Carol wanted an automatically-updating Table of Contents in her document. But she couldn’t use Styles (the preferred and easiest method) to populate it because of some formatting issues. I showed her how to use TC fields to get around those limitations, and now I’ll show you (with step-by-step video).
Once you get past the beginner level in Word, it’s tough to know what skills to master next. Here’s my suggestion: Styles. For my money, Styles can give you the most leverage over your documents, save you editing time, and let you do all sorts of editing magic you didn’t even imagine possible. Click below for my list of the 6 best reasons you should start using Styles … NOW.
From markup to insertion to fixing TOA formatting and entries, here’s a comprehensive guide to Table of Authorities in Microsoft Word.
Ever wanted one-click access to double-indent a paragraph (like for a lengthy quote)? One reader did, and here are the three methods I recommended.
What sort of evil stuff lurks in that text you just pasted over from your last magnum opus? And how’s it going to undermine your next court filing? Click the link below to find out how to safely copy text from one legal brief to another.
Once again, my pain is your gain. I get frustrated enough to go nosing around in Styles looking for a way to automatically number headings, and now I’m showing you step-by-step how to do it. Click the link for the fully-illustrated tutorial.
You know how I’m always telling you that the best way to get your old WordPerfect text into a new Microsoft Word document is to just copy it over? Well, that’s not always the case. Sometimes Microsoft Word doesn’t “translate” WordPerfect text into just the right Microsoft Word equivalent. A reader pointed out that doing a straight copy of WordPerfect footnotes into Word makes the numbering sequence go all wonky. Click the title above to find out how to copy those footnotes so you don’t spend forever fixing them. (Oh, and look at the very bottom of the tutorial. You’ll see a section that says “Members Only” which contains a link to a downloadable pdf version. If you don’t see the link, go to https://legalofficeguru.com/login and put in your user id [your email address] and password.)
Need to make sure two words appear together on the same line, regardless of line wrap? Here’s how to do that by inserting nonbreaking spaces and hyphens.
If you completed the first unit in this course, you know that there are two basic formats of Pleading Paper: Armed with this knowledge (and your familiarity with your court’s particular requirements), you’ve chosen which template to start with. But it needs adjusting, doesn’t it? So here in Part 2, I’m going to show you…
I’ve gotten a fair number of questions from readers about how to format pleadings with line numbers down the left, commonly known as Pleading Paper. Typically, they sound something like this:
“My text never quite lines up exactly with the numbers on the pleading paper. What’s the trick??”
“PLEASE work on the pleadings template! I’m sure I and many others would pay bonuses for your guidance.”
“Pleading paper instructions would be fantastic! I mostly work in California state and federal courts, and our office just reuses old documents to keep the pleading paper formatting. Unfortunately this brings along a host of other formatting issues, and while I’d love to be able to start from scratch I don’t know how. Any help you could give would be terrific, thank you!!”
“I am not sure of the technical name for it, but years ago law firms had stationery with double lines on left side of a page and one line on the right. I know Word can duplicate it, but I don’t how to add them or what it is called. I will try the [pleading paper] template, but is there a way to remove the page numbering on the side?”
“I wish WORD was like WordPerfect in that we could just add the pleading format into the document after the document is completed. Anyway, if you could help me figure this out it would be great. I recently added [a plug-in] to Word/Office which provides a host of automated functions, like cite checking, quote check, and table of authorities, which would make finalizing a brief a breeze. However, if I can’t get out of the WordPerfect format for my brief writing, I don’t see where all these extra functions will benefit me.”
Okay, okay, I get it, I get it! Clearly, my standard reply (which I used so often that I actually created an entry in Quick Parts in Outlook for it) isn’t getting the job done. So, while I would love to create a custom template (like I did for that last person above) for each and every one of you, there just aren’t enough hours in the day!
So, in lieu of becoming a template factory, I’m going to show you how to make some common adjustments to those musty old Microsoft templates (either the 25-line one or the 28-line one) all by yourself. And if you don’t see your particular question addressed in this series, by all means leave it in the comments at the bottom, and I’ll add the answer.
If your automatically-generated Table of Contents in Microsoft Word isn’t to your liking, you can fix it. From changing fonts to adjusting spacing and indentation, it’s all about modifying the TOC Styles within your document. Click through to view the entire tutorial, complete with screen shots showing each step.
Here’s how to change the footnote separator, the footnote continuation separator, and the footnote continuation notice in Microsoft Word.
Building a Table of Contents in Microsoft Word is ridiculously easy if you use Styles to format your document headings. Here’s the quick-and-dirty tutorial on inserting an easy TOC in your document.
This is part two of a tutorial on how to control page numbers and page number formats using sections in Microsoft Word 2002-2003. Useful for changing page number styles in appellate briefs or for having distinct headers and footers in different parts of a document.
Have a footnote in Microsoft Word 2007 that keeps dropping down to a subsequent page? Here’s how to fix it.
Got a brief or other long document? Ensure consistent formatting throughout with Microsoft Word’s Styles & Formatting feature.
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