Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Best Practices for Formatting Word Documents
I am always amused but never surprised when I examine the Word documents at most law firms. Years ago, I wrote an article that showed that it could cost $800,000 a year to edit poorly formatted documents.
Most law firms will say that their users “know” Word. The reality is that most of the documents we have seen could be improved dramatically. Unless you lift the veil and look beyond the printed document, you won't know that you have a “bad” document. A bad document is a complex document that requires undue, excessive editing time. A poorly formatted brief with a Table of Contents, a Table of Authorities, requiring section breaks and restarting of page numbers would be included in this category.
Why is Word document formatting so important in law firms? Although the casual user may find Word “easy to use,” legal documents are complex and often challenging. To use Word effectively to create legal documents, the user often requires the use of styles, footnotes, multiple level paragraph numbering, tables of contents, and multiple sections with different first page headers or footers.
The use of these functions and an understanding of them are very different things. As long as a person has the tools to create a “good” document, a deeper understanding may not be necessary. I drive a car and I know how to get to where I am going, but I do not know how the car works. Someone has created a brake and when I push my foot on it, the car slows and stops. If a user can click on a tool marked “Quote” and the paragraph is automatically indented and changed to single space, do they have to know how that happened?
The following tips and best practices are designed to help IT and users with any version of Word that has the ribbon.
Tools
Without a doubt, the most efficient way to use Word is with third-party software that provides a broad scope of tools to make several functions in Word much faster and easier, even for casual users. There are numerous packages available. The most popular ones with which I am familiar have a long history in the legal field and address the challenges Word presents in complex legal documents. They automate document production, document assembly, multiple level numbering, table of contents creation, and much more. They are (in alphabetical order by product name): iCreate (Esquire Innovations), Innova (Lit'ra) Legal Bar (BEC Legal Systems), MacPac (The Sackett Group) and Payne Forms and Numbering Assistant (PayneGroup). If you want some document formatting advice, go out and buy one of these packages and make sure your users use them.
So if you are not planning to offer a two-week course for Word and you are not prepared to purchase a package, how do you produce well-formatted, efficiently produced documents? How do you use training to complement this work? What are the best practices?
Word Settings
This article only focuses on the two settings that we always adjust, but there are numerous other settings.
Style Area Pane. At the core of Word is styles. Not using styles reminds me of the GPS in my rental car in Atlanta last summer. The ride from the airport to the hotel should have taken 20 minutes ' it took 45. I didn't know that the GPS was set to avoid highways. Not using styles effectively keeps you on the side streets indefinitely.
The easiest way to get to styles is to use View>Draft which will show the styles in use in the left pane of the document. However, if you have not set the Style area pane width, you will see nothing. To change the style area width, do the following: In File>Options>Advanced, scroll down to Display and make sure that Style area pane width in Draft and Outline views is set to one inch or greater.
Once this is set, clicking on View>Draft will display all styles in use in the pane on the left. Double-clicking on the style brings the user to the style dialog with the active style selected. From there, one click on Modify opens the Modify Style dialog box. Please note that there are many other ways to do this, but this is easiest for new users and easiest for troubleshooting documents.
Automatic Lists. You may have seen the following. A user starts typing a list of names. The first name is A. Smith. They hit return and automatically the text is reformatted and the next line starts with B. Word is constantly vigilant, waiting to help you and it assumed that after A. comes B. To turn off this “Help” click on File>Options>Proofing> Auto Correct Options>AutoFormat As You Type and uncheck Automatic bulleted lists and Automatic numbered lists. This does not affect the function of the Bullets and Numbering tools in the Paragraph group.
The Default Template
Careful formatting of the Normal template or whatever template you choose to use for new documents is critical. Make sure to focus on the Normal style and the Style Gallery.
Normal style. Since many of the styles are based on the Normal style, be sure to update the Normal style to reflect your firm's standard settings. Please note that out of the box, Word's setting for font is Calibri 11; space after is set to 10 point and line spacing is multiple at 1.15. We know of no law firm that uses these settings. We do know many law firms that have not changed this and the first thing everyone does when they create a new document is change these three things. Even if it takes only one minute, if you have 100 people creating documents you could be needlessly losing hours each week.
