counsel_logo
Subscribe Advertise
×
LEGAL PERSONALITY PRACTICE TOOLSET JUSTICE MATTERS BON VIVANT CURRENT ISSUE BAR STUDENTS
Jobs & Career Hub View All Jobs Career Clinic Strategic Moves Partners Training Courses Training Course Providers
} Subscribe Advertise
  • LEGAL PERSONALITY
  • PRACTICE TOOLSET
  • JUSTICE MATTERS
  • BON VIVANT
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • BAR STUDENTS
  • Jobs & Career Hub
    • View All Jobs
    • Career Clinic
    • Strategic Moves
    • Partners
    • Training Courses
    • Training Course Providers
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Coping with Word 2007 - Part 2: Drafting for Counsel STANDARDISING THE FORMATTING IN WORD 2007

Coping with Word 2007 - Part 2: Drafting for Counsel STANDARDISING THE FORMATTING IN WORD 2007

31 May 2009
Categories: News
Printer Email

WORD 2007 preserves one of the more irritating aspects of the older versions of WORD, that it not only formats each paragraph separately, but tends to format paragraphs differently as well. For example, cutting and pasting from paragraph A to paragraph B may alter the formatting of paragraph B, regardless of whether one of these paragraphs precedes the other (a problem I have described in an earlier article as the ‘dancing margins’ problem). There are many ways of overcoming this problem, but one of the most useful is by use of the formatting paint-brush. 

Assume that paragraph A is formatted the way you want it, but paragraph B is not. Left-click within paragraph A. Then move your cursor to the ‘Home’ tab, and in the Ribbon below, in the first compartment from the left, you will find in the bottom right corner an icon of a paint-brush. Left-click on the paint-brush. Then take the cursor to paragraph B, and left click within it. Paragraph B’s formatting should change to that of paragraph A. You can use the same method to change a letter, word, or group of words, for example to make a phrase bold or underlined. Occasionally this does not work the first time, but if so, it usually does work the second time you try. 


BACKSHEETS WITHOUT PAGE NUMBERS 

Creating a backsheet at the end of an opinion or a pleading is no great problem. The top of the document can easily be copied and pasted to the end. You can use the useful shortcuts C for copying and V for pasting, or use the icons under the Home tab (the first of the tabs above the Ribbon), first compartment on the left (Clipboard). Alternatively, a backsheet may be copied from an earlier file, preferably one on some work prepared for the same instructing solicitor (but don’t forget to change the reference if you have quoted it). 

Numbering the pages of the opinion or pleading, but not of the backsheet, is more complicated. To number the main pages, left-click on the Insert tab, and in the fifth compartment (Header & Footer), left-click on the third icon (Page number), and choose and left-click on the position you want the page number to appear. You can easily edit the page number, for example to make it bold or not, or by adding a hyphen each side to make it appear as “-3-”. 

To remove the page numbering from the backsheet is a process that can scarcely be called intuitive. You first need to create a section break. Left-click at the end of the main text. Left-click on the Page Layout tab, and in the second compartment (Page Setup) left-click on the top right icon (Breaks). In the lower part (Section breaks) left-click on Next Page. That achieves a separation between the main text and the backsheet for formatting purposes. 

To remove the page number, you must now left-click somewhere on the backsheet. Then left-click on the Insert tab (this really is counter-intuitive), and in the fifth compartment (Header & Footer), left-click on Header if your page number is at the top of the page, or on Footer if it is at the bottom. A window will open, and towards the bottom of the window left-click on the Edit function. This will open a
special Ribbon, in the third compartment of which (Navigation) you need to left-click on the bottom left corner (Link to Previous) which will separate the page numbering of the backsheet from the page numbering of the main section. Only then is it safe to delete the page numbering from the backsheet. Finally left-click on the far right compartment to complete this editing process and return to the document. 


