Formatting Documents

Part of starting my office has been sitting around trying to pre-draft forms and get familar with the judicial forms. Without knowing it I complied with a few of these formalities, but others I completely missed. I was not even aware that there were formatting requirements for documents I submitted with the court. I just happened to find them reading.

I was digging through my California Practice Guides to continue to learn new things. I was unaware of how particular the courts are concerning formats of documents filed with the court. If I had practiced prior to opening my practice I am sure I would have been shown this by a supervising attorney, but just starting out I had no idea. Here are a few requirements in California.
1. All judicial forms and pleadings filed with court or served on the other party must be on recycled paper.
2. Footers: all documents created by attorneys must have footers in at least 10 font with the name of the document.
3. Hole Punching: All documents filed must have 2 holes punched in top complying with measurement requirements.
4. Documents must be 12 font; use one font out of a list of approved fonts; on 8x11 20 pound recycled paper; 1.5 - double spaced; printed only on one side and numbered.
As far as judicial forms go many are mandatory for their purpose. Other forms are approved, so knowing the difference will let you know if you need to use a judicial form.
Nothing here is groundbreaking, but it is something I was not aware of. If I had not been reading through the California Practice guide randomly I would probably have learned these guidelines the hard way.