Document Design

Part of persuasion is presenting a readable and professional product. Your document’s design can help keep the reader’s attention. So when I draft and edit a brief, I don’t only focus on the content; I also review the layout and design of the document. I base my recommendations on the leading book on document design for attorneys: Typography for Lawyers: Essential Tools for Polished & Persuasive Documents by Matthew Butterick. I also follow Bryan Garner’s advice from his books and seminars.

Among other changes, I recommend the following: red pen

  1. Increased white space.
  2. Upper and lowercase font for headings, not all caps.
  3. Ragged right margins.
  4. Footnotes for citations.
  5. Serif font.
  6. Serial commas.
  7. Curly quotes.
  8. One space after the period at the end of a sentence.

I’ve also studied the sources below in learning how to use typography professionally and persuasively:

Typography for Lawyers website, Matthew Butterick

The Winning Brief: 100 Tips for Persuasive Briefing in Trial and Appellate Courts, Bryan Garner

Document Design: Pretty in Print—Parts I and II, Gerald Lebovits

Painting with print: Incorporating concepts of typographic and layout design into the text of legal writing documents, Ruth Anne Robbins