Does your court require a specific font style or size for your briefs? There’s a right way and a wrong way to meet that requirement. Here, I’ll show you the most foolproof way to reset your brief’s default font.
The one thing Microsoft Word’s notoriously WON’T do is a Points & Authorities format for a Table of Authorities. Or will it? We’ll explore in detail one Legal Office Guru reader’s creative solution to this problem and offer a sample file for you to practice her technique yourself.
I received a message from a reader earlier this week that went something like this: It IS kind of a complicated question, because the answer depends on which method he used to create the TOC.
One of the things I’m on a rant about these days is loooooong documents. Complicated documents, like 20+ page contracts and appellate briefs and stuff like that. Why? Because they always seem to need special stuf inserted in them. Like custom headers and footers. And level-1 and level-2 and level-out-the-wazoo headings. It’s enough to make…
My friend Karen called me in a panic. “Bryan’s got this contract he’s editing [read: recycling] for a client. He’s added a new numbered paragraph, but it’s not showing up in the Table of Contents.” So, since I can’t always diagnose Word problems blind (I’m good, but I’m not THAT good), and I go to…
Does your court require you to not only conform to word number requirements in your filings but to certify the number of words, either within the filing itself or in a separate certificate? Here’s how to meet that requirement without tripping over some sneaky Microsoft Word limitations. Unless otherwise noted, all instructions and screenshots are…
While you can format your Heading Styles any way you want, that Style’s formatting doesn’t necessarily carry over to your Table of Contents. Here’s why.
A reader came to me recently with a dilemma: He needed to create a document that had lettered exhibits sprinkled throughout, in a format that looked like this:
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.
Microsoft Word’s Table of Authorities feature isn’t exactly known for its user-friendliness. Nobody’s ever said the word “automagically” about it. And more than one enterprising software vendor has found a lucrative niche making an easier-to-use interface for TOAs. I’ve had to use this feature myself on several occasions recently, and I’ve rediscovered seven ways you can easily (and thoroughly) screw up a Table of Authorities. Do yourself a favor and click through to learn from my mistakes!
A reader contacted me recently with a real puzzler: What to do when a citation in a footnote doesn’t get picked up in the Table of Authorities. If you’re having this problem, there’s a solution. Click through for the details.
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.
Want your Table of Authorities entry to line-wrap at a specific point? A fellow Legal Office Guru reader shares her (fantastic) tip on how to accomplish that.
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.
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.
Got a brief or other long document? Ensure consistent formatting throughout with Microsoft Word’s Styles & Formatting feature.
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