 
Updated January 15, 2008
Follow these format requirements to comply with Arkansas
court rules and to prepare a professional-looking brief.
Word processing software:
Use Word (Microsoft) (preferred) or WordPerfect
(Corel) to draft your briefs. If you do not have this software, you can use
a computer in the law library computer lab to draft your brief. If you don't
know how to use your computer to conform to these requirements, please contact
Prof. Barger for help.
|
Warning: Failure to
follow the format requirements listed below will result in a point
deduction from the brief's grade. Most of the formatting requirements
are based on current Arkansas court rules. Note that the point
penalties are larger than they were in the fall semester, and most will
be assessed each time a violation occurs.
As always, if a formatting option you're
considering is not addressed below, however, you are free to format as
you wish; you won't be penalized for choosing that option. |
 | Fonts
sizes and styles (-4 points for either violation): |
A. Size:
Use a 12-point or larger font size. Check the court rules in
your jurisdiction, as they may require a 13-point or even 14-point size
font. Caution: The default font for
Microsoft Word is usually set inthe smaller (and therefore harder to read)
10-point size. Increase it. If your brief uses footnotes (not recommended),
they must also be rendered in 12-point or larger font size.
B . Style: Do not
use a sans-serif font (one that has no "tails" on the
letters, such as
Arial or
Verdana). Do use a
serif font (e.g.,
Courier New or
Times New Roman). Note that some courts (e.g., the
United States Supreme Court) mandate the use of a particular font.
|
Headings (-4 points for each violation): |
A. Minimum amount of text beneath heading:
Format pages so that
each heading or sub-heading has at least two lines of text beneath it. Never
place any heading or sub-heading at the
bottom of a page with no text beneath it.
B. Component headings:
Center and single space the headings for the standard major components of the
brief (e.g., Statement of Facts,
Points
on Appeal, Argument,
Conclusion,
Certificate
of Service). Choose a format style such as ALL CAPITAL LETTERS,
boldface, underlining, or a combination thereof. Use the chosen
format consistently for all of the component headings.
Caution:
Microsoft Word's spellchecking feature ignores words and lines that are in ALL
CAPITAL LETTERS; therefore, if you use this format, proofread very carefully.
C. Argumentative headings:
Primary headings and sub-headings are typically set flush left, with
sub-headings indented beneath primary headings. Choose distinctive format styles
for argumentative headings and sub-headings in the text of the brief. For
example, you might use
either ALL
CAPITAL LETTERS or boldface type for primary argumentative
headings, and underline
or italicize secondary headings.
Note: Regular sentence case (capitalizing only the first
word and any proper nouns in the heading) instead of title case (Capitalizing
the Important Words) is not only easier for you, but also more reader-friendly.
For example,
|
I. Summary judgment is appropriate
because the parties agree that Johnson has defaulted
on his loan and because he remains bound by his signature. The lower court properly granted summary judgment because the only material fact in this case,
Johnson's loan default, is undisputed
by the
parties, and the court applied the appropriate law to
that fact. Under Rule 56
of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment is
appropriate when "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file,
together
with the affidavits, if any, show
that
there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and
that the moving
party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law."
A. Johnson's execution of the loan agreement
evidences his intent to be bound.
Johnson cannot
disclaim his liability for the balance due on the loan because he intended to be
bound when he executed the loan agreement
on August 4, 1988. A party's signature on a written
instrument
always carries
legal significance. In one recent case, a debtor's note was
|
return to top
|
Italics and underlining (-2 points for each violation):
Case citations and textual references
to cases use either italics
or underlining. (See ALWD Citation Manual Rule 12.2(a) for the
parts of a case citation that need this formatting.) Whichever method you
choose, use it consistently; do not use both in the same document.
Similarly, consistently use the chosen format for short-form citations
(e.g., Id. or Id.). Note that you must underline or italicize
id. even if the referenced authority's full citation format (e.g., a
statute) does not use such formatting.
Do not use italics
or underlining, however, when you write about the person after
whom a case was named.
Compare:
The victim in Jabberwocky
suspected nothing as he came whiffling through the tulgey wood.
