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Management Assistance Program

Level Up Your Microsoft Word Skills by Mastering Styles

By Jim Calloway

Way back when lawyers were migrating from WordPerfect to Microsoft Word, the most difficult challenge was how Word applied formatting using Styles while WordPerfect used hidden codes within the document that could be easily displayed by using its Reveal Codes setting. Many lawyers had mastered WordPerfect and couldn’t understand why Word didn’t have Reveal Codes.

So many lawyers’ introduction to Styles in Word left them believing something was missing. Today Styles should be recognized as an important formatting and organization tool. Using Heading Styles properly in a brief allows you to generate an automatic Table of Contents. Document templates with the Styles included make it simple to produce documents with a consistent appearance across the firm. Everyone should be using the same firm letterhead template.

If you haven’t mastered Styles, there are many YouTube and Microsoft videos on the topic. If you are creating Tables of Contents manually, there are many videos specifically on automating that. Our colleague Catherine Reach, Director of North Carolina Bar Association Center for Practice Management provides an outline of What Styles in Microsoft Word Can Do.