I felt compelled to make this website after years of encountering legal documents with broken and inconsistent formatting.
Too many people using Microsoft Word do not know how to use styles to make their life easier, and their work better. Trying to make complex documents in Word without careful use of styles is frustrating, and in some cases futile. Unfortunately Word does little to help, creating a false impression of what styles are, and often tricking people into using them incorrectly.
Legal documents are necessarily precise. In language as well as presentation. Inconsistent indenting or numbering can materially change a document’s interpretation. Styles are the best way to ensure the presentation of a Word document is consistent and precise.
The purpose of this website is to help people use Word styles to improve their documents. This website has a particular focus on legal documents, but it should be useful to anyone using Microsoft Word.
Along the way, this site will also detail many of the ways that styles fail, and how to cajole Word into doing the right thing.