By Ashton Darracott

If there’s one thing that unites Australian law students of all classes, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and from all universities, it’s an irritated disdain, at best, for the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, in each of its four editions.

Notorious for causing law students to lose precious marks due to misplaced commas in the bowels of a research essay footnote, and demanding attention from stressed students on the due date of memos of advice, the AGLC4 has racked up a bit of an image of simultaneous aloofness and neediness.

But the AGLC4 wants you to know that if you just chilled out on the Ctrl+F button for two seconds and actually took the time to get to know them, you might be surprised. 

The Journal made contact with a law student, who asked to remain anonymous, about their unexpected but wholesome friendship with the 377-page document. 

“Sure, I’ll be the first to admit that they’re insanely picky and uptight, kind of attention seeking, and they steadfastly refuse to budge on their morals and opinions unless proven wrong. But they are also a surprisingly good listener, and give really thorough advice. Like, they even run through real life scenarios with me to show me how to best handle situations! Don’t even get me started on their attention to detail skills. They’re a real Virgo, if I do say so myself.

“Make no mistake, our friendship isn’t perfect and they still drive me up the wall sometimes, but if there’s anyone who pushes me to be a better version of myself, it’s them.”

The Journal refrained from interviewing the AGLC4, in the case that a new edition might have to be drafted. Baby steps. Unless it’s to get a hyperlinked contents page. Then the Journal might talk.