FORMAT AND STYLE

TYPOGRAPHY AND VISUAL DESIGN FOR PLEADINGS,

MOTIONS, AND OTHER LEGAL DOCUMENTS
GILBERT R. HUFANA
Professor
Practice Court
 TYPOGRAPHY

• Good typography is part of good lawyering.

• Good typography reinforces the goals of the text.
• Any lawyer can master the essentials of good
typography.
• Typography in legal documents should be held to the
same standards as any professionally published material.
• “It won’t make your arguments better, but it will ensure
that judges grasp and retain your points with less
struggle. That’s a valuable advantage, which you
should seize.”
 TYPOGRAPHY

• The most important thing you need to understand

about typography is that it’s based on science, not on
opinion, fashion, or taste.
• For over a century, researchers have studied adult
reading, learning what helps and what hinders word
recognition and perception.
• They’ve measured legibility by the time it takes
people to read and understand words.
• These studies show that good typography increases
legibility and reading comprehension.
 WHITE SPACE

• White space is any area on the page where no words

appear.
• It includes all four margins and the spaces around
headings, block quotations, and similar material.
• It also includes (if you put it there) the vertical space
between paragraphs.
• Experts agree that 50% is about right.
• A letter-sized page with one-inch margins surrounding a
solid block of text has 37% white space. Increase the side
margins to 1.25 inches, and you’re up to 43% white
space.
 FONTS

• Probably the most commonly used font or typeface in

legal writing is Times New Roman, usually the default
font in MS Word.
• While Times New Roman is acceptable for most legal
writing, it’s not the best font you can use for briefs.
• It was designed for newspapers, not for books.
• Because briefs are more like books than like
newspapers, it is advised to use fonts designed for
books.
• Fonts in this class include Century, Century Schoolbook,
and probably any font with the word “book” in its
name.
 JUSTIFICATION

• The choice here is between left justification and full

justification.
• Though there’s some debate on the question, most
experts prefer left justification.
• Full justification often results in noticeable, distracting
differences in spacing from one line to the next, as the
computer tries to stretch each line to make it reach the
right margin.
• Left justification results in more natural spacing on each
line, and “[t]he resulting ‘ragged right’ margin adds
variety and interest to the page without interfering with
legibility.”
 HEADINGS

• You want your headings to contrast with your text.

• To achieve that contrast, use a different-looking font.
Use a serif font for text and a sans serif font for
headings.
• Arial (in bold) contrasts nicely with serif fonts like
Times New Roman. For different levels of subheadings,
alternate bold and italic lettering (e.g. bold, bold-italic,
plain, italic).
• If your text is left justified, then your headings should
also be left justified, not centered.
 EMPHASIS

• Emulate the good writers. Never, never put anything

in all capital letters.
• All capital text is difficult to read.
• It repels readers who resent the extra effort it
imposes and who don’t like being shouted at.
• If you must make one word or phrase stand out, use
italics or bold print. Don’t underline. Underlining
decreases legibility by obscuring parts of letters that
drop below the line (q, y, p, g, and j).
 EFFICIENT USE OF PAPER RULE
A.M. NO. 11-9-4-SC

• The Supreme Court has issued the Efficient Use of Paper

Rule primarily to protect the environment.
• The rule will maximize the use of every sheet of paper in
rulings to be issued by the court and in the pleadings to
be filed by parties.
• The Court noted a need to cut the judicial system’s use
of excessive quantities of costly paper, save our forests,
avoid landslides, and mitigate the worsening effects of
climate change that the world is experiencing.
• The rule provided a standard style and format for
pleading to be filed with the SC and the lower courts.
 FORMAT & STYLE
SEC. 3, A.M. NO. 11-9-4-SC

All pleadings, motions, and similar papers intended

for the court and quasi-judicial body's consideration
and action (court-bound papers) shall be written in:
• single space;
• one and-a-half space between paragraphs;
• using 14-font size of any easily readable font style of the
party's choice, and
• on a13-inch by 8.5-inch white bond paper;
 MARGINS & PRINTS
SEC. 4, A.M. NO. 11-9-4-SC

• The parties shall maintain the following margins on all

court-bound papers:
• a left hand margin of 1.5 inches from the edge;
• an upper margin of 1.2 inches from the edge;
• a right hand margin of 1.0 inch from the edge; and
• a lower margin of 1.0 inch from the edge.
• Every page must be consecutively numbered.