Guest Muse 2 - The Bard of the Font!

“The king’s name is a tower of strength,

  Which they upon the adverse party want.

  Up with my tent there!”

• Richard III V,3; Richard before the battle of Bosworth Field

The boss is out! Up with my tent! Donald is on vacation this week, therefore I, Jacob A. Vanzin, officially usurp this blog, and crown myself – The Bard of the Brief! In case you are questioning my credentials, Donald says that I am the best University-of-Pittsburgh/Washington-University-Law-School-graduate-legal-writer-of-Italian-descent that he’s ever worked with. Vanzin doesn’t sound as Italian as Capparella, but my descendants lived closer to fair Verona than his did, so . . . Huzzah!

Now that I have bound this blog with victorious wreaths, I want to declare two things:

First, the 17th Earl of Oxford is underrated as a writer.

Second, you have been writing your briefs in the wrong font.

Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 46, section 3.02(a)((3)(a) requires that in all papers e-filed in Tennessee’s Appellate Courts, the font shall be ”any within the Century Family.”  

Here’s a little secret Donald wouldn’t tell you: Times New Roman is not in the Century Family! Neither is Century Gothic but don’t ask me to explain why.

“Pish!” you say, “I like Times New Roman! It looks better!” Tell it to the judge. If you want to follow the rules, then write your brief in Century or Century Schoolbook.

 No attorney to date has yet waived an argument by using the wrong font, but you don’t want to be the first.

Hopefully, this little tip will be of use to you in future briefs. Stay tuned - the next time Donald is out, I will settle once and for all whether to underline or italicize case names. You can hardly wait.

[The views expressed in this post are the current author’s, and do not necessarily express those of Donald Capparella or Dodson, Parker, Behm and Capparella, P.C..]