# Louisiana Table of Authorities: Appeal, Supreme and Trial

> Louisiana appellate tables, Supreme Court indexes and district motion memoranda have different rules. Review current sources and build an editable Word table.

*Updated: 2026-10-14*

**Louisiana’s table requirement depends on the court and document.** Courts of Appeal appellant briefs require a table of authorities under Uniform Rule 2-12.4(A)(2), with alphabetical cases, statutes, other authorities and brief-page references. The Supreme Court instead calls for an **index of the authorities cited** in principal briefs under current Rule IV. District-court civil motion memoranda fall under a different rule, 9.9, which requires relevant facts and applicable law but does not prescribe that appellate table.

[Generate a Louisiana table of authorities from your brief PDF](/table-of-authorities-generator?court=generic#tool) using the standard format. There is no Louisiana-specific preset. Confirm the actual court and adjust the table’s heading and placement to your filing.

**Three Louisiana filing contexts**

- Courts of Appeal: Rule 2-12.4(A)(2) requires a table after contents, with cases alphabetically arranged and citation pages.
- Courts of Appeal appellee briefs: Rule 2-12.5 incorporates the appellant requirements, subject to specified exceptions.
- Supreme Court: Rule IV, Sections 2(A) and 3(A), requires an index first in appellant/applicant and appellee/respondent briefs.
- Supreme Court Rules I–XII were repealed and re-enacted effective January 1, 2026; use Rule IV for briefs, not obsolete Rule VII numbering.
- District Rule 9.9 concerns civil exceptions and motions and expressly excludes juvenile and family proceedings.
- Sources checked October 14, 2026: appeal compilation effective July 1, 2026; Supreme Court 2025 order effective January 1, 2026; district compilation through May 14, 2020.

## Courts of Appeal: a table with citation pages

> “a table of authorities, including cases alphabetically arranged, statutes and other authorities, with references to the pages of the brief where the authorities are cited” — Uniform Rule 2-12.4(A)(2)

Keep the table after the table of contents and before the jurisdictional statement, in the order required by Rule 2-12.4(A). Include authorities from jurisdictional discussion, standards of review and footnotes, not just the main merits argument. Rule 2-12.5 extends the table requirement to appellee briefs; build that table from the appellee’s own text. Rule 2-12.6 confines a reply to rebuttal, rather than restating the principal contents list, so check instructions for that document separately.

Rule 2-12.2(A) requires consecutive page numbering. Under (C)(1), specified preliminary and other pages, including the table, are excluded from the principal page limits. Exclusion from a limit does not mean those pages disappear from the document. Review references after insertion. The quoted rule does not provide express passim permission; explicit citation locations avoid importing an unsupported convention.

## Supreme Court: current Rule IV and an index

> “an index of the authorities cited” — Louisiana Supreme Court Rule IV, Sections 2(A) and 3(A)

The Supreme Court’s principal brief order begins with the index, followed by the statement of the case and other required sections. Rule IV distinguishes appellant/applicant/relator briefs from appellee/respondent briefs, and both lists expressly include the index. Do not copy the Courts of Appeal’s table-after-contents sequence as though it were the Supreme Court rule.

Rule IV, Section 1 excludes the cover and index from its stated civil, criminal and capital-criminal brief limits. The brief remains subject to Rule I’s filing requirements. Rule IV’s short index clause does not itself specify alphabetical ordering or page references; an organized index with precise brief-page locations is a useful preparation choice, not language to attribute to that clause. Writ applications before a grant, replies, motion briefs and special filings require their own rule analysis. A requirement for a merits brief after a writ grant is not automatically the contents requirement for the original writ application.

