Marquette University Law School Marquette Law Scholarly Commons Faculty Publications Faculty Scholarship 2020 Gain the Upper Hand with Good Typography Melissa Love Koenig Joseph S. Diedrich Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/facpub Part of the Law Commons Publication Information Joseph S. Diedrich & Melissa Love Koenig, Gain the Upper Hand with Good Typography, Oct. 2020, at 26. Reprinted with permission of the October 2020 Wisconsin Lawyer, the official publication of the State Bar of Wisconsin, and the author. You can improve your Gain the Upper chances of persuasion by making your briefs typographically superior. It Hand with Good won't make your arguments better, but it will ensure that judges grasp and retain your points with less struggle. Typography That's a valuable advantage. BY JOSEPHS. DIEDRICH & MELISSA E. LOVE KOENIG SUMMARY Briefs are the legal profession's nov- et's say you go to the bookstore to as possible. Those who do will gain an upper els - and judges are buy your next book club selection. hand over their opponent. The Seventh Circuit its bibliophiles. Lay L You find a hardbound edition of the agrees: "You can improve your chances by readers, lawyers, and novel and thumb through it. As you making your briefs typographically superior. judges all notice when walk to the checkout, you spy a paperback in It won't make your arguments better, but it something is difficult the discount bin. You have to squint to read will ensure that judges grasp and retain your to read, and all get the small font, and the words seem to bleed points with less struggle. That's a valuable ad­ distracted from the together. So you drop it back in the bin, opting vantage, which you should seize." 2 If two briefs text by poor visual to spend the extra money on the hardbound contain the same content but one is easier to presentation . But all also are pleasantly copy. The font is easier to read and the visual read, that one will be more persuasive. drawn into text that design draws you in. You read the first chapter To design a visually superior brief, you must uses good typography, in the checkout line. comply with court rules and orders about for­ which aids reader Despite the identical content of the two matting and typography. You might also have comprehension . editions, you picked one over the other because to follow conventions set by your employer. But What makes a brief it was easier to read. After comparing the edi­ these rules and conventions merely establish a both visually pleas­ tions, you noticed how the hardbound edition's floor: you should go beyond compliance. In this ing and intellectua lly typography - the visual presentation of the article, we share best practices and recommen­ persuasive? Here are words on the page - was easier to comprehend. dations for doing so. some practical tips. And comprehension is something you value . The authors organ ize After all, you want to sound smart leading the Rules of Appellate Procedure their discussion of book club discussion. We organize our discussion of best practices best practices around Briefs are the legal profession's novels - and around Wis. Stat. section 8O9.19(8)(b), part of Wisconsin Rule of judges are its bibliophiles. Lay readers, lawyers, the Wisconsin Rules of Appellate Procedure, Appellate Procedure and judges all notice when something is difficult which sets forth basic typography standards section 809.19[8)(bl, to read, and all get distracted from the text by for briefs filed in the Wisconsin Supreme Court which sets forth basic poor visual presentation. But all also are pleas­ and Wisconsin Court of Appeals. typography standards antly drawn into text that uses good typogra­ At the same time, the rule grants brief writ­ for briefs filed in the phy, which aids reader comprehension. "[A]n ers substantial discretion to make typography Wisconsin Supreme effectively designed document," says law pro­ choices. We explain what each rule requires Court and Wisconsin fessor James Dimitri, "make [s] the arguments in and then offer additional recommendations for Court of Appeals. the document more memorable to the reader" crafting a visually superior brief. and "make [s] a strong statement to the reader Later, we·explain how our recommendations about the authoring attorney's credibility."1 translate to filings in Wisconsin circuit courts To that end, brief writers should aim to and other tribunals. While our recommenda­ make their visual presentation as pleasing tions apply to brief writing genera lly, particular OCTOBER 2020 27 GOOD TYPOGRAPHY for example, uses Century to publish its Paper Versus Screen slip opinions. Book fonts tend to take up more space on the page than Times New Roman The Rules