The defendant murdered
Jabberwocky with a vorpal blade.
|
|
Line spacing; block format quotations (-4 points for each violation): |
A. Double-spacing:
Double-space
lines in the body of the brief. If your brief uses footnotes (not
recommended), their text must also be double-spaced.
B. Single-spacing:
Single-space elements of the caption, the signature block, and the text of
the certificate of service.
Use single spacing for all headings, sub-headings, and lengthy ("block
format") quotations.
C. Block
format quotations: Use aa block-format quotation when you quote a lengthy
passage from a source (50 or more words, 4 or more lines). In addition
to single-spacing the block, you must indent it one-half inch
from both left and right margins.
|
Margins
(-4 points): |
Set margins to a minimum of one inch on all
sides. Print a test page on the
printer you will use for your
final copy; use a ruler
and
m-e-a-s-u-r-e the margins that the printer produced.
If necessary, increase margin settings to get
a true one-inch margin.
Be particularly careful if you cut and paste from
multiple versions of the document, as the text you select will likely pick up
the original formatting, whose margins may not meet this requirement.
| Page and word limits: |
Check to see what page limits may be imposed by court rules
or your brief-writing assignment.
In Arkansas, appellate briefs are subject to page limits in the Statement of
the Case and
in the Argument. Federal appellate rules and the rules of many state courts limit the total number of words in
the brief. Arkansas trial courts typically do not have
page-limit rules, although individual judges may impose such limits at their
discretion.
Be advised that while there is no format penalty assessed
against your brief
for exceeding the page limit, Prof. Barger will not read any pages past a court-rule limit, and you
will
therefore lose
substantive points from the brief score for the material covered in the excess
pages.
|
Page
numbering (-4 points): |
Add page numbering
at the bottom center or bottom right of the page. You
may place the page number itself within the bottom
margin space; this is
not a violation of the margin format rule.
In your appellate brief, use
small roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, etc.) to number pages of the Table
of Contents, Points on Appeal, and Table of Authorities. Separately
number the pages of the Statement of the Case (e.g., SC-1, S.C. 1),
the Abstract (e.g., A-1, Abstr. 1), and the Addendum (e.g., ADD-1, Add.
1).
return to top
|
Paper
size, print quality, page order, and page orientation (-4 points for each
violation):
|
A. Printing:
Print documents in black ink on white
paper, 8 1/2 " by 11" in size.
If the type
is wavy, streaked, blurry, or faint, or the ink
smears, take care of the
problem and reprint or recopy the affected page(s) or if necessary, the entire brief.B. Putting things together: Check the pages of your brief to ensure that they are
all there, in the right order, and right-side up.
[Note: If you are paying a copy shop to
reproduce your brief, you are still responsible for the print quality and
contents; check
it before you pay for the copies.]
|
Paragraph indention (-2 points each page
containing violation(s)): |
Indent the first line of each paragraph. Keep the length of the indention consistent throughout the
brief.
While your word processor may use a default 0.3-inch indention (which
you can change), 0.5-inch (half inch) indentions are more
reader-friendly, as they clearly signal the beginning of a new
paragraph. [Note: Because the body of the brief is double-spaced, it is
not necessary to add additional space between paragraphs.]
Whichever length you use, use the tab key—not
the space bar—to get consistent results when you begin each new
paragraph. If you cut and paste from another document (particularly if
you are using Microsoft Word), be careful; you may pick up paragraph
indention formatting that is different from what you have used
elsewhere in the brief.
return to top
|
Stapling and binding (-4 points): |
Every brief must be either bound or stapled. Do
not use paper clips, binder clips, or other forms of page joinery.
A. Trial court briefs: Staple the pages in the upper left-hand corner of
the document. Make sure both points of the staple go
all the way through all
pages of the document and that they are bent down on the back side of
the document.
B. Appellate briefs: Appellate briefs should not be
stapled. Prepare cardstock covers and bind the briefs in
accordance with the applicable
rules of the appellate court. Prof. Barger
will demonstrate examples in class.
If you don't know
how to use your computer or typewriter to conform to these requirements,
please
contact Prof. Barger for
help.
Click here to view
the RWA grading criteria for trial court briefs.
Click here to
view the RWA grading criteria for appellate briefs.
|
