Lawyers and others prefer legal paper for writing contracts because the length of the paper makes it easy to include important contract details. This is true for all businesses, including those that use lawyers, such as accounting, banking, real estate, and even the hotel business.
Several historical stories center on the first time legal-sized paper was used. Supposedly, during Henry VIII’s reign, paper was printed on 17-inch-by-22-inch sheets because that was the largest mold that papermakers could move. These big sheets were called “foolscap,” and tradition says that lawyers would fold them in half and use them as legal papers. Lawyers used longer paper so they could write more notes than would fit on a normal page.
Not where it came from, but one benefit of the format: when a document is formatted as 8.5 x 11, there are three inches at the bottom for notes, changes, and other things. Before computers made typing fast and easy, it may have been more useful.
Accounts vary. Some people think it’s because lawyers want to stand out and respect institutions with a lot of history. The same thing happens a lot with Latin phrases. Some people say that this was done so that a lawyer could print a standard-sized document on a sheet of legal paper and still have plenty of room to make notes and changes. Back then, you couldn’t just make a paper smaller to save paper. Because typeset documents couldn’t be resized, you had to use a second sheet of paper or print it on a larger sheet of paper if you wanted to make changes to a document that took up most of the page. Lawyers are traditionalists, even though there isn’t much need for them to be that way these days.
ELI5: Why do lawyers use Legal size (8.5″ x 14″) paper instead of Letter size (8.5″ x 11″) paper? Do lawyers in places where A4 is the standard size of paper also use a mysterious other size?
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Do lawyers use paper that is legal size?
In fact, most lawyers use standard letter-sized contracts these days (8.5″ x 14″). Another nonsense idea is that lawyers use legal size because it takes them 14 inches to say what the average person can say in 11.
What are some ways that legal-sized paper can be used?
Things like brochures and legal papers are printed on legal-sized paper. It is a common paper size in the U.S. and other places that still use paper sizes based on the English system (English measuring system). Legal-size paper is 8.5 inches wide and 14 inches long.
What’s the difference between legal size and letter size paper?
Letter (8.5 x 11 inches), Legal (8.5 x 14 inches), and Tabloid are the most common traditional sizes (11 x 17 inches). You almost certainly use these formats in your daily life. Letter is the standard format for business and school papers.
Do legal documents depend on the size of the paper?
The validity of a will is not affected by the size of the paper used for the will stationery. Legal size paper used to be the norm, but you can also use letter size paper. On the other hand, the will paper itself is very important.
What makes legal paper different?
Lawyers used longer paper so they could write more notes than would fit on a normal page. No matter what the history is, all standard paper sizes in the United States come from the Committee on the Simplification of Paper Sizes, which was set up by the Bureau of Standards in 1921.
Why does paperwork for the law take up so much space?
When lawyers see situations where something went wrong, they add clauses to make sure it doesn’t happen again. For example, for the IRS to recognize a durable power of attorney, it must have certain language that is currently on almost all forms.
Are legal documents that have been folded acceptable?
Legal paper, like letter-size paper, must be folded in order to fit inside a legal-size envelope for mailing. But if the legal paper is folded the same way as letter-size paper, the letter won’t fit in the envelope.
Most contracts are written on what kind of paper?
Most of the time, reports, contracts, and envelopes are made out of bond paper.
Isn’t A4 the legal size?
The size of A4 legal paper is 216 mm by 279 mm. The size is the same in Canada and the US, but the name of the paper is different. American legal paper is 8.5 inches by 11 inches, or 216 mm by 356 mm. These are what are called “legal dimensions.”
Is long bond paper the same as legal size?
US Legal paper is not the same size as long bond paper (8.5 x 13 inches) (8.5 x 14 inches).
Why do legal pads have a yellow color?
Most lawyers like yellow writing pads because they have to deal with a lot of paperwork, and handwritten notes stand out in a sea of white paperwork. Yellow paper pads are easy on the eyes because they don’t hurt when they’re in a bright room.
Should legal documents include justification?
Legal documents should be aligned to the left with a ragged right margin, but this depends on what your readers and bosses want. Depending on what your readers and supervisors want, legal papers can also have text that is completely justified.
Why are the margins in legal documents so big?
Pleadings. The first thing to look at in a pleading is the margins. The margins and spacing are meant to make it easier to read the document. If you’re giving a judge a briefing along with hundreds of others, you should put the most effort into making it easy to read.