of Appellate Procedure were written w ith paper in mind. Although many judges still read briefs on paper, more and more are reading briefs electron­ does. The rule enforces a word count, ically. Should you design your brief differently if it will be read electronically? however, not a page count. At least in Wisconsin appellate courts, you can't To be sure, paper and electronic screens lend themselves to different typographi­ gain an advantage by using a font that ca l best practices. With older technology, these differences were quite pro­ fits more words onto a page. nounced. For example, it is accepted wisdom that seri f fonts look better on paper, but sa ns serif fonts look better on a sc reen. 30 Spacing Choices As screen technology continues to improve, however, many differences between The space you leave on the page cre­ paper and screens have evaporated. "[W]ith screens becoming more paper-like than ates a sense of breathing room; a ever, there's decreasing need to make special accommodations for screen reading." 31 What's more, judges who read on a screen typically view briefs in paginated PDF reader should not feel overwhelmed form, meaning what they see on a monitor, laptop, or tablet resembles paper. in approaching the print on the page. Creating the right spacing is a matter A ll this means that you needn't fret over the difference between paper and of both mathematics and art. The rule screens. That said, we have tailored our recommendations to work well both on specifies that if you use a proportional paper and electronica ll y. WL serif font (see above), you must also use a "leading of minimum 2 points."9 Leading (pronounced with a soft "e" jurisdictions, courts, and judges may discretion when choosing which propor­ like the metal "lead") refers to "the verti­ have their own preferences. The U.S. tional serif font to use. Yet the inertia cal space from the same point on one line Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, of blind tradition has made Times New to the same point on the next, within the for example, maintains detailed typogra­ Roman the default and has led "[m]any same paragraph."10 The term originated phy standards. 3 lawyers [to] erroneously assume that with the small lead pieces used in hand courts demand" it. 5 typesetting to space vertical line s.11 Font Choice Times New Roman was invented in Leading and "line spacing" are A visually appealing brief starts with the early 20th century for the Times sometimes used interchangeably, but a visually appealing font. In Wisconsin of London and quickly gained traction they are slightly different concepts.12 appellate courts, "[b]riefs shall be among newspaper publishers. The Times Line spacing is the "vertical distance produced by using either a monos paced commissioned it as an intentionally between lines of text." 13 font or a proportional serif font" in size narrow font to fit more text per line and Single spacing is generally too 13 for body text and size 11 for footnotes to enable quick reading. 6 Even from the cramped for the eye. Double spacing, and block quotes.4 beginning, it was criticized as unappeal­ historically used in term papers to A monospaced font's characters all ing to the eye. occupy the same width on the page; For all its ubiquity in self-published a proportional font's characters vary documents, when was the last time you in width. Monospaced fonts, such as saw Times New Roman in a book? Maybe Courier, are a vestige of early typewrit­ never. Fonts used in professionally pub­ ers and are rarely used today. When lished books are comparably easier to writing a brief, you should always use a read. This visual appeal, in turn, fosters proportional font. comprehension and retention.7 Under the rule, a proportional font Because "[b]riefs are like books rather Joseph S. Diedrich, U.W. 2017 summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, is an appellate must also include serifs. A "serif" is than newspapers," we (along with litigator at Husch Bl ackwell LLP in Madison. the small curl-like feature added to courts and typographers) recommend He also serves on the State Bar of Wisconsin's Appellate Practice Section board. the ends of characters in certain fonts. using a book font to write briefs. Among [email protected] For instance, Times New Roman and the best proportional serif fonts are Melissa E. Love Koenig, Marquette 1999 cum the font used in the Wisconsin Lawyer Century, Century Schoolbook, and Book laude, is an associate professor of legal writing printed articles are serif fonts. Arial and Antiqua.8 These fonts are used by pro­ at Marquette Law School. She is a past chair of the State Bar of Wisconsin's Appellate Practice Verd an a are sans-serif fonts.