Line numbers themselves do not need to have the same dot size or font style as the body text. I like to make them smaller. That`s why we`ve developed better software. We help you optimize your processes so you can focus on what matters most – your customers. Once you know the basic formatting rules, you can go through the legal document templates and fix potential claims. With that in mind, let`s take a closer look at the formatting rules for some specific types of legal documents you`re likely to come across. The first step in Word is to highlight legal citations by selecting the citation text and then clicking References. Click Mark Quote and the Select Quote box appears. In the Category field, select the correct citation category – you can choose from cases, laws, regulations, etc.
In the Long quotation marks box, type the citation as you want it to appear in the government table. Then, in the Short quotation marks box, type the short quotation, such as «Roe v. Wade», which you want Word to search through the document. Before you configure the specific formatting required for legal documents, you must turn off autoformatting. First, take a look at the army of documents on your servers. Each of these documents must be in perfect condition, not only for reasons of professionalism, but also for the documents to be accepted as valid. As Will Watters, co-founder and creative director of Western Rise, explains, «Some of the most common types of legal documents are agreements, wills, contracts, grants, and deeds. They must be right every time and absolutely.
Before you familiarize yourself with some of the rules for formatting legal documents, you should try to understand the basics of document formatting. You can adjust the distance according to your needs. Double spacing is used in most legal documents. However, it should be used for the body of the text. Indented text should use simple spacing. A triple space must be used between the headings. All this documentation must be perfect to be valid, and because it takes so long, human error is likely. Also, different documents have different legal formatting, which makes things even more difficult. Another common culprit is a damaged model. This one is basically a bad seed. No matter what you do with it or how you try to fix it, it will always damage any new documents based on it. Law firms are constantly creating documents.
In a single case, a lawyer and his team can create an entire library of documents, from briefs to affidavits to court records. Sentences in legal documents should be short and concise. All technical terminology should be defined at the beginning to avoid confusion. If a simpler word is sufficient, it should be preferred to a more complex or industry-specific language. When it comes to Word documents, corruption is usually (but not always) stored in section breaks. If you`re not sure where this is, the last paragraph of a document contains a hidden section break, so a document with a single section usually hides corruption in the last paragraph mark. To achieve true double line spacing, you must set the line spacing exactly twice the size of the point. Paragraph H is set to 12 points, so select the entire paragraph and change the line spacing to exactly 24 points. Do not use the «Double spaced» option in your word processor – despite the name, you will get a larger line spacing than desired.
(See Line Spacing.) Even if you have templates that everyone uses, new documents are created every time someone uses a template. With a little research, you can find the right template for any type of legal document. And make sure you find templates designed for your word processor, whether it`s Word, Google Docs, or any other tool. A legal document template can ensure that your formatting is consistent across all documents submitted to the court in a particular case. This ensures that you don`t have to review the court`s formatting rules repeatedly. Also, it will streamline your creation process by using a standard set of fields with information specific to that case. Columns may be required for certain types of legal documents, such as a list of services or a separate presentation of undisputed facts in support of an application for summary judgment. To insert columns In Word, click the Page Setup drop-down menu.
Under Page Setup, select Columns, and then specify the number of columns that you want. In Google Docs, click Format, select Columns from the drop-down menu, then select the option you want. From there, it`s time to turn to the advocacy pages, where the numbers lines are. Customers who can`t understand your contracts and other documents will be much less likely to stay with you in the future. Give your customers confidence in what they read, and you will have a much better business relationship. You can change the default letter size from 8 1/2 inches to 11 inches on legal size paper. Click the Page Setup tab to change the paper size. Under Size, select Legal.
All legal documents have different requirements and formats, which is why templates can be so advantageous for law firms. Lawyers and support staff have a lot to juggle in the day-to-day operations of the firm, and documentation is a big part of that. All lawyers know that meeting the deadlines for filing court applications is non-negotiable. Therefore, it is also important that you have the right format for legal documents to ensure that your submission is not rejected. This means that you need to know the basics of formatting a legal document. So, if you`re doing business in North America, it`s generally prudent to stick to U.S. size standards. Instead of a plain sheet of paper (size 8.5 x 11 inches), the legal size is slightly longer (8.5 x 14 inches), although there are also junior legal sizes (5 x 8 inches). Formatting legal documents is an incredibly delicate process. And because legal teams handle so many different documents in a single case, it`s easy to ignore a formatting error that they need to fix. Spacing is another formatting element where readability plays an important role.
Again, if the court rules give you discretion, you can experiment with whatever distance you prefer. For example, California court rules state that lines can be a year and a half or double-spaced. Also, make sure your line numbers match the lines of text. Many dishes specify a minimum font size, but not necessarily a font. Again, you have some discretion to set your font for maximum readability and professionalism. Times New Roman and Courier are common fonts for legal documents. Depending on the case you are presenting, other documents may need to be attached. Refer to Article 14 for the order in which they should appear. A party`s substantive decision must also contain a summary of the argument immediately before the «Argument» section. Some law firms have their own specific formatting settings and there may be times when no style element matches the preferred settings. In this case, you can create your own style to meet the needs of your law firm.
This option allows you to optimize the style element and make the necessary adjustments for well-formatted legal documents. Note that the settings you make can be applied to the active document or become the default setting used in future documents. For example, California state courts require submissions to use double-spaced (equivalent to 28 lines per page), 12-point characters, and line numbers in the left margin. I will use this as a basic template and you can adapt it to the rules of your jurisdiction. Let us say you submit a pamphlet from the Supreme Court. In this case, you will need to print your documents and link them to a brochure. Legal document formatting is the process of organizing your legal documents so that they can be read by your readers. This includes a variety of factors, including font choice, paragraph style, and margins. On the other hand, courts can have influence over which policies they accept on legal documents and which they do not.
Take the Virginia Supreme Court, which has updated its list of acceptable fonts. The more words in your legal documents, the more likely it is that something is wrong. There could be a typo. There could be factual errors. There could be something else that makes your document wrong. If you don`t keep it short, you could end up with inaccurate information. If you practice in a jurisdiction that requires court records with line numbers, you`ve been faced with the annoying problem of vertical alignment of line numbers with text. If you look at the opinions of the courts, even judges are often defeated by this formatting task. PracticePanther helps lawyers do more in less time. Our technology optimizes your workflows, increases your profits and helps you increase customer satisfaction.
We facilitate and accelerate the practice of law. Whatever the field of activity, there are documents common to all jurisdictions. These include: If you haven`t already, you should create a standard list of must-have templates for your most common legal documents (briefings, briefs, affidavits, etc.). These documents should be pre-populated based on the latest best practices (including formatting). Make these templates available through the cloud so that the entire office can access them. Margins and spacing are crucial to making a document readable.