10.2.2 HEADINGS

Effective point headings are discussed in Chapter Nine. I raise them here only as a practical matter. By this stage of the writing process, most writers will have identified where their headings belong and will have begun to draft headings as well.

Inserting headings is one of the simplest steps a writer can take to improve the brief’s effectiveness because headings allow the user to find the most important parts of the document. In an objective document, a heading can be simply a word or phrase that accurately describes the subject of the section or subsection — for example, “Damages,” “Breach of duty to provide due care,” and the like. Because the writer is usually not pushing one conclusion or another, the headings can be merely objective labels. When writing an argument, however, resist the temptation to take the easy way out: Take the time to draft argumentative point headings.

Argumentative point headings are an important part of your template because they are so highly visible. Further this advantage by choosing highly visible typefaces and styles for your point headings. Boldfaced type is usually an excellent choice, unless local rules forbid it.

You may be told that local rules “require” all capital letters, but be sure to check the rules yourself. Often, local practice has interpreted phrases such as “conspicuous type” to mean “all capital letters.”⁵In the examples below, note how much less readable the all-caps heading is:

BAD EXAMPLE ILLEGAL DRUG DISTRIBUTION IS NOT A LONGSTANDING SOCIAL CUSTOM THAT SERVES INTERESTS RECOGNIZED AS VALUABLE BY SOCIETY. GOOD EXAMPLE Illegal drug distribution is not a longstanding social custom that serves functions recognized as valuable by society.

Many legal typeface customs evolved during the age of the typewriter. Use of all-caps and underlining were common because boldfaced and italicized fonts did not exist. Judges welcome being able to find new point headings easily as they page through the argument, and boldfaced headings will help them do this. Headings made up of all capital letters are usually difficult to read.⁶ Accordingly, you should never use all caps for point headings unless the court requires it.

In addition to typeface concerns, consider placement of your headings as well. Although by now you have probably broken your document into sections, you may need a technique to help you to do so on an emergency projects. In that situation, creating a template may help you to identify appropriate subsections, e.g., by consulting a topic sentence list. As noted above, in a well-organized document, you should see several paragraphs about one issue, then several paragraphs about the next issue, and so on. When your topic sentences indicate that you have shifted to a new topic, it’s time to insert a new heading.