This post is Part II of LegalTech's 2-part series on typography. Read Part I here.
Simple
Adaptations
Lawyers have
carte blanche to change the typography of their letters, and have surprisingly
few limitations for pleadings filed with the courts. Butterick makes a number
of recommendations (and describes how users of Word, Wordperfect, and Mac Pages
can implement those changes) to improve readability:
Font: Unless
required by a court, all fonts should be proportional instead of monospaced. A
monospaced font is one where every character, including the i and the m, are
the same size. It was the way most typewriters worked. A proportional font
conforms to the way letters are actually written, and different letters have
different widths. Monospaced fonts take up more room, give lawyers fewer words
per page, and are inherently harder to read.
Most lawyers use Times
New Roman for their filings. That font was designed in 1929 for the London
Times newspaper, and was created to be used specifically in a newspaper’s
column-format. Per Butterick:
When Times New
Roman appears in a book, document, or advertisement, it connotes apathy. It
says, “I submitted to the font of least resistance.” Times New Roman is not a
font choice so much as the absence of a font choice, like the blackness of deep
space is not a color. To look at Times New Roman is to gaze into the void. If you
have a choice about using Times New Roman, please stop. Use something
else.
Other (better)
font choices include Bell MT, Book Antiqua (my favorite), Californian FB,
Calisto MT, Century Schoolbook, Franklin Gothic, Garamond, Gill Sans, Gill Sans
MT, Goudy Old Style, Hoefler Text, Optima, and Palatino. Try them all out and
use something that you like. Just not Comic Sans….
Spaces After
Periods: This is one of Butterick’s hard-and-fast rules. He argues that two
spaces after a period is a holdover from typewriter days and used to help set
off sentences for monospaced fonts. The problem is that in large blocks of
text, those double-spaces add up to create rivers of white space. He counsels
that major publications, including books and newspapers, all use one space
after periods.
Line Spacing: Line spacing is the amount of vertical space between lines.
Most people use double-spaced or single-spaced lines. However, there are other
options. Butterick advises that optimal line spacing is between 120% and 145%
of the point size (meaning that a 12-point font should have between about 14
and 17 points of line spacing). Single-spacing is about 117%, 1.5-spacing is
about 175%, and double-spacing is about 233%. Adjusting the line spacing is
also better than modifying point size for shortening a document.
Line Length: One of the major modifications that lawyers can make to
their documents is to adjust the line length. This is the length from the left
side of the text to the right size. Shorter lines are easier to read than
longer lines, and lawyers should strive for 45 to 90 characters per line.
Though font choice and point size have an impact, the best way to modify line
length is to increase page margins. The default on most word processing
programs is one inch per border. However, the left and right borders should be
between 1.5 and 2.0 inches each.
Using two-inch
side margins is going to produce a drastically different-looking pleading than
what you’re used to. When used in concert with a slightly smaller font (even 11
points), and better line spacing, the result will still be more words per page
than a double-spaced, 12 point font with one-inch margins. Further, it will be
a document that is easier to read. If two inches make you nervous, start with
1.5 inches on each side.
Quotation
Marks and Apostrophes: Straight quotes are commonplace, but
should be shunned in favor of curly quotes. The same goes for apostrophes,
which should be curly and point downward. They are more legible, and match the
other characters better.
Emphasis: Another holdover from the typewriter is underlining, which
was formerly the only way to emphasize text. Underlining is mechanically
applied, and has no relationship to the font. Other means of emphasis, like
italics and bold, are designed to harmonize with the specific font, and give a
more pleasing result.
Indentation: The first line of a new paragraph is often indented. The
size of the indention should be proportional to the font. It must be at least
the same as the point size, and no larger than four times the point size. With
a 12-point font, the first line indent should be between 12 and 48 points,
which equates to somewhere between 0.17 and 0.67 inches. The typical default
tab stop on most word processing systems is 0.50 inches. Importantly, if you
have extra space between paragraphs (not lines), you should not indent the
first line of new paragraphs.
Keep Text
Together: Certain blocks of text need to be kept
together. Headings should not be separated from the first line of text, and
signature lines should not be broken up across multiple pages.
Kerning: Kerning
is the amount of space between specific pairs of letters. In default mode, most
word processing software places an identical amount of space between each
letter. With kerning turned on, the software will change the spacing between
certain letters. Font designers customize the spacing between these letter
pairs, and intend for it to be used. In Word 2010, kerning can be activated by
right-clicking the text, selecting Font, clicking the Advanced tab and clicking
Kerning for fonts. Ideally, kerning should be turned on.
Styles
For a lawyer to
make all of these changes on a pleading-by-pleading basis would be
time-consuming and likely lead to inconsistent application of the rules. The
easiest way to create pleadings using your preferred typography methods is to
create styles. The three major word processing programs all allow you to
customize styles for easy application in your documents.
Word users can
rely on Styles to format their documents. Here is the process (you can make a
new style or modify existing Word styles):
- Click the Home tab on the Ribbon
- In the Styles group, click the dialog launcher (that small square
with an arrow at the lower right-hand side) (alternatively, hold down
Ctrl-Alt-Shift-S)
- Click the New Style button, or click an existing style to make
changes
Here is the
process to create a new style based on some of the recommendations in this
article:
- Name the Style (for example, Pleadings Body Text)
- On the Style Type drop-down menu, select Linked (paragraph and
character)
- For Style for Following Paragraph, select the same style that you
are creating (this will ensure that the entire document has the same
styling)
- Change the font and point size
- Click the following boxes: Add to Quick Style list, Automatically
update, and New documents based on this template
- Click the Format drop-down menu, and select Font; click the
Advanced tab
- Click the Kerning for fonts checkbox, and select 8 for the point
size. Click OK.
- Click the Format drop-down menu, and select Paragraph
- Spacing Before and After should be set at 0 points
- Set the Line Spacing at Exactly 15 points (or other points that
you deem reasonable)
Margins cannot be
set as part of a Word Style, but you can set default margins for all Word
documents. To do this, click the Page Layout tab on the Ribbon, click Margins,
and select Custom Margins. Set the margins that you prefer, then click Set As
Default. Clicking Yes will change the default for all new Word documents.
Special
Considerations
The world of
typography is a rabbit hole—once you start finessing your documents, you will
begin trying to maximize the effect of every document. You might find yourself
rethinking papers and printers, for example. Hard copy documents are usually
best created with a laserjet printer over an inkjet printer, because the lines
and edges are more refined. Documents which must be duplicated look better when
printed directly, as opposed to making multiple copies from an original.
For a laser
printer, the best type of paper to use is smooth. Choose paper that is designed
for laser printing as opposed to “copy” paper or inkjet paper. Use white paper
that is as bright as you can justifiably afford.
Conclusion
In the end, our
primary job as lawyers is to advance the interests of our clients. When making
typographic choices for pleadings, the primary considerations will be court
rules on typography and readability. Most of the changes espoused by Butterick
are small and will not be consciously noticed. A few (wider side margins, for
example), will be noticed and may impair a judge’s appreciation of a pleading’s
substance. Even if a pleading is created using scientifically-sound typography,
a judge may not be able focus on the substance of the text when faced with a
document that is non-conforming by conventional standards. Use your best
judgment.
About the Author
John J. Cord (John Cord Law, LLC) graduated from the University of Colorado School of Law. He concentrates his practice on automobile negligence, medical malpractice and workers' compensation. He provides a wide range of technological services to law firms, including blogging and trial presentation. Find his firm on Facebook and Twitter.
