Solve brief formatting problems with
Brief Builder's Workshop
Learn how to meet your court's exacting brief formatting requirements without tearing your hair out!
Are you:
- Frustrated by seemingly arbitrary court brief formatting requirements?
- Stuck trying to figure out how to translate those requirements into "how to do this in Word"?
- Under the gun to get it all out the door NOW?
Legal brief formatting requirements can be maddening! And to add insult to injury, courts don't typically provide any guidance on how to actually make Word do what they require you to do. As far as they're concerned, that's your job.
Couple that with the tight deadlines you're typically under, and it quickly becomes a situation that makes you want to stand up and scream!
You can't risk having your brief rejected or flagged by the court for formatting issues. So you need help ... now.
How I can help you
I'm Deborah Savadra, and I've worked as a legal assistant, paralegal, and software trainer for over 20 years. I've not only created lots of legal briefs myself, I've helped others with problems they've had with things like Table of Authorities, Table of Contents, footnote formatting, consistent headings and subheadings, etc.
While every court has its own unique requirements (so much for "standards," right?), in my experience those requirements tend to cluster around a few key features in Microsoft Word. Master those, and you can produce a well-formatted brief for any court!
Let me help you with your brief formatting challenges now!
I'm Deborah Savadra, and I've worked as a legal assistant, paralegal, and software trainer for over 20 years. I've not only created lots of legal documents myself, I've helped others at their desks by solving problems they had with their own documents, problems that could be solved with just a bit more skill with Microsoft Word.
Since the Great Recession of 2008, I've been subject to the same conditions as you: staff reductions forcing fewer people to take on more work, increasing client demands for discounts, flat fees, and other alternative billing arrangements, and law firms changing (and, in some cases, failing outright) because of the New Legal Normal. I've watched co-workers walk past my desk, belongings in a box, because the firm I worked for decided that they required less staff, and those of us who were left found ourselves buried under the increased workload.
As all of this change has been happening around me, I've found myself in a "survival of the fittest" environment. I've been asked to take on more and more work, so I've been forced to develop techniques to shortcut my document creation/editing process. Over time, I've assembled an arsenal of these techniques that slash my turnaround time in Microsoft Word.
And now, I'd like to share them with you.
Here's what we'll cover in the course
Brief Builder's Workshop consists of 12 lessons organized into 3 modules. Here's a guide to what we'll cover together:
Table of Authorities
Seven separate, sequential lessons taking you through the entire Table of Authorities process, from marking the first citation of any authority and then any subsequent citations (yes, the process is different) to inserting a properly-formatted TOA into your document, plus targeted solutions to common problems TOA users experience.
Table of Contents
You've got two different ways you can create a Table of Contents: one's easier but less flexible; the other gives you more options but is a bit more complex to set up. I not only show you both methods, I also show you how to tweak the formatting (indentation, page numbers, spacing between entries) in a way that doesn't get destroyed when you update.
Using Sections to control page #s, etc.
One of the most common elements of court brief requirements is different page numbers for the introductory material (cover page, Table of Authorities, Table of Contents, and any required statements) versus the brief itself. Once you know how Sections work and how to embed the right fields into your footer, you'll wonder how you ever produced a brief without it!
Automatic Numbering
Go far beyond simply numbering paragraphs (a.k.a linline numbering) and learn how to build automatic numbering with text (e.g., Section I), numbered headings (e.g., I. Uncontroverted Facts), saving your custom numbering schemes as List Styles, and lead-in numbered text with Style Separators. Using automatic numbering not only saves time when editing, it opens up all sorts of cross-referencing possibilities!
Footnotes & endnotes
Inserting a footnote or endnote is pretty easy - just go to the References tab and click Insert Footnote (or Endnote). But how do you control the formatting options like separator lines or the font size or spacing between footnotes? And what about footnotes brought over from WordPerfect? This module dives deep into the details so you can finely control how your footnotes/endnotes look and behave.
Field Codes & Switches
This module is still under construction, but when complete, it'll cover such features as automatically inserting a word count into document (and the pitfalls of doing so), plus more sophisticated TOA and TOC formatting using the built-in switches for those markup fields. For example, have you ever wanted to create a Table of Contents for just one section of a document? It's possible!
Here's a behind-the-scenes tour of the course:
Is this course right for you?
No course is for everybody! Here's who I've found have the most to gain from Brief Builder's Workshop, versus those who would not benefit from it.
This course is right for you if:
- You produce documents for courts that require your briefs or other pleadings to include a Table of Authorities or Table of Contents.
- You often find yourself trying to fix a TOA or TOC at the last minute, and you want to learn to do it right the first time so you won't be so stressed.
- The courts you submit documents to give absolutely no guidance as to how to meet their exacting requirements, such as how to embed a "C-1 of 4" page numbering scheme for a specific section of your pleading.
This course is NOT right for you if:
- You're a new or very basic Microsoft Word user who's not comfortable with basic document creation, editing and formatting.
- Your firm already provides a plug-in/add-on for Microsoft Word to insert TOAs and TOCs into your documents.
- You're a lawyer or other billable law firm employee who is not okay with spending potentially billable time learning new skills.
100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
Take 10-15 minutes to go through one lesson each work day, and I guarantee you'll be working faster and smarter with Microsoft Word from now on. If you don't agree, I'll refund your money, no questions asked, so long as you request your refund within 60 days of purchase.
FAQ
Got questions? Click below for answers to frequently-asked questions about my courses:
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Bonus Section
Sign up for Brief Builder's Workshop during this limited promotion, and I'll throw in these bonuses:
Priority access to the instructor
Every lesson contains a feedback form that sends a message to me with a subject line that gets automatically flagged for immediate attention. Use it to ask questions, get clarification on the lesson, or give me feedback on how I can improve a lesson or the course in general!
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Permanent access to webinar replays
I hold Ask Me Anything webinars periodically for subscribers. Replays are publicly available to registrants for only 72 hours, but you get permanent replay access within your course, including a downloadable captioned video and a timed transcript so you can find just the demonstration you're looking for!
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Bonus course: Pleading Paper
Those of you operating in a state where you have to use Pleading Paper (with lines & numbers going down the left margin) are going to love this! Here, I not only give you direct links to 25-line, 28-line and other templates, I show you in 2 detailed lessons exactly how to alter an existing pleading paper template to your specifications.
Yes, I want to build better briefs!
To enroll in this course during this special offer, click the button below to add it to your cart, then click it again to check out.
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