Style Gallery. Review the Style Gallery carefully and include the most commonly used styles. This should include at least three levels of numbering as well as several text styles. The Quote style is always a big hit and will win attorneys over to using styles in minutes.
Include the top five text styles and at least three numbering styles. Use Heading 1 through Heading 9 for numbered paragraphs. It makes creating the Table of Contents much easier for the users.
Simple Templates
You can create templates based on the default template and then add any additional formatting such as page numbers, header and footer information, specific numbering and page layout. For pleading templates requiring a Table of Contents and a Table of Authorities, you can create the section breaks and page number. Therefore, users who do not know or understand the use of sections can create these complex documents.
Use the Fields and Custom Properties
The Fields feature allows for the quick creation of standard documents. It works in conjunction with the Advanced>Custom>Document Properties feature in Word.
We usually start with an existing document and highlight the text that will change.
In Document Properties, we determine the names to be given to the fields and what cues to give the users (by the default text we use in the Value field). We then insert those fields at the correct location in the document using the Insert>QuickParts>Fields command. It is easier if you put the Insert Field command on the Quick Access Toolbar or QAT (see the section below on QAT). When the user activates the template, he or she can modify the document properties, select all and update the document.
Quick Access Toolbar (QAT)
The beauty of the QAT is that it remains regardless of the ribbon that is displaying. It gives the user shortcuts to frequently used tasks and is invaluable during the transition to Word 2010 from earlier, menu-based versions of Word. Consider moving the QAT below the ribbon to give the users extra room without running into the title bar.
Out of the box, there are three tools on the QAT: Save, Undo and Repeat. Make sure to customize the QAT to incorporate frequently used functions such as Insert Footnote, Close, Style box, Spelling & Grammar and an old favorite called Print Preview Edit Mode. Print Preview Edit Mode allows the users to edit the document in Print Preview Mode. Any function that requires deep digging to locate should go on the QAT. I always forget where Reveal Formatting lives so I finally added it to my QAT. We encourage our users to pick judiciously so that the Quick Access Toolbar does not become the Slow Access Toolbar.
StyleRef: My Favorite Shortcut
If you have ever needed to change the date on a document but forgot to change it in the header, you will like this tip. Use a unique style name for the paragraph containing the date within the document. In the header, simply insert the field called Style Ref. Select the style that is being referenced and whenever the date is updated in the letter, it will also be updated in the header.
Training
People need training to learn how to use Word effectively. The content of the training should be different for each group of users. For example, most attorneys with whom we have worked wanted to know the fastest way to create a document but they didn't want to learn the nuts and bolts of Word. Giving attorneys instructions on how to use the tools was an efficient use of their time because an hour or two of training saved them countless hours of both document creation and editing. The requirements for the word processing staff at the firm are much more demanding. They must know not only how to apply the tools, but how to troubleshoot a poorly formatted document that requires significant editing. In some cases, they also need to know how to modify the tools.
The tools that are provided impact the efficient use of Word. In the long term, it affects training time as well as time spent on creating and editing documents.
Conclusion
Hopefully this provides some useful guidelines for better document formatting at your firm. There is no room for inefficiency, especially in today's economic climate, so leverage Word's features to the hilt and make everyone's life easier in the process.
Roberta Gelb is President of Chelsea Office Systems, an IT consulting and training firm based in New York City she founded nearly 30 years ago. She is a frequent writer and speaker in the legal technology industry and is on the Editorial Board of Legal Tech Newsletter 's ALM affiliate Law Technology News. She can be reached at [email protected].
I am always amused but never surprised when I examine the Word documents at most law firms. Years ago, I wrote an article that showed that it could cost $800,000 a year to edit poorly formatted documents.
Most law firms will say that their users “know” Word. The reality is that most of the documents we have seen could be improved dramatically. Unless you lift the veil and look beyond the printed document, you won't know that you have a “bad” document. A bad document is a complex document that requires undue, excessive editing time. A poorly formatted brief with a Table of Contents, a Table of Authorities, requiring section breaks and restarting of page numbers would be included in this category.
