The Supreme Court of North Carolina is exploring a proposal to adopt a universal citation format for North Carolina appellate court opinions. The format would implement sequential numbers for all opinions and a paragraph-based numbering system for pinpoint citations. The Court’s Technology Committee has prepared a report that describes the proposal in detail.  The idea has been percolating for years across the country, and other states have previously adopted similar formats.

The Appellate Rules Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association is helping the Court collect input about the proposal. Please send any input and feedback about the proposal to citationproject@ncbar.org.

–Kip Nelson