What order do authorities go in a table of authorities?
You're building the table of authorities for a brief. Do cases always come first? Where do the Constitution, statutes, regulations, court rules and secondary sources go? And inside each group, what order do the entries take?
If your court's rule sets a different order, reply below with it.
The team’s answer
Short answer. In federal appellate and Supreme Court briefs, cases come first in alphabetical order, then statutes, then other authorities, each with the brief pages where it is cited. The Supreme Court adds constitutional provisions ahead of statutes. Some state and trial courts name different groups. Most of the rules we checked don't say how to order the entries inside the statute and "other" groups, so pick a scheme and keep it.
What the rules require [Requirement]
Federal courts of appeals: a table of authorities listing cases (alphabetically arranged), statutes, and other authorities, with the pages of the brief that cite each one. Fed. R. App. P. 28(a)(3). A reply brief carries the same table. Fed. R. App. P. 28(c).
Supreme Court: the rule's list runs "cases alphabetically arranged, constitutional provisions, statutes, treatises, and other materials," with the pages where each is cited. The table is called for in every document longer than 1,500 words in booklet format or five pages on 8½ by 11 inch paper, joint appendices excepted. Sup. Ct. R. 34.2.
State and trial courts [Jurisdiction-specific]
California: a table of authorities "separately listing cases, constitutions, statutes, court rules, and other authorities cited." Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.204(a)(1)(A).
Texas appellate courts: "an index of authorities arranged alphabetically and indicating the pages of the brief where the authorities are cited." Tex. R. App. P. 38.1(c).
N.D. Tex.: a brief longer than 10 pages needs a table of contents plus one alphabetical table of the cases, statutes and other authorities, giving the page of every citation. N.D. Tex. LR 7.2(d).
Inside each group: one filed example [House style]
Apart from the alphabetical arrangement the Texas and N.D. Tex. rules call for, these rules don't order the entries inside the statute or "other" groups, so that part is house style. The Solicitor General's merits brief for the respondents in Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce, No. 22-1219, at IV–XI, shows how one experienced office does it:
Three headings: "Cases"; "Constitution, statutes, regulations, and rule"; "Miscellaneous."
Cases run alphabetically, with lower-court cases mixed in among the Supreme Court's; the ten "United States v." cases sit together under U, ordered by the other party's name.
The second group opens with the Constitution (Articles I and III), then statutes, then 50 C.F.R. sections, then Sup. Ct. R. 14(a).
Named acts are alphabetical (Administrative Procedure Act, Clean Air Act, Fishery Conservation Amendments of 1990, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act), each followed by the sections the brief cites.
"Miscellaneous" goes by author, or by the first word of the title when there is none, ignoring a leading volume number: a 1946 Congressional Record entry, which opens with its volume number, files under C, between Breyer and Davis.
Page references include the brief's appendix pages where a provision is reprinted, such as 1a.
Common mistakes
Statutes or the Constitution ahead of cases in a federal appellate or Supreme Court brief.
One merged list in a California brief, where the rule asks for separate groups.
No table in a federal reply brief.
A "passim" entry in the Supreme Court, where Rule 34.2 says to list every page instead.
Read more
The Briefs chapter (its opening is free to read): https://citationcode.com/book/briefs (opens in a new tab)
Each federal rule we track, with a link to its official text and the date we last checked it: https://citationcode.com/court-rules/federal (opens in a new tab)