Why is Word document formatting so important in law firms? Although the casual user may find Word “easy to use,” legal documents are complex and often challenging. To use Word effectively to create legal documents, the user often requires the use of styles, footnotes, multiple level paragraph numbering, tables of contents, and multiple sections with different first page headers or footers.
The use of these functions and an understanding of them are very different things. As long as a person has the tools to create a “good” document, a deeper understanding may not be necessary. I drive a car and I know how to get to where I am going, but I do not know how the car works. Someone has created a brake and when I push my foot on it, the car slows and stops. If a user can click on a tool marked “Quote” and the paragraph is automatically indented and changed to single space, do they have to know how that happened?
The following tips and best practices are designed to help IT and users with any version of Word that has the ribbon.
Tools
Without a doubt, the most efficient way to use Word is with third-party software that provides a broad scope of tools to make several functions in Word much faster and easier, even for casual users. There are numerous packages available. The most popular ones with which I am familiar have a long history in the legal field and address the challenges Word presents in complex legal documents. They automate document production, document assembly, multiple level numbering, table of contents creation, and much more. They are (in alphabetical order by product name): iCreate (Esquire Innovations), Innova (Lit'ra) Legal Bar (BEC Legal Systems), MacPac (The Sackett Group) and Payne Forms and Numbering Assistant (PayneGroup). If you want some document formatting advice, go out and buy one of these packages and make sure your users use them.
So if you are not planning to offer a two-week course for Word and you are not prepared to purchase a package, how do you produce well-formatted, efficiently produced documents? How do you use training to complement this work? What are the best practices?
Word Settings
This article only focuses on the two settings that we always adjust, but there are numerous other settings.
Style Area Pane. At the core of Word is styles. Not using styles reminds me of the GPS in my rental car in Atlanta last summer. The ride from the airport to the hotel should have taken 20 minutes ' it took 45. I didn't know that the GPS was set to avoid highways. Not using styles effectively keeps you on the side streets indefinitely.
The easiest way to get to styles is to use View>Draft which will show the styles in use in the left pane of the document. However, if you have not set the Style area pane width, you will see nothing. To change the style area width, do the following: In File>Options>Advanced, scroll down to Display and make sure that Style area pane width in Draft and Outline views is set to one inch or greater.
Once this is set, clicking on View>Draft will display all styles in use in the pane on the left. Double-clicking on the style brings the user to the style dialog with the active style selected. From there, one click on Modify opens the Modify Style dialog box. Please note that there are many other ways to do this, but this is easiest for new users and easiest for troubleshooting documents.
Automatic Lists. You may have seen the following. A user starts typing a list of names. The first name is A. Smith. They hit return and automatically the text is reformatted and the next line starts with B. Word is constantly vigilant, waiting to help you and it assumed that after A. comes B. To turn off this “Help” click on File>Options>Proofing> Auto Correct Options>AutoFormat As You Type and uncheck Automatic bulleted lists and Automatic numbered lists. This does not affect the function of the Bullets and Numbering tools in the Paragraph group.
The Default Template
Careful formatting of the Normal template or whatever template you choose to use for new documents is critical. Make sure to focus on the Normal style and the Style Gallery.
Normal style. Since many of the styles are based on the Normal style, be sure to update the Normal style to reflect your firm's standard settings. Please note that out of the box, Word's setting for font is Calibri 11; space after is set to 10 point and line spacing is multiple at 1.15. We know of no law firm that uses these settings. We do know many law firms that have not changed this and the first thing everyone does when they create a new document is change these three things. Even if it takes only one minute, if you have 100 people creating documents you could be needlessly losing hours each week.
Style Gallery. Review the Style Gallery carefully and include the most commonly used styles. This should include at least three levels of numbering as well as several text styles. The Quote style is always a big hit and will win attorneys over to using styles in minutes.
Include the top five text styles and at least three numbering styles. Use Heading 1 through Heading 9 for numbered paragraphs. It makes creating the Table of Contents much easier for the users.
