Choosing the best fonts for legal documents matters more than you might think. The right font ensures your contracts, court filings, and agreements are readable and professional. It can also support compliance by making your content clear and consistent.
With tools like PDF.net, formatting legal PDFs is easy. You can adjust fonts, layouts, and spacing in just a few clicks. This guide will cover everything you need to know.
Are Fonts on Legal Documents Important?
Fonts on legal documents are essential because they directly impact how easy it is to read the content. A poorly chosen font can cause confusion in contracts, policies, and court filings, where clarity is key.
By using the best legal document fonts, you can establish credibility and make sure what you submit meets courtroom standards. Some jurisdictions or clients may have specific requirements. For example, the appellate court in Connecticut requires paper briefs and appendices to be typed in Arial or Univers.
What Makes a Font Suitable for Legal Documents?
A font is suitable for legal documents if it is legible on screen and paper. This is because contracts, court filings, and agreements are often shared both digitally and in physical form.
Professionalism is also a factor. The best fonts for legal documents are formal, reflecting the formality of the content.
Moreover, your font has to display properly across devices. Some fonts, like Lato and Raleway, may not render and lead to formatting issues when your document is opened on a different system. When making a PDF, you should use widely supported fonts that can be appropriately embedded.
Decorative fonts, such as Apple Chancery and Brush Script, can look nice, but they are hard to read, especially in dense legal writing. They can make it difficult for readers to absorb critical information quickly. Therefore, it is best to avoid them.
Besides choosing readable fonts for lawyers and legal professionals, you should check your font's licensing terms. Some fonts require a commercial license for professional or business use. If you use non-licensed fonts in court documents, you risk running into copyright issues.
5 Best Fonts for Legal Documents
The best fonts for legal documents are serif fonts or sans-serif fonts. The former are fonts with small "feet" at the ends of strokes; the latter are fonts without the "feet."
Here are five of the best serif fonts for legal contracts, court filings, and agreements:
#1. Times New Roman
Times New Roman is a font created in 1931. It is widely available and supported across word processors and PDF viewers, making it the go-to font for many legal professionals.
Its spacing is compact, and its overall appearance is formal, so it is ideal for legal documents. Many lawyers “expect” Times New Roman to be the professional font for contracts and formal letters.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in particular, recommends Times New Roman in its official guidelines.
#2. Century Schoolbook
Century Schoolbook is also a font well-liked for offering clarity. Like the other legal document fonts mentioned, it has wide letterforms and generous spacing. Because of its readability, many U.S. courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, recommend its use in booklet-format documents. You can use it for contracts, submissions, or legal agreements as well.
#3. Georgia
Georgia is a font with wide letterforms and spacing that improve legibility, even at smaller sizes. That said, it is beneficial for legal PDFs or online contracts that need to be clear on both desktop and mobile devices. If your legal work involves sharing documents electronically, Georgia is a good font option.
#4. Book Antiqua
Book Antiqua is a traditional and professional font. Its graceful curves and balanced spacing make it easy to read. It is usually compared to Palatino, but Book Antiqua offers a softer tone while still maintaining authority and formality. Thanks to its readability and compatibility with most PDF tools, it is also a reliable choice for long legal texts.
#5. Cambria
Cambria is a font with strong letter shapes and even spacing. It is in the Microsoft Office suite, so it is widely supported and familiar to many people. This makes it suitable for contracts, legal reports, and formal correspondence. Its clarity at small sizes makes it highly recommended for documents with dense text or footnotes, including those saved as PDFs.
4 Best Sans-Serif Fonts for Legal Documents
Below are the four best sans-serif fonts for legal documents:
#1. Arial
Arial is one of the best fonts for legal agreements. It has clean lines that make it easy to read, even on digital devices. Arial is also included in almost all major operating systems. This means it maintains consistent formatting across platforms. It works well for email PDF attachments, legal letters, and HR-related legal documents.
#2. Helvetica
Helvetica is another font with a professional “tone.” Featuring uniform letter spacing, its clean design is appropriate for dense legal contracts and agreements. As a standard font on Mac, Helvetica is compatible with PDF editors to preserve formatting.
#3. Calibri
Calibri, with rounded letters, is a font that is easy on the eyes. It became a Microsoft Office default font in 2007. Therefore, it is a common choice for many business documents, especially digital-first ones. For PDF legal documents like NDAs, memos, and policy documents, Calibri is a reliable font. While this font is widely used in business settings, some courts prefer more traditional fonts like Times New Roman.
#4. Verdana
Verdana is also a great font for screen viewing. It has tall lowercase letters and wide spacing that improve readability. On smaller monitors and mobile devices, Verdana remains a practical choice. It is not as compact as other fonts. However, its clarity can help minimize misinterpretation in contracts and compliance forms.
Font Size and Formatting Guide for Legal Documents
Besides choosing the best fonts for legal documents, it is crucial to be aware of proper font size and formatting. Follow these best practices to ensure your documents appear professional and are accessible in both print and PDF formats.
