Before You Print a BCCA Book of Authorities: A Practical Checklist for Legal Assistants
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Preparing a Book of Authorities can look straightforward until the final file is assembled.
The authorities may be selected. The factum may be nearly complete. The filing deadline may already be close. Then the production details start to matter: page numbers, table of contents, tabs, cover colour, binding, volumes, and copy count.
For legal assistants and paralegals, this is where small issues can turn into avoidable rework. One late authority can shift page numbers. One missing tab can affect every bound copy. One incorrect table of contents entry can create confusion when the material is being reviewed.
This Tuesday Tip focuses on the practical production checks that help make a BCCA Book of Authorities cleaner, easier to print, and easier to use.
Start With the Final Authority List
Before pagination and formatting, confirm that the list of authorities is final, or as close to final as possible.
A Book of Authorities should include the authorities referred to in the factum. In most cases, that means complete authorities rather than selected excerpts or headnotes. From a production perspective, this matters because every added or removed authority affects the structure of the book.
A late change may affect:
the table of contents
sequential page numbering or Bates numbering
tab order
volume breaks
the number of sheets in each bound copy
the time needed for production
If counsel is still revising the authority list, it is usually better to hold final pagination until the content is settled.
Starting production before the authority list is finalized often creates more rework than it saves.
Check That Page Numbers Match the Table of Contents
Page numbering is one of the most common places for problems to appear.
For a BCCA Book of Authorities, the pages should be numbered sequentially or Bates numbered.
The table of contents needs to match those numbers. This can become tricky when the file includes downloaded cases, scanned materials, inserted cover pages, or late additions.
Before the file is released for production, spot-check the table of contents against the actual PDF.
Do not only check the first entry.
A useful review includes:
the first authority
one or two authorities in the middle
the last authority in each volume
any authority added late
any document with unusual formatting or scanned pages
If the PDF and table of contents do not match, printing will not solve the issue. It will simply reproduce the problem across every copy.
Make the Print Instructions Clear
Court materials often have specific production requirements that should not be left open to interpretation.
A clear print instruction helps avoid delays, especially when the job is moving quickly. Instead of sending a general note such as “please print and bind,” include the details that affect production.
For example:
“Book of Authorities — Appellant. Buff cover and back page. Cerlox plastic comb binding. Tabs between each authority. Full table of contents in each volume.”
Depending on the role and material, cover colours may differ. Confirm this before the job is sent in. It is a small detail, but it affects the finished court material.
Plan Tabs Before Production Starts
Tabs are not just a finishing detail. They are part of how the Book of Authorities is used.
Each authority should be separated clearly.
Before production, check that the tab labels are:
in the same order as the table of contents
easy to read
consistent in format
updated after any authority list changes
This is one of those quiet checks that makes the final book easier to review.
Watch the Volume Breaks
Volume breaks can become an issue quickly, especially when authorities are lengthy or the book includes several large cases.
When a Book of Authorities is split into multiple volumes, each volume should be clearly labelled, such as “Volume 1 of 3.” Each volume should also include the full table of contents, not just the contents for that specific volume.
Page numbering should continue sequentially from one volume to the next. This helps ensure that everyone is referring to the same page numbers, whether they are reviewing Volume 1, Volume 2, or the full set.
A practical final check is to review:
the last page of each volume
the first page of the next volume
the volume number on each cover
the table of contents in each volume
If the volume split changes after a late addition, covers, tabs, and page references may all need to be reviewed again.
Keep the Authorities Clean
Highlighting and underlining can create problems in a Book of Authorities.
Even when the highlighted passage is important, it may not reproduce cleanly. It can also make the page harder to read, especially if the original authority was scanned, compressed, or already low contrast.
Where attention needs to be drawn to a particular passage, a cleaner production approach is usually better. A black vertical line beside the relevant paragraph is often easier to reproduce and keeps the authority more readable.
The goal is simple: keep the material clean, legible, and easy to follow.
Common Mistake: Updating the PDF After the Table of Contents Is Finished
One of the most common causes of rework is making a small PDF change after the table of contents has already been completed.
It may seem minor to insert one missing authority, replace one poor-quality scan, remove a duplicate, or add one missing page. But that change can shift everything that follows.
Before final production, run one last check:
Is the authority list final?
Does the table of contents match the PDF?
Are the page numbers visible and consistent?
Are the tabs in the correct order?
Are the volume breaks clear?
Is the copy count confirmed?
These checks do not take long, but they can prevent a full set of printed books from needing correction.
Final Takeaway
A BCCA Book of Authorities is easiest to produce when the file is treated as a finished court material, not just a collection of cases.
Confirm the authority list, page numbering, table of contents, tabs, cover colour, binding, volume breaks, and copy count before production starts.
Clean setup before production makes a Book of Authorities much easier to print, tab, bind, and deliver without last-minute rework.