REMOVING EVIDENCE OF PREVIOUS EDITING 

In earlier versions of WORD, it was difficult to prevent a reader using the tracking facility to discover changes you had made to your document, stored with the document as so-called ‘metadata’. The facility provided for removing the metadata rarely worked. So if your instructing solicitor passed on an electronic version of your opinion or pleading to the opponents, they might be able to bring up a version
you had since amended, which could be embarrassing. One of my previous articles suggested a reasonably simple workaround that prevented this. With WORD 2007 it appears unnecessary to use this work-around, and the facility provided seems to work successfully. 

When you have finished editing the document, left-click on the Office Button at the top left of the screen. About twothirds of the way down the left column is an icon called ‘Prepare’. Left-click on it, and then simply left-click on the second option ‘Inspect document’ and follow the instructions. 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Printer Email
Home > News > Coping with Word 2007 - Part 2: Drafting for Counsel STANDARDISING THE FORMATTING IN WORD 2007

Coping with Word 2007 - Part 2: Drafting for Counsel STANDARDISING THE FORMATTING IN WORD 2007

Date: 31 May 2009

WORD 2007 preserves one of the more irritating aspects of the older versions of WORD, that it not only formats each paragraph separately, but tends to format paragraphs differently as well. For example, cutting and pasting from paragraph A to paragraph B may alter the formatting of paragraph B, regardless of whether one of these paragraphs precedes the other (a problem I have described in an earlier article as the ‘dancing margins’ problem). There are many ways of overcoming this problem, but one of the most useful is by use of the formatting paint-brush.

Assume that paragraph A is formatted the way you want it, but paragraph B is not. Left-click within paragraph A. Then move your cursor to the ‘Home’ tab, and in the Ribbon below, in the first compartment from the left, you will find in the bottom right corner an icon of a paint-brush. Left-click on the paint-brush. Then take the cursor to paragraph B, and left click within it. Paragraph B’s formatting should change to that of paragraph A. You can use the same method to change a letter, word, or group of words, for example to make a phrase bold or underlined. Occasionally this does not work the first time, but if so, it usually does work the second time you try.


BACKSHEETS WITHOUT PAGE NUMBERS

Creating a backsheet at the end of an opinion or a pleading is no great problem. The top of the document can easily be copied and pasted to the end. You can use the useful shortcuts C for copying and V for pasting, or use the icons under the Home tab (the first of the tabs above the Ribbon), first compartment on the left (Clipboard). Alternatively, a backsheet may be copied from an earlier file, preferably one on some work prepared for the same instructing solicitor (but don’t forget to change the reference if you have quoted it).

Numbering the pages of the opinion or pleading, but not of the backsheet, is more complicated. To number the main pages, left-click on the Insert tab, and in the fifth compartment (Header & Footer), left-click on the third icon (Page number), and choose and left-click on the position you want the page number to appear. You can easily edit the page number, for example to make it bold or not, or by adding a hyphen each side to make it appear as “-3-”.

To remove the page numbering from the backsheet is a process that can scarcely be called intuitive. You first need to create a section break. Left-click at the end of the main text. Left-click on the Page Layout tab, and in the second compartment (Page Setup) left-click on the top right icon (Breaks). In the lower part (Section breaks) left-click on Next Page. That achieves a separation between the main text and the backsheet for formatting purposes.

To remove the page number, you must now left-click somewhere on the backsheet. Then left-click on the Insert tab (this really is counter-intuitive), and in the fifth compartment (Header & Footer), left-click on Header if your page number is at the top of the page, or on Footer if it is at the bottom. A window will open, and towards the bottom of the window left-click on the Edit function. This will open a
special Ribbon, in the third compartment of which (Navigation) you need to left-click on the bottom left corner (Link to Previous) which will separate the page numbering of the backsheet from the page numbering of the main section. Only then is it safe to delete the page numbering from the backsheet. Finally left-click on the far right compartment to complete this editing process and return to the document.


REMOVING EVIDENCE OF PREVIOUS EDITING

In earlier versions of WORD, it was difficult to prevent a reader using the tracking facility to discover changes you had made to your document, stored with the document as so-called ‘metadata’. The facility provided for removing the metadata rarely worked. So if your instructing solicitor passed on an electronic version of your opinion or pleading to the opponents, they might be able to bring up a version
you had since amended, which could be embarrassing. One of my previous articles suggested a reasonably simple workaround that prevented this. With WORD 2007 it appears unnecessary to use this work-around, and the facility provided seems to work successfully.

