If you are like me, then you cut and paste–a lot–as you write. That became a problem because the things I pasted in (especially things from the Web) would bring in their own formatting, messing my formatting up. But there is a solution!
I changed my default paste options in Word to “Keep Text Only,” unless I was pasting from somewhere else in the same document. Now, my formatting problems have gone away. If I want to keep the formatting from the original source, then I can simply use the “Paste Special” option of “HTML Format.”
If this all seems Greek to you, then you should read Deborah Savadra’s article, Pasting Without Fear In Microsoft Word.
And now for the rest of this week’s links:
- Raymond Ward points to a Florida case in which ambiguous punctuation (apparently caused by using a form offer of judgment without sufficient editing) prevented the award of attorney’s fees.
- Thomas Villecco has a nice article about using storytelling techniques in brief writing.
- Anne Curzan shares a story about how a grammar “rule” she enforced as a copy editor was not actually a rule. This should remind us all not to be pedants about grammar–at least until we’ve checked on what the rule actually is. (Hat Tip: The Volokh Conspiracy)
- Attorney at Work compiles answers to the question, “Do lawyers still need business cards?” Unsurprisingly, they all say yes.
- Alan Cohen describes 10 mistakes lawyers should avoid when buying and using smartphones. (Hat Tip: iPhone J.D.)
- I’ve seen a few different posts sharing their thoughts about the Boston Marathon Bomber Manhunt, like this one and this one. But I think that we should all accept the advice here.
- Finally, this has to my favorite lawyer website.