Simple Templates
You can create templates based on the default template and then add any additional formatting such as page numbers, header and footer information, specific numbering and page layout. For pleading templates requiring a Table of Contents and a Table of Authorities, you can create the section breaks and page number. Therefore, users who do not know or understand the use of sections can create these complex documents.
Use the Fields and Custom Properties
The Fields feature allows for the quick creation of standard documents. It works in conjunction with the Advanced>Custom>Document Properties feature in Word.
We usually start with an existing document and highlight the text that will change.
In Document Properties, we determine the names to be given to the fields and what cues to give the users (by the default text we use in the Value field). We then insert those fields at the correct location in the document using the Insert>QuickParts>Fields command. It is easier if you put the Insert Field command on the Quick Access Toolbar or QAT (see the section below on QAT). When the user activates the template, he or she can modify the document properties, select all and update the document.
Quick Access Toolbar (QAT)
The beauty of the QAT is that it remains regardless of the ribbon that is displaying. It gives the user shortcuts to frequently used tasks and is invaluable during the transition to Word 2010 from earlier, menu-based versions of Word. Consider moving the QAT below the ribbon to give the users extra room without running into the title bar.
Out of the box, there are three tools on the QAT: Save, Undo and Repeat. Make sure to customize the QAT to incorporate frequently used functions such as Insert Footnote, Close, Style box, Spelling & Grammar and an old favorite called Print Preview Edit Mode. Print Preview Edit Mode allows the users to edit the document in Print Preview Mode. Any function that requires deep digging to locate should go on the QAT. I always forget where Reveal Formatting lives so I finally added it to my QAT. We encourage our users to pick judiciously so that the Quick Access Toolbar does not become the Slow Access Toolbar.
StyleRef: My Favorite Shortcut
If you have ever needed to change the date on a document but forgot to change it in the header, you will like this tip. Use a unique style name for the paragraph containing the date within the document. In the header, simply insert the field called Style Ref. Select the style that is being referenced and whenever the date is updated in the letter, it will also be updated in the header.
Training
People need training to learn how to use Word effectively. The content of the training should be different for each group of users. For example, most attorneys with whom we have worked wanted to know the fastest way to create a document but they didn't want to learn the nuts and bolts of Word. Giving attorneys instructions on how to use the tools was an efficient use of their time because an hour or two of training saved them countless hours of both document creation and editing. The requirements for the word processing staff at the firm are much more demanding. They must know not only how to apply the tools, but how to troubleshoot a poorly formatted document that requires significant editing. In some cases, they also need to know how to modify the tools.
The tools that are provided impact the efficient use of Word. In the long term, it affects training time as well as time spent on creating and editing documents.
Conclusion
Hopefully this provides some useful guidelines for better document formatting at your firm. There is no room for inefficiency, especially in today's economic climate, so leverage Word's features to the hilt and make everyone's life easier in the process.
Roberta Gelb is President of Chelsea Office Systems, an IT consulting and training firm based in
Top 5 Strategies for Managing the End-of-Year Collections Frenzy
End of year collections are crucial for law firms because they allow them to maximize their revenue for the year, impacting profitability, partner distributions and bonus calculations by ensuring outstanding invoices are paid before the year closes, which is especially important for meeting financial targets and managing cash flow throughout the firm.
The Self-Service Buyer Is On the Rise
Law firms and companies in the professional services space must recognize that clients are conducting extensive online research before making contact. Prospective buyers are no longer waiting for meetings with partners or business development professionals to understand the firm's offerings. Instead, they are seeking out information on their own, and they want to do it quickly and efficiently.
Should Large Law Firms Penalize RTO Rebels or Explore Alternatives?
Through a balanced approach that combines incentives with accountability, firms can navigate the complexities of returning to the office while maintaining productivity and morale.
Sink or Swim: The Evolving State of Law Firm Administrative Support
The paradigm of legal administrative support within law firms has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last decade. But this begs the question: are the changes to administrative support successful, and do law firms feel they are sufficiently prepared to meet future business needs?
Tax Treatment of Judgments and Settlements
Counsel should include in its analysis of a case the taxability of the anticipated and sought after damages as the tax effect could be substantial.