Word limits v. Page limits

At a recent seminar, I suggested lawyers could improve their writing by using more tabulated lists. Lists can highlight information, put it in sequence, and make it easy to read.

The lawyers responded that using tabulated lists would take up more space and could therefore cause them to exceed page limits. True, and a legitimate concern, but unfortunate.

Courts should switch from page limits to words limits. By clinging to the outdated method of limiting pages instead of words, courts unnecessarily hamper legal writers.

What's more, the lawyers at my seminar told me that one court in which they submit papers still requires writers to use the Courier font because it allows greater uniformity in enforcing page limits.

Word of the Day:
hidebound = constricted by tradition