Advancing the Legal Profession with Typography

When lawyers use a PC to write documents, it’s not just about the words they’re using, but also about how the document looks. It’s important to present documents professionally, and as lawyers, we should pay attention to the way the text is presented. While some suggestions in this article might not be allowed in court, it’s still important to consider the quality of the documents we create. Even though my law school didn’t teach about typography, I learned about it from my previous job. When I started practicing law, I was frustrated to see that the legal profession was behind the times when it came to making documents look good. In 2010, a lawyer named Matthew Butterick wrote a book called Typography for Lawyers, which says that good typography is important for lawyers. This means using good fonts and spacing to make documents look nice and easy to read. He says lawyers should stop using old-fashioned typing habits and start using modern design tools. Good typography helps keep people’s attention and makes it more likely they will understand and remember what they read. So, it’s important for lawyers to use good typography to make their work more persuasive. Good typography is important in legal documents because it makes the text more effective. Many lawyers are stuck in old habits and don’t want to change the way they format their documents. However, there is a growing understanding that visual persuasion is important in the legal field. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals is even offering typography advice to litigants. Making small changes to the way we format our documents can make a big difference. Studies have shown that making a document more readable can help the reader remember the content better. So, paying attention to typography is important for lawyers. Legibility in legal documents is important for reading efficiency. Factors like font type and size, line width, and ink to white space ratio affect reading speed. Lawyers should follow the same typography standards as other professional publications. Butterick and ALWD recommend basic typographic rules, like using one space between sentences. This is different from the old practice of using two spaces, which is now considered obsolete. Don’t use typewriter-style standards for your writing. Don’t use two spaces after a sentence, don’t underline text, and don’t use monospaced fonts like Courier. Instead, use professional fonts like Baskerville and Garamond for better readability. These changes will make your writing look more professional and be easier to read. Use easy-to-read fonts like Times New Roman and Arial. Avoid using all capital letters, and use bold or italic sparingly for emphasis. Stick to 10-12 point font size for body text in printed documents. Serif fonts are best for long passages, while sans-serif fonts are good for headings. Overall, make your text easy to read and don’t overdo it with the fancy formatting. Courts often require text to be a certain size, but 11 point is actually the easiest to read. Using larger sizes, like 12 or 14 point, can make reading slower and uses more paper. Also, different fonts set at the same size may not look the same on the page. It’s better to leave the text left-aligned instead of fully justified because justified text can be harder to read. Using both first-line indents and space between paragraphs is a mistake. It’s better to just use one.Indented whole paragraphs, single-spaced, are good for setting off quotes in legal documents. The Division of Administrative Hearings in Florida uses a specific font and spacing for its documents. However, new research suggests that using a different font and smaller size could make reading and understanding the documents easier. They also use underlining for case names and titles, but it would be better to use italics. Justifying the text to create even margins on both sides of the page is not used. The documents are mostly double-spaced, and lawyers are encouraged to do the same. Quoting statutes or rules is done with single spacing and indented blocks of text. Understanding typography is important for legal writers, as it can improve communication and effectiveness. It’s best to use bold sparingly and consistently, and learning about professional typography can benefit the legal system and the public’s perception of lawyers. Some sources of information on typography include “Typography for Lawyers” by M. Butterick and “Painting with Print” by Ruth Ann Robbins. Studies on reading speed and legibility have also influenced the use of typography in legal writing. These are references to books and articles about typography and how to format text, especially for legal documents. They talk about things like using one space between sentences, choosing the right fonts, and whether to underline or use italics. It seems like different authors have different opinions on which fonts are best for legal documents. Kerning is a way to adjust spacing between certain letters to make them look better. You can turn it on in Word by right-clicking and selecting , then or the tab. In WordPerfect, go to -> -> -> .