Situation guide
Table of Authorities for a Pro Se Appellant: A Plain Guide
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The short answer
a Table of Authorities (TOA) is an index at the front of your brief that lists every case, statute, rule and other source you cite, with the page numbers where you cite each one. In federal courts of appeals it is required: FRAP 28(a)(3) calls for "a table of authorities—cases (alphabetically arranged), statutes, and other authorities—with references to the pages" of the brief where they are cited. Most state appellate courts have a similar rule, but the details differ. You can build one by hand with free tools once your brief is final. This page explains formatting only. It is not legal advice; always follow your court's own rules.
What a Table of Authorities is for
Judges and their clerks use the TOA to see, at a glance, which authorities your argument relies on and where to find your discussion of each one. It sits in the front matter of the brief, after the table of contents and before the jurisdictional statement or statement of issues. Because it is an index, it has to match your brief exactly: if the TOA says a case is cited on page 14, the reader expects to find it on page 14.
In federal appeals, FRAP 28(a) lists the required parts of the appellant's brief in order. Item (2) is a table of contents with page references, and item (3) is the table of authorities. Your circuit's local rules may add requirements. If your appeal is in a state court, look up that state's rules of appellate procedure and any local rules of the specific appellate court. Many courts post a self-help or pro se guide on their website.
Step by step: building a TOA by hand with free tools
You do not need paid legal software. You need a finished brief, a way to search it, and a word processor. LibreOffice Writer is free; Google Docs and Apple Pages are free to use. None of Google Docs, Pages or Word for Mac offers an officially supported TOA feature (Microsoft states Tables of Authorities "aren't supported in Word for Mac or Word for the web"), so the manual method below works in any of them.
The manual method
- Finish the brief first. Make all your edits. Any change that adds or removes lines can move text to a different page.
- Number the front matter separately. Use lowercase roman numerals (i, ii, iii) for the cover, table of contents and TOA, and start the body of the brief at page 1. Then the TOA can grow without changing the page numbers it lists.
- Export or print to PDF. Work from the PDF so page numbers do not shift while you work. Use the page numbers printed on the pages, not the viewer's page count.
- Go page by page and write down every authority. For each page, note each case, statute, rule, constitutional provision, and other source (books, articles, websites). A simple two-column list works: authority, page.
- Catch the short forms. After the first full citation, you may refer to a case by a shorter name (Smith, 123 F.3d at 460) or by Id. (meaning the source cited just before). These pages count too. Search the PDF for each case's first party name to find them.
- Combine and sort. Merge each authority's pages into one line. Put cases in alphabetical order by the first party name. List statutes by title and section number, and rules by number.
- Group under headings. Common headings are Cases, Constitutional Provisions, Statutes, Rules, and Other Authorities. Use only the headings you need.
- Format the lines. Put the authority on the left and the page numbers on the right, joined by a row of dots (a dot leader). In LibreOffice Writer or Pages you can set a right-aligned tab stop with a dot leader; in any editor a borderless two-column table also works.
- Check it against the brief. Pick several entries and confirm each listed page actually cites that authority. Then check your table of contents the same way.
Formatting example
Here is how a short TOA is usually laid out. The case names below are placeholders for illustration; use your own authorities and follow your court's style.
Table of Authorities
| Authority | Pages |
|---|---|
| Cases | |
| Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89 (2007) | 4, 9, 12 |
| Haines v. Kerner, 404 U.S. 519 (1972) | 7 |
| Hughes v. Rowe, 449 U.S. 5 (1980) | 3, 11–13 |
| Constitutional Provisions | |
| U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1 | 2, 8 |
| Statutes | |
| 28 U.S.C. § 1291 | 1 |
| 42 U.S.C. § 1983 | 2, 5, 6 |
| Rules | |
| Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) | 5, 10 |
| Other Authorities | |
| [Treatise or article, as cited in your brief] | 14 |
In the filed brief, each row appears as a single line with dots running to the page numbers, for example: Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89 (2007) ........ 4, 9, 12. If a source is cited on a great many pages, some briefs write passim ("throughout") instead of the page list, but some courts prefer every page listed. When in doubt, list the pages.
Common problems to check before you file
Courts return or flag briefs for many reasons, and they differ by court. The list below is a general self-check drawn from the structure of the rules, not a list of any court's actual rejection statistics. Compare each item with your court's rules.
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| TOA is present | Required sections in the order your court's rule lists them (in federal appeals, FRAP 28(a)) |
| Page numbers match | Each listed page actually contains that citation in the final version |
| Cases alphabetized | Sorted by first party name, as FRAP 28(a)(3) requires in federal appeals |
| Every cited source listed | Including sources cited only in footnotes |
| Table of contents matches | Section headings and page numbers agree with the body |
| Word or page limits | Know which parts count; in federal appeals FRAP 32(f) excludes the tables |
| Other required items | Certificate of compliance, certificate of service, and any addendum your court requires |
| Local rules and forms | Your circuit or state may have extra requirements or a pro se brief form |
If your brief is long
For a short brief with a dozen authorities, the manual method takes a sitting. For a long brief with many cases and repeated short forms, it becomes slow and error-prone, especially if you revise the brief afterward and have to redo the page numbers. That is the gap BriefAuthority is being built to fill.
Frequently asked
Do I need a table of authorities if I'm representing myself on appeal?
If your court's rules require one, yes. In federal courts of appeals, FRAP 28(a)(3) requires it in the appellant's brief. Some courts offer simplified pro se brief forms with different requirements, so check your court's rules and forms.
How do I make a table of authorities for free?
Finish your brief, export it to PDF, and go page by page listing every authority and the pages where it appears, including short forms and Id. Then sort cases alphabetically, group by category, and format each line with a dot leader in LibreOffice Writer, Pages or Word (Google Docs has no dot-leader tab option, so type the dots or export and finish elsewhere).
What goes in the table of authorities?
Every case, constitutional provision, statute, regulation, rule and other source cited in the brief, grouped by category, with the page numbers where each is cited.
Do the table of authorities pages count toward the word limit?
In federal appeals, FRAP 32(f) excludes the table of contents and table of citations from the length calculation. State courts set their own rules.
What does passim mean in a table of authorities?
Where your court allows it, many offices switch to passim at five or more page references — that threshold comes from Microsoft Word's built-in "Use passim" option. The U.S. Supreme Court's Rule 34.2 says a table of authorities should not use passim (added in the 2023 rules and kept in the rules effective March 16, 2026), and the D.C., Tenth and Eleventh Circuits bar it too (D.C. Cir. R. 28(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 28.3(C); 11th Cir. R. 28-1(d)). Follow your court's rule.
Is this legal advice?
No. This page explains how a Table of Authorities is formatted. It does not advise on your case or your arguments. Follow your court's rules and consider contacting the court clerk's office or a legal aid or pro bono program with procedural questions.
Sources
- Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rule 28 (Cornell LII)law.cornell.edu
- Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rule 32 (Cornell LII)law.cornell.edu
- Microsoft Support: Create a table of authoritiessupport.microsoft.com
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