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Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 1:42 am
by bceagles182
Opinions?

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 1:45 am
by bceagles182
Also don't give me Lucida Sans -- looks like shit.

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 1:45 am
by Pokemon
If your professor was vague about it, why do you not teach him a lesson by using the largest font?
If you want a serious answer, then 12 is the largest acceptable font.

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 1:48 am
by bceagles182
Pokemon wrote:If your professor was vague about it, why do you not teach him a lesson by using the largest font?
If you want a serious answer, then 12 is the largest acceptable font.

I'm in size 12, but what font?

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 1:50 am
by Tom Joad
Times New Roman size 10.

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 1:52 am
by bceagles182
Tom Joad wrote:Times New Roman size 10.
:x

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 2:40 am
by de5igual
Century Schoolbook size 12—largest you can go without looking ridiculous

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 2:41 am
by dr123
Arial is pretty big and also normal looking.

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 2:50 am
by bceagles182
f0bolous wrote:Century Schoolbook size 12—largest you can go without looking ridiculous

Holy shit, you are my hero. That just converted my 26 page paper into 29 pages. One.... more.... page.

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 3:04 am
by kalvano
Palantino Linotype might get you the extra page and won't look weird.

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Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 5:46 am
by Myself
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Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:37 am
by reasonable_man
Look at the font you're currently using. If you have to ask "is the font too big" its too big. I had a buddy call once - right after I was admitted to practice - to ask what the age of consent was in a certain state... I offered: "if you have to even question it - she is too young." Now clearly your intent here is far less morally questionable (but generally) if you have to ask on stuff like this - you're going in the wrong direction.

That said - Century Schoolbook is a bigger than Times and looks pretty good on the page. Garmond aint too shabby either.

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:15 am
by Total Litigator
My understanding is that if you are worried about how to make a legal paper long enough instead of worrying about how to cut it down, you're doing it wrong...

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:20 am
by reasonable_man
Total Litigator wrote:My understanding is that if you are worried about how to make a legal paper long enough instead of worrying about how to cut it down, you're doing it wrong...
True.

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 9:33 am
by Headybrah
font - advanced - character spacing --> expanded by 0.5

Almost undetectable but can add a lot

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 1:29 pm
by rad lulz
,

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri Apr 26, 2013 1:36 pm
by 062914123
.

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 9:25 pm
by reasonable_man
rad lulz wrote:
reasonable_man wrote:Look at the font you're currently using. If you have to ask "is the font too big" its too big. I had a buddy call once - right after I was admitted to practice - to ask what the age of consent was in a certain state... I offered: "if you have to even question it - she is too young." Now clearly your intent here is far less morally questionable (but generally) if you have to ask on stuff like this - you're going in the wrong direction.

That said - Century Schoolbook is a bigger than Times and looks pretty good on the page. Garmond aint too shabby either.
Dood you should have charged him a couple hundy to compose a memorandum.

I'll write this one off as a "free consultation" - next time RM gots to get paiddd.

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Wed May 01, 2013 9:41 pm
by mephistopheles
cambria?

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 11:51 am
by bdm261
12

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 1:23 pm
by Tom Joad
bdm261 wrote:Times New Roman, Size 12


Then do a "find all/change all" search for periods, maybe even commas and other punctuation and increase them to size 14. Will add another page or so depending on overall page length of your paper.

You can not tell the difference unless the paper is submitted electronically or carefully compared with other papers. I had a "friend" do this during undergrad.
Cheater.

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 12:18 pm
by rockthered86
Can I go wrong with Courier New size 12? Also, footnotes same sized font or smaller?

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 12:41 pm
by jkay
Courier? Hell no.

Thou shall not use a monospaced font.

The first commandment of legal typography. Any Court of Appeals that may do so is TTT. I realize this thread is not about typography, but everyone should read this: http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/rules/type.pdf

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 2:59 pm
by Lacepiece23
Change the size of your periods and commas from 12 to 14. Works like a charm.

Re: Largest acceptable font for a paper?

Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 3:42 pm
by portaprokoss
Good News.

In the Red Book of Legal Style, Bryan Garner Recommends 13pt. Times New Roman Font. I think he recommends using 1.1 margin on top and sides and 1.2 margin on the bottom, so check that.

If you use a larger font or wider margins, always give your professor a hard copy printed single-sided. It looks bigger that way.