Microsoft Word: What you need to know for your Legal Analysis Writing and Research (LAWR) Class

Microsoft Word Both Word 2013 for Windows PC and Word 2011 for Apple-Mac platforms

Download (Word) OfficeWord Windows Apple Google “ub software download” – Click on first result: “Downloading Software…”

How to Format an Appellate Brief: Guide to formatting an appellate brief using Word and a PC or a MAC Guide to formatting an appellate brief using Word and a PC or a MAC

Why is this important? Your respective faculty want to focus on teaching legal research and writing skills and not spend class time teaching the features of Microsoft Word Easily preventable formatting mistakes may needlessly cost you points on your assignments!

How to Set Font Type 1.Click the Home Tab on the ribbon 2.In the Font group you will see a drop down menu for the font types 3.Font types are listed alphabetically 4.Word offers a Recently Used Fonts section at the top of the listing

How to Set Font Size 1.Click the Home Tab on the ribbon 2.In the Font group you will see a drop down menu for the font sizes 3.Font size can be selected from the listing or a specific size can be typed in at the top

Mac: How to Set Font Type and Size Under the home menu select font type and size or set under Font tab in the top menu

How to Insert Symbols (¶ § ©, etc.) 1.Click the Insert Tab on the ribbon 2.Click on Symbol menu on the far right 3.If you don’t see the symbol in the quick view window, click on the ‘More Symbols’ option at the bottom of the drop down 4.Select the symbol and click Insert Next time…

Mac: How to Insert symbols ¶ § © Select insert tab in top menu followed by symbols in the drop down

Setting Indentation of Paragraphs and Headings 1.Click the View tab and check the box labeled “Ruler” if the Ruler does not appear by default

Creating a First-Line Indent with the Ruler 2.Place cursor where you want to add the indent 3.On the Ruler, drag the First Line Indent Marker (the top triangle located on the left side of the ruler) to the position where you want the text to start

Mac: Creating a First-Line Indent with the Ruler

Paragraph Indentation 1.Left click to highlight the relevant paragraph(s) 2.Slide the left and right indents to the desired locations on the ruler. Bluebook Rule 5.1

Paragraph Indentation (cont’d) Bluebook Rule Justify the paragraph (under Home tab)

Mac: Paragraph Indentation

How to Set Margins - Document 1.Click the Page Layout tab on the ribbon 2.Click on Margins 3.There are a variety of options to choose from. If your professor requests a unique margin setting then choose the Custom Margins option at the bottom of the drop down menu

How to Set Margins – Within Document 1.Highlight the text you want to indent 2.Click the Page Layout Tab on the ribbon 3.Click on Margins 4.Choose the Custom Margins option at the bottom of the drop down menu and specify the dimensions necessary

Mac: How to Set Margins-Within Document In documents memo select Layout followed by margins

Creating and Indenting Bullet Points and Outline Sections Under the Home Tab select from the bullet outline options; there are three lists to chose from and an option to customize a list

Creating and Indenting Bullet Points and Outline Sections Mac uses a very similar operation

How to Adjust Line Spacing 1.Place cursor in blank document or highlight relevant paragraphs 2.From Home tab, select the Line and Paragraph Spacing option 3.Under Line Spacing choose ‘Exactly’ 4.Next choose the specific spacing (such as 24 pt.) or type in the spacing number requested by your faculty member

Mac: How to Adjust Line Spacing Under the document home tab select the line spacing button.

How to Add or Remove Extra Space Before or After a Paragraph 1.Highlight the paragraph(s) you would like to change 2.Under the Home tab, click the Line and Paragraph Spacing menu and select the appropriate option Note: Mac uses a very similar operation

Insertion of nonbreaking or "hard" spaces Nonbreaking spaces are used to keep two words together avoiding separation by lines. – Hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys as you press the Spacebar. Word will not break the line at the point between selected words. – The same method works for Mac.

Find and Replace From the Home tab, select either Find or Replace on the far right-hand side of the screen or use CTRL + F

Mac: Find and Replace Search in Mac using the field next to the magnifying glass icon

Using Spelling and Grammar Check Located under the Review tab For Mac click “Spelling and Grammar” under tools in the top menu bar Remember to reproof your document manually! – avoid complete reliance on spelling and grammar check

Managing AutoCorrect and other proofing options Enable or disable spell check and grammar features Enable (disable) for ALL CAPS or numbers 1.Click File tab 2.Select Options, then Proofing 3.Make desired changes

Mac: Manage AutoCorrect Select auto correct under tools (top menu)

How to Turn off Superscript (2 nd, 3 rd, 4 th ) 1.Click the File Tab on the ribbon 2.Select Options, then Proofing in the pop up window 3.Click the Auto Correct Options button 4.Select the AutoFormat Tab, uncheck the Ordinals with superscript and click OK BB Rule 10

Mac: How to Turn off Superscript (4 th, 5 th, 6 th )

Setting Passive Sentence Notification: two methods

Setting the Passive Check: 1

Setting the Passive Check: 2

Mac: Setting the Passive Check Select “Word” in Top Menu then “Preferences” In Word preference box select “Spelling and Grammar” In the Spelling and Grammar box select “Settings” In the settings box check passive sentences

Insertion of Page Numbers Formatting page #’s

Mac: Insertion of Page Numbers Select insert page number under the inset tab in the menu bar, or under document elements select “page #” in the document menu

Creating Section Headings 1.Insert page numbers 2.Select headings to be included in the Table of Contents by holding Ctrl and left-clicking (highlighting) each one 3.Choose heading format under Home tab

Building a Table of Contents 1.Place cursor at the location desired for the Table of Contents 2.Under the References tab select the Table of Contents menu 3.Choose desired format for Table of Contents

Completed Table of Contents

Mac: Creating a Table of Contents Under the Home tab click Headings under Styles Go to Document Elements tab and create your table of contents

Creating Table of Authorities (under Reference tab) Microsoft Guide Select citations and mark Place cursor at the location the table needs to be inserted; Mac users CREATING YOUR TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (Using a MAC and Word 2011) CREATING YOUR TABLE OF AUTHORITIES (Using a MAC and Word 2011)

Inserting Page Breaks Place cursor at the desired location for the page break Under the Page Layout tab, click the Breaks drop down menu and select Next Page

Mac: Insertion of Page Breaks Place curser at the location desired for the page break Select page break under the layout tab or page break from the inset tab on the top menu bar

Changing Page Number Fonts Within the Same Document Double click the top margin of the page after the inserted break Under “File Tab” select “Link to Previous “ Select Arabic page numbers for the remainder of the doc., Mac users see: The 3 basic steps to preparing your document

Enable Text-To-Speech (TTS) Select Speech in Word Options and add to Tool Bar Select text to be read with mouse and click on the speech button in the tool bar, an automated voice will read the outlined text aloud

Tracking Changes To turn off tracking click “Track Changes” until blue highlight is off Mac: Turn of tracking by unchecking “Highlight Changes” options.

Using Shortcut Keys See handout for a more extensive listing of shortcuts

Access instructional videos on MS Word

Student Services Librarian Brian Detweiler 211a O’Brian Hall Student Services