Change in rules governing ‘battle of the fonts’ in appeals documents take effect January 1

New appellate rules take effect January 1 that convert longstanding page limits on briefs and other appeals filings into word count limits for all computer-generated documents.

The new Supreme Court approved rules also require the use of specific fonts chosen for readability on computer screens — Arial 14-point or Bookman Old Style 14-point.

The change comes as the state’s top appeals judges again confront the ever-changing technology of desktop typography that first sparked a lawyers’ “battle of the fonts” some 30 years ago.