# Font and Style Standards for Legal Filings

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/font-and-style-standards-for-legal-filings/748678>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 11, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/font-and-style-standards-for-legal-filings/748678 "2016-03-11T19:22:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/font-and-style-standards-for-legal-filings/748678/1 "2016-03-11T19:22:33Z")

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Are there any standards or requirements for fonts, paragraphs, margins and other stylings for legal documents filed with a court? In particular, I’m interested in district courts in Texas, but other courts as well as county records such as deeds, wills, etc.

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**Author:** ![dofe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ba0ec/32.png) [@dofe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dofe)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/font-and-style-standards-for-legal-filings/748678/2 "2016-03-11T19:27:24Z")

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The court’s website will have a section listing the local rules, which will dictate the format of your motions and briefs. There is no standard format (for example, some courts where I practice require font size 14, while other jurisdictions require 12). Always check the local rules.

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/font-and-style-standards-for-legal-filings/748678/3 "2016-03-11T20:32:23Z")

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Tx. R. App. Proc. 9.4(e):

> [@](#):
>
> _Typeface_. A document produced on a computer must  
> be printed in a conventional typeface no smaller than  
> 14-point except for footnotes, which must be no  
> smaller than 12-point. A typewritten document must  
> be printed in standard 10-character-per-inch (cpi)  
> monospaced typeface.

This applies only to appellate courts. As **dofe** notes, the district courts may specify some other rule for trial documents in their local rules (Florida works the same way, with statewide requirements for appeals but no statewide rule for trial courts).

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**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/font-and-style-standards-for-legal-filings/748678/4 "2016-03-11T20:35:03Z")

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All correct. In addition to a particular court’s rules, each judge may have his or her own requirements. At least here, in New York, judges are permitted to have their own rules.

A law firm that practices often in a particular jurisdiction will (or should) have an up-to-date compilation of those rules. The rules will also be available from the court, or from the judge’s chambers.

IANAL, but I do work in the document processing department of a large (~ 2,000 lawyers) law firm with offices in many jurisdictions, in and out of the United States. Believe me, we keep on top of this stuff. Even more than the lawyers do.