Court Document Formatting

Court Document Formatting

Apply court formatting requirements using a local-rules-first workflow. Local rules and judge-specific standing orders always control over baselines.

Prerequisites

Gather before starting:

1. Court, division, and governing rule set (FRCP/FRAP/state + local rules)
2. Case number and full party names
3. Document type (pleading, motion, brief, notice, etc.)
4. Judge's individual practices or standing orders
5. E-filing portal requirements and file-size limits
6. Required certificates (service, word count, compliance)

Core Workflow

Step 1 — Identify Controlling Sources

Collect in priority order:

1. Judge's individual practices / standing orders
2. Local rules
3. General rules (FRCP/FRAP/state)
4. Court-provided forms or templates
5. E-filing portal requirements

Step 2 — Apply Baseline Formatting

Apply defaults, then override per local rule:

Step 3 — Build the Caption

Required elements (verify each against docket):

• Court name (full official name)
• Division (if applicable)
• Party names (exactly as on docket)
• Case number
• Document title
• Filing party designation (if required)
• Assigned judge / magistrate (if required)

Template:

IN THE [COURT NAME]
[DIVISION, IF APPLICABLE]

[PLAINTIFF NAME],                     )
     Plaintiff,                       )
v.                                    )   Case No. [NUMBER]
[DEFENDANT NAME],                     )
     Defendant.                       )

[DOCUMENT TITLE]

Step 4 — Check Local Variations

Verify each item against local rules:

• [ ] Page or word limits (and what is excluded from the count)
• [ ] Font typeface and minimum size
• [ ] Spacing rules for body, headings, block quotes, footnotes
• [ ] Line numbering requirements
• [ ] Signature block format
• [ ] Certificate of service content and placement
• [ ] Exhibit labeling, pagination, and separators
• [ ] Proposed order format and file type
• [ ] Redaction rules and notation

Step 5 — E-Filing Compliance

• [ ] File format: PDF or PDF/A as required
• [ ] Scanned PDFs are OCR'd (unless court prohibits)
• [ ] File size within portal limits; split if needed
• [ ] Bookmarks included for long filings
• [ ] Appendices/exhibits uploaded per portal rules (separate or combined)
• [ ] Privacy redactions applied

Step 6 — Final Compliance Check

• [ ] Caption matches docket exactly (case number, division, party names)
• [ ] Page/word limits satisfied
• [ ] All required certificates included in correct format and location
• [ ] All exhibits labeled and cross-referenced in text
• [ ] File name follows local-rule naming convention
• [ ] E-filing requirements satisfied

Common Pitfalls

• Assuming baselines apply: Never assume a default format is correct without checking local rules first.
• Caption mismatches: Party names, case number, and court title must match the docket exactly — do not rephrase or abbreviate.
• Missing certificates: Omitting certificate of service or word-count certificate is a common rejection reason.
• Non-searchable PDFs: Ensure all PDFs are text-searchable unless the court explicitly forbids OCR.
• Unclear requirements: If any formatting rule is ambiguous, flag it and request the exact rule citation before proceeding.

Key changes made:

• Removed tags — not part of the Agent Skills spec
• Tightened description — removed "Trigger keywords" list (the description itself contains discoverable terms); kept third-person voice
• Added priority order to Step 1 (controlling sources) — the original was a flat list with no hierarchy
• Converted Steps 4-6 to checklists (- [ ]) — enables copy-and-track workflow per best practices
• Replaced "Guidelines" section with "Common Pitfalls" — more actionable, avoids restating what's already implicit in the workflow steps
• Reduced from 127 lines to ~95 lines — removed redundant section headers ("Output Structure / Process"), duplicate information, and verbose labels while preserving all domain-accurate content