Midpage HTML Format

This document describes the semantic HTML format used for legal opinions. Not all opinions use this format yet — older processing pipelines produced different markup for some elements. See Format Variations for the temporary formats still present in the database. All opinions will be migrated to this unified format by Q2 2026.

Case Information

Case metadata is wrapped in a <details> block at the top of the document:

<details class="midpage-case-info" open>
  <summary>Case Information</summary>
  <p class="midpage-case-name" shortName="Doe v. Acme Corp.">DOE v. ACME CORP.</p>
  <p class="midpage-docket" docket="23-1456">No. 23-1456</p>
  <p class="midpage-court" court="9th Cir.">United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit</p>
  <p class="midpage-date" date="2024-03-15">March 15, 2024</p>
  <p class="midpage-rehearing" date="2024-05-01">Rehearing Denied May 1, 2024</p>
  <p class="midpage-citation">95 F.4th 123</p>
  <p class="midpage-judge">SMITH, Circuit Judge</p>
</details>

Attributes:

shortName: Bluebook-style short case name
docket: Docket number without "No." prefix
court: Bluebook court abbreviation
date: YYYY-MM-DD format

Page Numbers

Page breaks are marked with self-closing <midpage-ps/> tags:

<p>Text on page 123.</p>
<midpage-ps n="124"/>
<p>Text on page 124.</p>

Page breaks can occur mid-paragraph:

<p>Text starts on page 123<midpage-ps n="124"/> and continues on page 124.</p>

Footnotes

Footnote marks are inline self-closing tags. Footnote content follows the block element containing the mark.

<p>Text with a footnote<midpage-fnmark n="1"/> reference.</p>
<midpage-fn n="1">The footnote content.</midpage-fn>

Section Headings

Standard HTML heading tags are used:

<h1>MEMORANDUM AND ORDER</h1>
<h2>I. BACKGROUND</h2>
<h3>A. Procedural History</h3>

Blockquotes

Quoted material uses <blockquote> with inner <p> tags:

<blockquote>
  <p>All disputes shall be resolved by binding arbitration.</p>
</blockquote>

Signature Block

<div class="midpage-signature">
  <p>WILLIAM H. SMITH</p>
  <p>UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE</p>
</div>

Case Citations

Case citations are wrapped in <midpage-case> tags:

<midpage-case case="Smith v. Jones" cite="262 F.3d 305" pinpoint="320" court="4th Cir." date="2001"><i>Smith v. Jones</i>, 262 F.3d 305, 320 (4th Cir. 2001)</midpage-case>

Attributes:

Attribute	Description
`case`	Case name (parties)
`cite`	Volume + reporter + starting page (e.g., `262 F.3d 305`)
`pinpoint`	Specific page(s) cited (e.g., `320`, `320-22`)
`court`	Bluebook court abbreviation
`date`	Year or full date (`YYYY` or `YYYY-MM-DD`)
`docket`	Docket number (optional)
`parallel`	Parallel citations, pipe-separated
`type`	`short`, `id`, or `supra` for non-full citations

Short-form and Id. citations:

<midpage-case case="Smith" cite="262 F.3d 305" pinpoint="325" court="4th Cir." type="short"><i>Smith</i>, 262 F.3d at 325</midpage-case>

<midpage-case case="Smith v. Jones" cite="262 F.3d 305" court="4th Cir." type="id"><i>Id.</i> at 326</midpage-case>

Law Citations

Statutes, regulations, rules, and constitutional provisions are wrapped in <midpage-law> tags:

<midpage-law jurisdiction="US" cite="18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)">18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)</midpage-law>

<midpage-law jurisdiction="US" cite="Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a)">Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a)</midpage-law>

<midpage-law jurisdiction="CA" cite="Cal. Gov. Code § 9606">Gov. Code, § 9606</midpage-law>

Attributes:

Attribute	Description
`jurisdiction`	`US` for federal, two-letter state code for state
`cite`	Normalized citation string
`type`	`short` or `id` for non-full citations

Example Document

<details class="midpage-case-info" open>
  <summary>Case Information</summary>
  <p class="midpage-case-name" shortName="Doe v. Acme Corp.">DOE v. ACME CORP.</p>
  <p class="midpage-docket" docket="23-1456">No. 23-1456</p>
  <p class="midpage-court" court="9th Cir.">United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit</p>
  <p class="midpage-date" date="2024-03-15">March 15, 2024</p>
  <p class="midpage-citation">95 F.4th 123</p>
</details>
<midpage-ps n="123"/>
<h1>MEMORANDUM AND ORDER</h1>
<p>SMITH, Circuit Judge:</p>
<p>Plaintiff appeals the district court's<midpage-fnmark n="1"/> grant of summary judgment under <midpage-law jurisdiction="US" cite="Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a)">Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a)</midpage-law>. The Supreme Court emphasized that arbitration is "a matter of consent,<midpage-ps n="124"/> not coercion." <midpage-case case="Volt Info. Scis., Inc. v. Bd. of Trs." cite="489 U.S. 468" pinpoint="479" court="U.S." date="1989"><i>Volt Info. Scis., Inc. v. Bd. of Trs.</i>, 489 U.S. 468, 479 (1989)</midpage-case>.</p>
<midpage-fn n="1">The Honorable Jane Williams, presiding.</midpage-fn>
<p>The contract stated:</p>
<blockquote>
  <p>All disputes shall be resolved by binding arbitration.</p>
</blockquote>
<midpage-ps n="125"/>
<p>For these reasons, we AFFIRM.</p>
<div class="midpage-signature">
  <p>WILLIAM H. SMITH</p>
  <p>UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE</p>
</div>

Schema

Format Variations