table of authorities

The "Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation" is relied upon in many jurisdictions to provide rules for citing legal authorities. {{Cite web|url=https://www.legalbluebook.com/|title=The Bluebook|website=www.legalbluebook.com|access-date=2019-12-02}}

The "California Style Manual" has been adopted by the California Supreme Court as the official guide for styling citations in their state.{{Cite web|url=https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/2DCA-SHM-Appendix3-Citing-Your-Sources.pdf|title=Citing Your Sources of Information|last=|first=|date=|website=California Courts - The Judicial Branch of California|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-12-02}}

The Texas Greenbook is the guide to rules for citing legal authorities in that state. {{Cite web|url=https://law.utexas.edu/publications/books/the-greenbook-texas-rules-of-form/|title=The Greenbook, Texas Rules of Form|website=Publications|language=en-us|access-date=2019-12-02}}

Other states may have their own style manuals.

A table of authorities can be grouped in different ways. A common grouping is to list the authorities according to the categories: cases, statutes and other authorities. Other variations (among many others) include, for example, dividing cases into federal cases and state cases, and dividing statutes into state and local.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Here is a sample table of authorities:

File:Sample Table of Authorities.jpg

In four states: Illinois, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Kansas, the state courts have different formatting requirements than the other states. These states require a table of "Points and Authorities", which is a mixing together of the table of contents and table of authorities. In this format, the authorities are listed under each issue presented for review. A table of points and authorities serves as a table of contents for the argument section of a brief, followed by a list of the cases and statutes upon which the brief relies.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Some states require the authorities that appear in each section of the document to be listed in the order in which they appear.{{Cite web|url=https://govt.westlaw.com/kyrules/Browse/Home/Kentucky/KentuckyCourtRules/KentuckyStatutesCourtRules?guid=N3F0559B0A79211DAAB1DC31F8EB14563&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)|title=Browse - Kentucky Court Rules|website=govt.westlaw.com|access-date=2019-12-02}} Another variation, for example, required by the Supreme Court of Illinois, is that the "Cases shall be cited as near as may be in the order of their of their importance."{{Cite web|url=http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/SupremeCourt/Rules/Art_III/default.asp|title=Supreme Court Rules - Art. III (Rules 301-400)|website=www.illinoiscourts.gov|access-date=2019-12-02}}

The First and Eleventh District Courts of Appeals in Ohio require that under each issue presented for review, the brief shall list alphabetically, in a further indented subparagraph, the cases cited in support of the issue, followed by a list of the statutes, rules, and other authorities cited in support of the issue.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hamilton-co.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=6254867&pageId=6482324|title=Local Rules for First District Court of Appeals|website=www.hamilton-co.org|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-02}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.11thcourt.co.trumbull.oh.us|title=Court Rules - Local Rules|last=|first=|date=|website=Court of Appeals of Ohio Eleventh Appellate District|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2 December 2019}}

Here's an example of a table of points and authorities, in which the authorities are listed in the order in which they appear in the document, under each section of the table of contents:

File:Sample table of Points and Authorities.jpg

Some courts, including the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, require that an asterisk be placed in the margin to the left of the primary authorities relied upon in the brief.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/sites/dcd/files/Local_Rules_June_22_2018.pdf|title=RULES OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA|last=|first=|date=|website=United States District Court for the District of Columbia|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-12-02}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/courtdocs/clk/Rules_Bookmark_AUG18.pdf|title=UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS for the ELEVENTH CIRCUIT - Eleventh Circuit Rules|last=|first=|date=|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-12-02}}

Leading word-processing software, including Microsoft Word and its competitor WordPerfect, have built-in capabilities to semi-automate the creation of a table of authorities.{{Cite web|url=https://support.office.com/en-us/article/create-a-table-of-authorities-ddd126ae-52bc-4299-9558-06dd0e4fe8c0|title=Create a table of authorities|website=support.office.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-02}} These programs can create tables based on user-marked citations. Even so, creating a table of authorities using Word has been said to "strike ... fear into the hearts of legal support staff" and has been called "intimidating".{{Cite web|url=https://legalofficeguru.com/table-of-authorities-ultimate-guide/|title=Table of Authorities - The Ultimate Guide|date=2017-05-10|website=Legal Office Guru|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-02}} The process of formatting citations is called "confusing", "frustrating" and "time-consuming".{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/everything_bluebook.pdf|title=EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW THAT THE BLUEBOOK DOES NOT TELL YOU CLEARLY|last=|first=|date=|website=Georgetown Law|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-12-02}} The book "Legal Writing" calls the table of authorities "complicated" and says "it takes more time than you might imagine".{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NeaGDwAAQBAJ&q=%22table+of+authorities%22+%22it+takes+more+time+than+you+might+imagine%22&pg=PA283|title=Legal Writing|last1=Neumann|first1=Richard K. Jr.|last2=Simon|first2=Sheila|last3=Painter-Thorne|first3=Suzianne D.|date=2019-02-07|publisher=Wolters Kluwer Law & Business|isbn=978-1-5438-0963-3|language=en}}

To simplify the process further, other applications and plug-ins for word processors provide similar functionality as well as additional features such as automatically finding and marking citations in the document. For example, Lexis for Microsoft Office integrates with the LexisNexis research platform and can check whether the citations conform to the rules of the jurisdiction and provide alerts that indicates when a cited case has been questioned or overruled by a later decision (known as "Shepardizing" the citation).{{Cite web|url=https://www.lexisnexis.com/en-us/products/lexis-for-microsoft-office/prepare-table-of-authorities.page|title=Table of Authorities Creation with Lexis® for Microsoft Office®|website=www.lexisnexis.com|access-date=2019-12-02}}

Other software products to assist with creating Tables of Authorities include:

• Best Authority, an add-in for Microsoft Word; as of 2019, it was touted as being used by 92 of the top 100 law firms{{Cite web|url=https://www.levitjames.com/best-authority/overview|title=Best Authority|last=|first=|date=|website=Levit & James|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-12-02}}
• Drafting Assistant, by Thomson Reuters, which integrates with Thomson's Westlaw research service{{Cite web|url=https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/products/drafting-assistant/litigation|title=Drafting Assistant for litigation documents|website=legal.thomsonreuters.com|language=en|access-date=2019-12-02}}
• Litigation Companion, by Litera{{Cite web|url=https://www.litera.com/products/legal/litigation-companion/|title=Litigation Document Review Solutions|website=Litera Microsystems|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-02}}
• [https://www.typelaw.com/tables/ TypeLaw], a standalone, AI-automated brief formatting platform that automatically builds TOAs and TOCs and hyperlinks citations without requiring any plug-ins.{{Cite web |title=TypeLaw: AI-Powered Legal Brief Tables for Perfect Formatting |url=https://www.typelaw.com/tables/ |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=TypeLaw}}
• Legal eWrite, by Amiicuss LLC, a legal document formatting software that allows you to insert citations and automatically add them to the Table of Authorities. {{Cite web|url=https://legalewrite.com|title=Legal Document Formatting Software|website=Legal eWrite|language=en-US|access-date=2023-03-21}}
• [https://clearbrief.com/ Clearbrief], an add-in for Microsoft Word that allows the user to generate an instant table of authorities with the click of a button. Save hours of time when Clearbrief compiles a perfectly formatted Table of Authorities in a single click and adds citation hyperlinks. No more tagging cases manually.{{cite web |title=Instant TOA and hyperlinks |url=https://clearbrief.com/ |website=Clearbrief |access-date=2024-01-19}}

Category:Legal documents