#1. Ideal font size
Generally, the ideal font size for legal papers is between 12 and 14. The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court requires records, appendices, and briefs to be at least 12-point for monospaced typefaces and 14-point for proportionally spaced typefaces. In California Courts of Appeal, appellate filings must use at least 13 points, while Florida Appellate Courts mandate a minimum of 14 points.
#2. Recommended line spacing
The distance between lines can affect the ease of reading legal documents and their overall professional appearance. As such, it is essential to pay attention to line spacing when handling legal writing.
The U.S. Court of Appeals requires double spacing for the Ninth Circuit for briefs and pleadings. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York also mandates this for pleadings, motions, and other papers, except in headings, footnotes, and block quotations.
However, it is necessary to note that double spacing might vary depending on the word processor. To be exact, set your document’s line spacing to 24 points for 12-point fonts.
#3. Margins and paragraph spacing
Margins and the space between paragraphs are just as important. They are designated to maintain uniformity and readability in legal documents.
Typically, courts mandate one-inch margins on all sides of a document; for instance, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Some courts may have more specific requirements. For example, the California Rules of Court require each page to have a left margin of at least one inch and a right margin of at least 1/2 inch.
As for paragraph spacing, Washington State’s Office of Administrative Hearings advises using 12 points of space between paragraphs. However, as with the best fonts for legal documents, spacing rules can vary by jurisdiction or the preferences of individual judges.
#4. Section headers and numbering conventions
Legal documents are easier to navigate when they have clear section headings and numbering conventions. The specifics depend on each court. For example, Washington State Courts require headings and subheadings numbered with Roman or Arabic numerals for all paragraphs.
Numbering for paragraphs in North Dakota Courts must begin with the Arabic numeral 1 in square brackets (e.g., [1]) and continue sequentially to the end of the document.
The Los Angeles Superior Court also has detailed requirements. Line numbers must appear along the left margin and be separated from the text by at least one-fifth of an inch. They need to be evenly spaced and start from 1 on each page. There must be a minimum of three line numbers per vertical inch.
#5. When to use bold or italic styles
In legal documents, bold and italic styles should be used sparingly. Typically, bold styles are for headers, article titles, or key terms. For example, the New York Supreme Court requires that, for briefs, boldface should not be used except in headings or subheadings.
The California Rules of Court permit boldface for emphasis in certain legal forms, and Washington State’s Office of Administrative Hearings permits boldface to draw attention to corrections in Corrected Orders.
Italics are generally used for case names, citations, or emphasis. California, for instance, requires case names to be italicized in forms. The Bluebook, which serves as a style guide for legal citations, recommends italicizing publication titles (e.g., New York Times), foreign words, and any text that was italicized in the source.
4 Font & Style Mistakes to Avoid in Legal Documents
Small font and style mistakes can negatively affect a legal document’s readability and credibility. To maintain professionalism and court compliance, you must avoid these common mistakes:
- “Cute” or novelty fonts. Fonts like Comic Sans look cute but are inappropriate for legal settings. You should always use formal fonts instead.
- Inconsistent font usage. Your document will look sloppy if you switch between fonts throughout your document. Stick with one for the body text and one for headings and subheadings.
- Poor contrast. High-contrast text is an unwritten standard for legal documents. Light-colored fonts, like gray instead of black, can be difficult to read. This is especially true when they are printed after being scanned or faxed.
- Too small or too large font sizes. Avoid using fonts smaller than 11pt or larger than 14pt for body text, as they reduce readability and may not comply with court rules.
How to Format Your Legal Documents With PDF.net
It is easy to prepare and format legal documents professionally with PDF.net. Before you jump into formatting, you can rearrange pages, merge multiple files, or compress large PDFs without losing quality to meet submission requirements.
Once your documents are ready, change the fonts, margins, and add eSignatures that are legally binding under the ESIGN Act. The great part about PDF.net is that it is entirely browser-based. You do not have to sign up for an account or download anything.
Moreover, PDF.net uses encrypted connections to protect your information during upload and automatically deletes files after processing to comply with professional standards. Rest assured that your legal documents will not be stored or accessed by anyone after you finish.
Final Thoughts
Now that you know the best fonts for legal documents, as well as the vital legal PDF formatting tips, you can ensure everything you submit in legal settings appears readable and professional. Remember to avoid decorative fonts, maintain consistency, and use bold or italic styles sparingly. Optimize your PDF legal documents in just a few clicks with PDF.net.
Best Fonts for Legal Documents FAQs
#1. What font is used by lawyers and in court documents?
Fonts used by lawyers and in court documents are usually serif fonts like Times New Roman or sans-serif fonts like Arial. Legal writing prioritizes fonts that are easy to read physically and digitally.
#2. Can I use different fonts in one legal document?
You should not use different fonts in one legal document because this can make your document look unprofessional. If necessary, use one font for headings and one font for the body text, but ensure both are readable.
#3. How do I change fonts in a PDF?
To change fonts in a PDF, use PDF.net:
- Upload your file by dragging and dropping it in.
- Select the text you want to edit.
- Apply a new font from the available options.
- Change the font size and color if you want to.
- Save and download the document.