**Choose the rule before choosing the layout**

| Filing | Rule and term | Do not confuse it with |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Court of Appeal appellant brief | 2-12.4(A)(2): table of authorities after contents | A record index or a Supreme Court index-first layout. |
| Court of Appeal appellee brief | 2-12.5: conforms to appellant requirements with exceptions | A copy of the appellant’s authority/page list. |
| Supreme Court principal briefs | IV §§ 2(A), 3(A): index of authorities first | Former Rule VII or the original writ-application contents. |
| District civil exception/motion memorandum | 9.9: relevant facts and applicable law | A statewide mandatory appellate TOA. |
| Juvenile/family motion memorandum | 9.9(a) excludes these proceedings | The civil memorandum timing and contents applied without checking separate rules. |

## District memoranda: cite the law, check the local instructions

> “a supporting memorandum that cites both the relevant facts and applicable law” — Louisiana District Court Rule 9.9(b)

Rule 9.9 does not direct the writer to add a table of authorities. That is a scoped reading of this provision, not a claim that no Louisiana district judge may require one. Check the applicable district’s rules, appendices and scheduling order. Rule 9.9(f) itself points to Rule 9.4 and Appendix 9.4 for whether memoranda must be filed with the clerk or sent directly to the judge.

The district PDF read here identifies amendments through May 14, 2020. Its date is disclosed rather than relabeled as a 2026 edition; verify later amendments and local directions before using it for a filing. This guide does not calculate motion deadlines or extend Rule 9.9 to excluded family/juvenile matters. If a table is required by your judge or useful in a substantial memorandum, standard extraction can help prepare it, but the authority for requiring it must come from the applicable instructions.

**PDF to review to editable Word**

- Identify the court and filing type. Finish the source citations and export the current brief to PDF, retaining the matching Word file.
- Open the generator in standard format. Confirm actual court/settings because court detection or a sample can override the entry selection.
- Review every authority, short form, duplicate and printed citation page against the PDF. Keep brief-page references separate from reporter pinpoints and record pages.
- PDF alone downloads an editable Word table. A matching .docx plus text-layer PDF can insert ordinary table text into Word. Use the appeal table or Supreme Court index heading and placement appropriate to your document.
- Re-export after insertion and later editing and recheck every page reference. Separately review filing format and court-specific requirements; the generator does not restyle citations, format the whole brief or add e-filing bookmarks.

> **Generate locally for the court you are actually filing in:** Brief Authority is free, with no account and no upload of your brief; processing stays on your device. The standard format is not a Louisiana court preset or a compliance guarantee. For a finished table use the PDF route. DOCX-only processing instead creates Word fields for Word for Windows.

[Build a Louisiana authorities table](/table-of-authorities-generator?court=generic#tool)

Free. No account. Your brief stays in your browser, never uploaded.

## Frequently asked

**Is the same TOA rule used in every Louisiana court?**

No. Courts of Appeal use Uniform Rule 2-12.4; Supreme Court principal briefs use Rule IV; district memoranda have separate rules and local instructions.

**Does Supreme Court Rule VII still govern briefs?**

The re-enacted rules effective January 1, 2026 place briefs in Rule IV. Do not rely on an older rule number without checking the current order.

**Does the Court of Appeal appellee need a table?**

Yes. Rule 2-12.5 requires conformity to the appellant brief requirements with specified exceptions; the table remains part of the brief.

**Does every district motion need a TOA?**

Rule 9.9 requires a supporting memorandum citing facts and law but does not prescribe a TOA. Check your district, judge and filing-specific orders; this is not a statewide exemption.

**Why must I check pagination after generating?**

The table or index occupies pages even when excluded from a length calculation. Inserting it or changing argument layout can move later citations, making pre-insertion references stale.

**Related guides**

- [Tables of authorities by state](/table-of-authorities-by-state)
- [Table of authorities format](/table-of-authorities-format)
- [Authorities from PDF](/table-of-authorities-from-pdf)

**Official sources read October 14, 2026**

- [Uniform Rules of Louisiana Courts of Appeal](https://www.lasc.org/rules/COA/2026_07_Uniform_Rules_Courts_of_Appeal.pdf): Amendments effective July 1, 2026; read Rules 2-12.2 and 2-12.4 through 2-12.6.
- [Louisiana Supreme Court order: Rules I–XII, XIV and XLII](https://www.lasc.org/rules/orders/2025/Rules_I-XII_XIV_and_XLII.pdf): 2025 order re-enacts rules effective January 1, 2026; read Rule IV’s principal-brief contents and scope.
- [Rules for Louisiana District Courts](https://www.lasc.org/rules/dist.ct/finalrules.pdf): Compilation states amendments through May 14, 2020; read all of Rule 9.9. Verify subsequent amendments and local instructions. General guidance, not legal advice.