When you have finished editing the document, left-click on the Office Button at the top left of the screen. About twothirds of the way down the left column is an icon called ‘Prepare’. Left-click on it, and then simply left-click on the second option ‘Inspect document’ and follow the instructions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Category: 
News [1]

*/


SourceURL:

Links:
Subscribe Advertise

Job of the Week

View All Jobs
Family Team Legal Secretary

Family Team Legal Secretary

Birmingham

We are seeking a permanent, full-time Family & Childcare Team Secretary for our newly expanded team in our Birmingham office.

virtual magazine View virtual issue

Chair’s Column

Read All
Feature image

Bleak House to Europe with a Swansea ice cream

Update from the Chair of the Bar

Silk Supplement 2026Silk Supplement 2026
Bar Student Guide 2025Bar Student Guide 2025
Bar Student Guide 2024Bar Student Guide 2024
View bar student guide 2023View student guide 2023
AI special issueAI special issue

Sponsored

Read All

Planning beyond practice: how to plan for retirement with confidence

By Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group

Future-proofing chambers

Modernising communication and collaboration at a leading Chancery set. A Zexi case study

PR at the Bar

How to build profile without compromising professional duties. By Naumaan Farooq, Co-Founder of Inked PR 

Beyond the cut-off

Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the role of cut-off levels, and the wider range of factors that must be considered when interpreting results for family court proceedings 

AlphaBiolabs backs Endometriosis Awareness North with £500 donation

Endometriosis Awareness North, a charity raising awareness of endometriosis and supporting those affected across the North of England, has received a £500 boost from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative

Most Viewed

Domestic abuse-induced suicide – the causal connection

A decade of reviews and research has disrupted accepted thinking in the search for causality. Suicides following abuse have overtaken domestic homicides. Is the law keeping up? Professor Susan Edwards KC (Hon) examines recent cases and the obstacles to successful prosecution

AI will not kill all the lawyers

At least not that way, says Richard Paige

The safeguard we are about to discard

The case against judge-only justice – and why efficiency is not enough. By Professor Leslie Thomas KC

Lesson learnt: Bridging worlds

Heritage as an anchor and a compass, finding our common humanity and embracing the power of the outsider – Melina Antoniadis’s lessons learnt

Door tenancy as a strategic extension

Lauren Fullerton examines the how, what and why of setting up a second chambers base

Partner Logo

Latest Cases

Read All
Pricewatch Ltd v Gausden (East Sussex Fire and Rescue Services) Pricewatch Ltd v Gausden (East Sussex Fire and Rescue Services) Lessees and Management Company of Herons Court v Heronslea Ltd and others Lessees and Management Company of Herons Court v Heronslea Ltd and others Hinrichs and others v Oracle Corporation UK Ltd
footer logo
Lexis House, 30 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4HH.
CONTACT US
0330 161 1234
GET IN TOUCH
  • Worldwide: United Kingdom
    • Argentina
    • Australia
    • Austria
    • Belgium
    • Canada
    • Chile
    • China
    • Columbia
    • Denmark
    • Finland
    • France
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • International Sales(Includes Middle East)
    • Israel
    • Italy
    • Japan
    • Korea
    • Latin America and the Caribbean
    • Luxembourg
    • Malaysia
    • Mexico
    • Netherlands
    • New Zealand
    • Norway
    • Philippines
    • Singapore
    • South Africa
    • Spain
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • Taiwan
    • Turkey
    • United States
QUICK LINKS
Jobs and Career Hub
Directory
Current Issue
Features
Editorial Board
About us
Write for us
Bar Council
Wellbeing at the Bar
Bar Representation Fee
Bar Standards Board
Attract Better Legal Candidates
PARTNER SITES
New Law Journal
Tolley
LexisNexis
Tax Journal
Taxation
POLICIES
Data Protection
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Subscribe
Advertise with us
Protecting human rights: Our Modern Slavery Act Statement
Copyright © 2026 Bar Council LexisNexis