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What an odd phenomenon it
is that lawyers - whenever it is that they want
to draw special attention to passages, such as
main issues in a brief or warnings in drafted
documents - make them typographically
impenetrable.
Bryan A. Garner, A
Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage 130 (2nd
ed. 1995)
Lawyers and judges
seem to find ways to make writing difficult to
read. We have discussed nominalization, the use
of the passive voice, long sentences and
paragraphs, and using two or three words when
one will do. But we also tend to make the words
physically hard to read.
Because we are usually trying
to persuade the reader, we should make it easy.
This includes visually, as well as mentally. The
typestyle, the visual makeup of the page, and
the general look and visual "feel" of
the document add to - or detract from -
readability.
Unreadable
Fonts
Sometimes we invest in great
word-processing technology, then insist on
having our writing appear as if produced on a
1940 Underwood.
Courier is the most difficult
to read of any normal font. This is because it
is monospaced, rather than proportional.
Typewriters required this spacing. Our word
processors do not. Do you remember ever reading
a book in Courier? Long ago, some courts even
made us have our briefs printed - because
typescript is notoriously unreadable. Monospaced
type should only be used when there is no other
choice.
Contrast this with:
Courier is the most difficult
to read of any normal font. This is because it
is monospaced, rather than proportional.
Typewriters required this spacing. Our word
processors do not. Do you remember ever reading
a book in Courier? Long ago, some courts even
made us have our briefs printed - because
typescript is notoriously unreadable. Monospaced
type should only be used when there is no other
choice.
Never use Courier, unless you
want your document to look as if it were typed
in 1940.
Times New Roman (TNR) is now
the default font on most word processors. But
that need not dictate your style. One problem
with TNR is that the periods and commas are too
small - they are sometimes difficult to see.
This sentence is in TNR. This is in Georgia.
TNR was developed for the
London Times. Because ink tends to expand in
newsprint, the periods and commas - and the type
itself - appear larger and darker. Our printers
don't bleed, so TNR is not the best font.
After much research - I've
conducted tests with hundreds of people in my
seminars - Georgia is my choice. Georgia was
developed for the Internet, so it is much easier
to read. Palatino, Baskerville,
and Garamond are also good for text,
though each has some good and bad points. All
are serified type.
Not unreadable but not as
readable is a sans serif font. Serifs are the
"wings" at the bottom and top of the
letters - look at the a, f, d, f, h, i, k, l, m,
n, p, q, r, u, v, w, x, and y. The serifs guide
the reader's eyes horizontally - which is the
way we read text. Scientific studies support
always using a serif type for text.
On the other hand, a sans
serif type - wings - guides the eyes vertically.
Some common sans serif types are Arial, Lucinda
Sans, and Tahoma. You should use one of them for
headings and titles in your document. And to
further set off the headings, make them bold. I
use Arial bold italic.
Avoid
All Caps
Never use all caps, unless a
specific format absolutely requires it. Text in
all caps is very difficult to read:
WE GAVE JUDGE
PAINTER'S BOOK
TO EVERY ATTORNEY IN OUR OFFICE, AND REQUIRE OUR
ATTORNEYS TO FOLLOW JUDGE
PAINTER'S 40
RULES. OUR WRITING IS NOW MORE EFFECTIVE AND
PERSUASIVE.
SUBODH CHANDRA. DIRECTOR OF
LAW, CITY OF CLEVELAND
(UNTIL 12-31-04)
Compare
this with:
We gave Judge
Painter's book
to every attorney in our office, and require our
attorneys to follow Judge
Painter's 40
rules. Our writing is now more effective and
persuasive.
Subodh Chandra, Director of
Law, City of Cleveland
(until 12-31-04)
Which is easier to read?
Capital letters not only scream, they cut off
the ups and downs of letters - the q, t, y, p,
d, f, g, h, j, k, l, and b that our eyes
recognize below or above the line - the shapes
that give clues to the words. With all caps our
eyes - and brain - must struggle.
If you want to emphasize a
phrase or a sentence, either (1) write it well
enough that it supplies its own emphasis, or (2)
use bold, not caps or italics. Because italic
type cuts down on reading speed, italics should
be reserved for case names.
Don't
Underline
Underlining is almost
as bad as all caps - for the same reason. Though
it only obscures the down part of the letters,
that's bad enough. Underlining is a signal to
the printer that the words should be italicized.
Our 1940s typewriters wouldn't do italics, so we
had to underline as a poor substitute - but now
there is no excuse.
Once when I was teaching
legal writing at the University of Cincinnati
College of Law, a student told me that a
professor, in addition to her boss at the law
firm where she worked, had said to use
underlining because it stood out better. My
response: yes, it will stand out that you don't
know what you're doing. The same is true as with
Courier type - have you ever seen underlining in
a book?
Don't
Use Too Many Caps
Lawyers tend to capitalize
the initial letter of too many words -
especially Court and Judge.
But only the U.S. Supreme Court is always
capitalized, and judge
is only capitalized as part of a name - Judge
Edwina Parsons. In the past, there was a time
when many nouns were capitalized.
We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
-That to secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed, -That whenever
any Form of Government becomes destructive of
these ends, it is the Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such
principles and organizing its powers in such
form, as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their Safety and Happiness.
Perhaps the capitalizations
were for emphasis. But the modern trend is
against capitalization of anything except proper
names.
Avoid
Narrow Margins
Studies show that written
text should contain about 50 percent white
space. That's not as hard as it sounds. Use at
least 1.25-inch margins, and you will be home
free.
Unfortunately, with our
standard 8.5 x 11-inch paper, this still leaves
6.0 inches of type. That's a bit longer than
ideal for reading - which, at a 12pt font, is
columns between 2.75 and 4 inches. You are
reading this article in smaller type, in a
column format. But with standard typescript,
one-inch margins decrease readability by about 3
percent, so use at least 1.25 inch, and maybe
1.4.
Readability
Stats
In each column, I list the
two major readability statistics - remember that
you can program Word to tell you these and more.
Statistics for this column: 15 words per
sentence, 9 percent in the passive voice.
(Remember the 1818 Rule - no more than an
average of 18 words per sentence and 18 percent
passive-voice sentences.)
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