Table of Authorities – The Ultimate Guide
From markup to insertion to fixing TOA formatting and entries, here’s a comprehensive guide to Table of Authorities in Microsoft Word.
Copying vertical columns of text in Word
If you’ve ever needed to copy columns of text from a tabbed list and thought you had to retype them, think again. Try this trick instead.
5 Options You’ll Want to Re-Set in Word
Word makes some formatting decisions behind the scenes, some of which (in my experience) tend to get in your way while you work. Here are 5 options you’ll want to re-set in Microsoft Word for a smoother word processing experience.
In praise of text expansion (or, how to keep from typing the same thing 100 times)
If you find yourself stuck typing “Brief in Support of American Amalgamated Consolidated Widget Corporation’s Second Amended Motion for Leave of Court to Conduct On-site Inspection” for the umpteenth time, let me show you how to get out of all that repetitive typing. It’s a concept called “text expansion”, and you don’t even need extra software to do it. Click the link below to learn how to use this feature in Microsoft Word.
Reader Question: How to embed the current paragraph number in your text
If you’ve ever had to type “#. Defendant denies the allegations of Paragraph # of Plaintiff’s Complaint” over and over again, you’ll appreciate this reader’s dilemma. Watch me demonstrate how an intelligent use of a little-known field in Microsoft Word can let you embed the current paragraph number within the actual paragraph text so you’re not stuck going back and fixing them as you add/delete paragraphs during the editing process. Click the link below to view the video.
How to create your own Pleading Paper template, Part 2
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…
How to create your own Pleading Paper template, Part 1
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.
When a tab is not just a tab, part 3: Center tabs
If you’ve ever wanted to center text on a point somewhere other than dead center between the page margins, you need to learn how to use Center tabs. Click through to the full article for a quick video showing you how to set one up.
Opening Microsoft Word Documents
The basics of opening and editing a Microsoft Word document.
Creating New Microsoft Word Documents
How to create a new document in Microsoft Word and save it as a .docx file or in other word processing formats.
Reader Question: Underlining trailing spaces
Ever wanted Microsoft Word to underline blank spaces … and it wouldn’t? Fixing that couldn’t be simpler. Click the “Read More” link to learn how.
Save those trees! Printing compressed copies of large documents
If you’re not anywhere close to having a paperless office, but you still want to save room in those bulging files of yours, here’s an option you might not have considered before: condensed printing. Think “travel transcript,” like those 4-up duplex printed deposition mini-transcripts you get. If some of your hard copies could just as easily be printed in “mini” form for your file, then click Read More to learn this trick in Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, your default Windows photo printer, and virtually any other application you have.
Reader Question: Incrementing numbers in headers
A reader wrote me recently with an interesting dilemma: She needed to be able to automatically increment numbers in a Microsoft Word footer. But she’d found that the otherwise trusty AutoNum field doesn’t work in headers or footers. So how was she going to put the correct “Exhibit [X]” at the bottom of her documents? Here’s the solution I came up with for her. Click the “Read More” link to see the demonstration video.
How to print an envelope in Microsoft Word
A WordPerfect Lover asked me to go “back to the basics” with some tutorials on essential Word functions, so I’m starting that effort with a tutorial on how to print envelopes in Microsoft Word. Click the “read more” link for a complete illustrated tutorial.
The case of the shrunken comment balloon
Ever had one of your comment balloons in Microsoft Word suddenly shrink without warning and become unreadable? Admittedly, it’s a pretty obscure problem, but if it ever happens to you, you want to make note of this fix.
Document Cleanup Clinic: The Case of the Stretched-Out Line
If you’ve ever seen full-justified text in Microsoft Word that had a really stretched out last line in a paragraph, you don’t have to throw up your hands and convert it to left-justified text. There’s a quick and easy fix. Click through for the video demonstration.
Four ways to insert tables in Microsoft Word
If you ever want to insert a table in Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010, there are four (count ’em, FOUR) ways to do it. Click the Read More link for detailed instructions, then pick your favorite!
Reader Question: Type Once, Repeat Many?
A Legal Office Guru reader wrote in, asking for help with some forms she’d been asked to create to . “Is there a way to autopopulate a field?” she asked. “I’d like it to work similar to Adobe [Acrobat], where if you give the fields the same name, the text in one will automatically fill up in all of the others. I’ve read something about making each field an REF field, but I don’t understand how to do it, and I’ve tried tons of Google search results. Can you help?”
To achieve that Adobe-like effect, I’d choose Word’s Bookmarks feature. Click the “Read More” link below for the full illustrated tutorial.
When just the page number won’t do
When you have to have a page number formatted with text (like “C-1 of 3”), then you need a working knowledge of how to insert the various page number fields in Microsoft Word. Here’s a tutorial using a real-life situation: an appellate brief with a specially numbered “Certificate of Interested Parties” section.
How to modify a Table of Contents in Microsoft Word
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.
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