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#lang pollen
◊ ( define - meta title "where do the rules come from?" )
◊ hanging - topic [ ( topic - from - metas metas ) ] { Professional typography }
What people know about typography can usually be traced back to typing - class teachers ( or computer - lab teachers ) and other unreliable sources . I ’ m sure your teachers were lovely people , but they were there to teach you typing ( or BASIC programming ) , not typography . And what they knew about typography probably came from their own typing teachers 30 years earlier ( see ◊ xref { typewriter habits } ) .
◊ ( omission )
It ’ s not surprising that these bad habits get passed along . What ’ s surprising is how tenacious they can be .
A core principle of this book is that typography in legal documents should be measured by the same standards as any professionally published material , like books , newspapers , and magazines . There is no “ legal typography . ” There is only typography .
This wasn ’ t always true . During the era when law offices relied on typewriters , professional publishers had typesetting and printing technology that was substantially better . So for lawyers , the typographic standards of professional publishers were far out of reach .
That ’ s no longer the case . Technology has brought law - office typesetting nearly up to the standards of professional typesetting . Modern word processors and laser printers have made it possible for lawyers to produce documents with excellent typography .
Therefore , lawyers can and should raise their standards . That ’ s why the rules here reflect the customs of professional typographers and the majority views of authorities on typography , filtered through my experience as a professional typographer and as a lawyer .
◊ ( omission )
But I ’ m also a pragmatist . I know the feeling of rushing to finish a motion an hour before the deadline . I assume that you want the best typographic results for the lowest cost — and nothing is more costly than your time . Therefore , I endorse a few shortcuts where the effort outweighs the results .