Another law student here. We’ve been specifically instructed that the correct usage is:
In civil cases: Donoghue v Stevenson is to be pronounced Donoghue **and ** Stevenson
In criminal cases: R v Smith is to be pronounced the Queen (or crown) **against ** Smith
Whenever anyone uses versus, the response is “don’t say it that way. That’s the American usage”.
Here in Canada, we normally pronounce it “versus.” Pronouncing it as “vee” sounds goofy to me (just my opinion). I don’t think I remember anyone saying “and”.
When I’m arguing a case in court, if it’s a criminal case, like “R. v. Brown”, I normally just say “Brown”. When it’s a civil case, the first time I refer to the case I usually say it in full, but after that I often just use the name of the lead plaintiff, rather than pronounciing it in full.
That’s typical in the States as well, Northern – no one uses entire case names except on first reference. In my experience, the first party name is the one used most often when referring to a civil case, although if the defendant’s name is more interesting or seems like it might be more easily identifiable, people will use that as well.
–Cliffy
Another American lawyer here –
In my experience, the most common way to say “v.” is as “versus”; next most common is “vee”; third is “against.” I prefer the last myself.
“And” seems entirely illogical to me. And I don’t see why whether it’s a criminal or civil case should make any difference.
Just a nitpick here: I think you mean “the way court cases are captioned (or named).”
The idea of rendering (in the editorial sense, ascenray, not the legal sense) “v” as “and” strikes this editor/attorney as unacceptably, irremediably vague. Is this the traditional practice, or is it a more recent innovation?