Formatting an Appellate Brief in MS Word

Our guide has been put together to assist you in creating a Table of Contents (TOC) and a Table of Authorities (TOA) for an Appellate Brief using Microsoft Word 2021 with a PC or  a MAC.

Most of the guide has to do with the intricacies of formatting appellate briefs, but the "Quick Tips and Tricks" section includes information that could be helpful to any law student, such as using appropriate legal formatting and typefaces, section § and paragraph ¶ symbols, and properly anonymizing and removing editing history from your documents.

Please Note:  Specific formatting selections, such as font type and size, underlining etc. that are mentioned throughout are for demonstration purposes.  Select formatting per your professor's instructions or appropriate court rules.

There are 3 basic things that you will do when creating a Table of Contents and Table of Authorities:

1. Prepare your document
2. Create your Table of Contents (TOC)
3. Create your Table of Authorities (TOA)

• It will be easier to create your TOC & TOA if you do NOT do any formatting prior to beginning this process.

• Use the ¶ format markup during the process; it will help you to see the spacing and formatting markup in your document. To turn on ¶ markup, click the ¶ button on the Home ribbon.

• Save a clean copy of your brief (just in case).

There are many different versions of Microsoft Word: 2003, 2007, and 2010, 2013 for PCs and 2004, 2008, and 2011 for MACs.  The basic process, however, is the same for all.  What may vary is the interface.  For instance, Word 2010 for PCs and Word 2011 for MACs now have a re-designed ribbon interface. 

Note:  For a recap of changes in formatting details that occur if you have the new Windows 2013, see the Help & More tab