8.4.5 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
Supreme Court Rule 24.1(c) also requires a table of authorities for all briefs that exceed 1,500 words. Rule 34.2 requires that the table of authorities include “cases alphabetically arranged, constitutional provisions, statutes, treatises, and other materials.” Most attorneys use the categories listed in the rule as headings within the table, and some will subdivide any longer categories further.
For example, they may group cases into United States Supreme Court cases, United States Circuit Court cases, and so on. This grouping may help the court to assess the brief’s authority, but the rules do not require it.The most important requirement is that the table should note each page on which each authority is cited. If an authority is cited so frequently that listing the individual pages would not help the court to find particular discussions of the authority, the table of authorities may note passim (Latin for “throughout”) instead of listing individual pages. Passim is often necessary to refer to a statute that is at issue because the statute may well be referenced on every page of the argument. Take care to use passim only when absolutely necessary; it is not an excuse for being too lazy to search through the brief to find the particular pages on which the citations appear.
Word processing programs may have a “Table” function, which will allow you to create a table of authorities more easily. If you use this function, I do not recommend that you rely on it. After the table is generated, double-check to be sure that it includes each needed authority and each needed page reference.
Some courts allow electronically-filed documents to include hyperlinks to documents available on the internet.11If your court does, I recommend that you include those links in the Table of Authorities (rather than within the document itself). Take care to follow rules about citation and appropriate paper copies.12