices appointed for life by the President with Senate confirmation. |
| SDNY | United States District Court for the Southern District of New York | Manhattan-based federal trial court covering Manhattan, the Bronx and six counties to the north, including Westchester and Dutchess, with a second courthouse in White… |
| SG | Solicitor General | Official who represents a government before its highest court. |
| SJC | Supreme Judicial Court | Highest court of Massachusetts, and also the name of Maine's highest court. |
| Sur. Ct. | Surrogate's Court | New York court that handles probate of wills, administration of estates, guardianships of minors' property and many adoptions. |
| T.C. | United States Tax Court | Federal court in Washington, D.C., where taxpayers can dispute an IRS deficiency determination before paying the tax. |
| Tex. Crim. App. | Texas Court of Criminal Appeals | Highest court for criminal matters in Texas, sitting in Austin with nine elected judges. |
| UKHL | House of Lords (Appellate Committee) | Neutral citation code for judgments of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, the UK's highest court until 2009, in the form [2004] UKHL 56. |
| UKSC | Supreme Court of the United Kingdom | Final court of appeal for civil cases throughout the United Kingdom and for criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, sitting in Middlesex Guildhall in… |
| USAO | United States Attorney's Office | Federal prosecutor's office for a single judicial district, headed by a US Attorney and staffed by Assistant US Attorneys, paralegals and support staff. |
| USCA | United States Court of Appeals | The intermediate federal appellate courts, organized into 13 circuits: 11 numbered regional circuits, the D.C. |
| USDC | United States District Court | General name for the federal trial courts, organized into 94 districts across the states, the District of Columbia and the territories. |
| W.D. Tex. | United States District Court for the Western District of Texas | Federal district stretching across central and west Texas, with divisions in Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, Midland, Del Rio and Waco. |