Neither the New York nor California`s appeal rules require a specific policy. But at least one of the California courts specifically recommends Century Schoolbook. So if the rules don`t tell you exactly which font to use, you can`t go wrong with Century Schoolbook. Design any legal document in minutes from a library of 200+ templates. Note: The first circuit is known to still use Courier in its statements – but don`t take this as a model of good practice. Studies show that minivan fonts like Courier are much harder to read. And you don`t want to do anything that makes your briefing harder to read. Therefore, you should not use Courier or any other minivan font in your short letter unless a local rule specifically requires it. Choosing a font that represents you and your brand will let your readers know that you care about your writing and how it`s perceived, making your first impression a good impression. When writing legal documents, what works for one document may not work for another. After Covid-19, customers have become familiar with online reading and tend to read documents on their mobile phones. It states that it is important to improve and optimize legal documents to make them readable on any device. Sometimes the courts also set rules for the best fonts to use in legal documents or on law firm websites.
Keeping in mind all the considerations and best practices, this article highlights the best legal fonts and their sizes for legal documents. But using one of these fonts says a lot more about you than you think. But that doesn`t mean judges want it that way. In fact, there is evidence to the contrary. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, for example, advises lawyers against using Times New Roman. (See pages 3-5 here) The Connecticut Court of Appeals actually requires that the memoirs use Arial or Universe. And the U.S. Supreme Court has long required lawyers to use a “Century family” typeface (e.g., Century Schoolbook). In particular, the CC circuit has not changed its local rules to require or prohibit a particular font. The federal rule (FRAP 32(a)(5)) only requires a 14-point readable serif font, and the local DC circuit rules say nothing more. D.C.
Circuit`s discouragement of Garamond only appears in the court`s recent notice and updated practice manual. This serves as a reminder to good practitioners around the world: don`t rely solely on local rules. If there is a local manual, find it and follow it. There`s nothing wrong with using default fonts – think Times New Roman and Arial. These are standard fonts on the internet for a reason. Web-safe fonts adapt to any browser on any device. This ensures that your website visitors experience your website design as you intended. In other words, you should not use Garamond in the DC. Circuit, even if the rules allow it. Good examples of readable serif fonts that come pre-installed in Microsoft Word or are freely available include Century, Century Schoolbook, Bell, Book Antiqua, Bookman, Caslon, Georgia, Miller, Palatino, and Sabon.
Equity is also a nice, newer policy that has become somewhat popular here in Texas — but you`ll have to pay a royalty if you want to use it. And yes, Times New Roman is also readable and works well – but TNR has long been the default font in legal writing, so it runs the risk of popping up randomly, as if you hadn`t thought about the font you used. As for Garamond, it has its followers – but it`s certainly smaller than other fonts, and its italics are terrible, so now that at least one court has officially advised against its use, you should probably consider choosing something else. Optimize your legal documents so they are readable on any screen (and in person). This makes judges, lawyers, and potential clients care about their experience and goes a long way toward building your client-centric law firm. To be clear, all word processing and authoring software comes with free fonts that you can use in legal documents. Online content management platforms also have a good set of web fonts that you can use on your law firm`s website. However, you may want to switch to a single professional policy that better fits your company`s brand and image. In this case, you must purchase the font you have chosen with the appropriate end-user license agreement.
The agreement should describe the types of licenses offered, as well as the rules and restrictions you must follow when using the fonts. Learn about Harvard-trained lawyer and typographer Matthew Butterick`s font recommendations for lawyers. But of course, there are always exceptions. In Connecticut, the rules require that you use Arial or Universe, two sans serif fonts. That`s why you should always know the local rules.
