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Formatting an Appellate Brief in MS Word

Guide to formatting an appellate brief using MS Word on a PC or Mac.

About Pagination

Most appellate briefs have different sections with different types of page numbers. To set up the sections, see the parts of this LibGuide on Preparing Your Document. The typical brief has:

  • First page/cover page: no page number
  • Next few pages: lower-case Roman numeral page numbers (i, ii, iii...)
  • Rest of the document: egular numbered-page numbers (1, 2, 3...)

Our instructions will show you how to set up this page numbering system in your own document, as well as give basic numbering instructions for less-complicated documents.

Page Numbers for Different Sections - PC

Once you have your different sections set up, go to the first page of your Table of Contents. Double-click in the footer section to bring up the Header/Footer tools pane. Make sure that "Link to Previous" is not highlighted:

 

At the top left of the screen, chose Page Number > Format Page Number > Number Format. For Table of Contents and Table of Authorities, you will typically want lowercase Roman numerals, so select that style. To exit, just double-click anywhere outside the footer area. Repeat for any other sections you want to number separately.