What does the brief template do?
The template makes it easier for you to format your brief. It provides
- Prompts indicating the information the cover page needs to include, so you can edit accordingly. (Keep the lines between sections.)
- The required pagination (no number on cover, lower-case Roman numerals for the preliminary pages, and Arabic numbers starting with the Statement of Jurisdiction)
- Section headings, which are also already listed in your initial table of contents
- Styles that will help you format different brief elements and include all needed entries in the table of contents
More about Styles
The Word home menu provides styles that can be customized to apply multiple formatting choices, including font, paragraph spacing, alignment, numbering (through multilevel list options), and more.
The template has already defined the following styles:
- Paragraphs - Use for regular paragraphs. Puts text in Times New Roman 12 point and makes the paragraphs double spaced with a first line indent.
- Heading 1 - Used for the section headings (Summary of the Case, Table of Contents, etc.) Puts text in Times New Roman 12 point bold and centered. This style is included in the table of contents as a first level heading. Because these are all already set up in the template, you should not need to use Heading 1.
- Heading 2 - Use for main Point Headings. Puts text in Times New Roman, 12 point, all caps with the paragraph assigned an outline level (numbering) of a Roman numeral and indented accordingly. This style is included in the table of contents as a second level heading. As needed, you will need to apply this style.
- Heading 3 - Use for point sub-headings. Puts text in Times New Roman, 12 point, with the paragraph assigned an outline level (numbering) of a letter and indented accordingly. This style is included in the table of contents as a third level heading. As needed, you will need to apply this style. Note: Applying this style does not automatically put the heading in title case; you will have to do that yourself.
- Heading 4 - Use for point sub-subheadings. Puts text in Times New Roman, 12 point with the paragraph numbered with an Arabic numeral and indented accordingly. This style is included in the table of contents as a fourth level heading. As needed, you will need to apply this style. Note: Applying this style does not automatically put the heading in sentence case; you will have to do that yourself.
- Heading 5 - Use for point sub-sub-subheadings. Puts text in Times New Roman, 12 point with the paragraph numbered with a lower case letter and indented accordingly. This style is included in the table of contents as a fifth level heading. As needed, you will need to apply this style. Note: Applying this style does not automatically put the heading in sentence case; you will have to do that yourself.
To apply a style, select the text you want to format to highlight it, and then click on the desired style on the Word ribbon from the Home menu. Be sure to review to make sure it looks the way you want. (For instance, Heading 3 does not automatically put the text in title case.)
Apply styles as you write to help you navigate your argument.
Warning: Hidden Text
When working with the template, I strongly recommend having the Show/Hide paragraph button turned on. This is in the Home menu on the ribbon and looks like this: 
Showing these hidden characters will help ensure you do not accidentally delete the section breaks that help format the page numbers.
Important note: Make sure these styles reflect the instructions your professor has provided. If, for instance, they want a certain level of point heading underlined, you will want to modify the style to reflect that. It will be easiest to make this change before applying all the styles. Be sure to ask if you have questions about modifying a style.
