Tech for Lawyering Competencies: Research & Writing: MS Word for Lawyers: Table of Authorities

Select the citation using either your mouse or keyboard. To mark the citation, either press ALT-SHIFT-I (which works in all versions of Word from 2002 through 2016) or go to the References tab with your mouse and click Mark Citation:

Click the Category drop-down below and assigned the citation to one of the categories. (If you need to make your own category, just click the Category button on the right, select the next number and type the new category name in the “Replace with” field to rename it, then click OK.)

If you’ve got the same case cited multiple times and you’re sure your short citation format is consistent throughout your document, you can click Mark All to mark all instances of this case at once. If you’re more cautious, click the Next Citation button, and Word will find the next text string that resembles a legal citation and allow you to mark that, too.

Your Table will include the page number for every time you cite a source.  You’ll use the standard mark process the first time you cite to something, but you’ll need to change this process for subsequent entries.  

Once you mark something the first time, it will appear in your cite list.  To mark the next mention – whether it’s a short cite or an Id – you’ll start the same way. Highlight the reference.  

Place your cursor at the point in your document where you want the TOA to begin (usually just under the heading “Table of Authorities”), go to the References tab, and click the Insert Table of Authorities button in the upper right-hand corner:

You’ll get the Table of Authorities dialog box:

Options

Passim

See that checkbox just below the Print Preview called “Use passim”? If any of your cases are cited five or more times in your brief (which might make for an awkward-looking TOA), Word will insert “passim” for the second and subsequent citations to save room. Not every court allows it, so check your local rules or call the court clerk. At this point it appears SCOTUS does not want passim used. 

Keep Original Formatting

If, for example, your case names are italicized within the body of the brief, checking this box will carry that same character formatting into the TOA.

Tab Leader

This is the string of characters that separates the end of each citation from its page numbers. For example, this citation has a dot leader (the default):
You can also choose a dashed line, a solid line, or no leader at all.

Formats

Generally, you’ll want to use the format “from template,” meaning that the formatting of the category heading and citation styles are inherited from the fonts being used in the brief’s template. Also available, however, are some predefined formats should you wish to use those.

Categories

If for some reason you only want to include the citations from a single category in your TOA, you can choose from the list in the Category scroll box. Usually, though, you’ll want to choose “All” to include all categories in order.

Update/refresh all fields and make a final check

Now that your pagination has returned to normal, you need to refresh your TOA. To force all codes in the document to update, press CTRL-A (selects all text except headers/footers and footnotes), then press F9 (updates fields). Or, highlight the tale of authorities, click References tab, go to Table of Authorities and click Update Table.

This helpful LibGuide can be of assistance in you are using an Apple Mac (Word 2011).

Consider reading this excellent blog by Deborah Savadra on Legal Office Guru. 

Westlaw Precision has a TOA Builder tool that can help you build a TOA. Itʻs rather simple, and requires re-formating if you decide to use it. Here is a link with more information.