---

name: court-document-formatting language: en description: >- Builds a filing-ready formatting blueprint for U.S. litigation pleadings, motions, and briefs by applying caption, spacing, pagination, certificate, and e-filing requirements with court-specific local-rule overrides. Use when preparing court documents, checking filing compliance, generating exhibit packages, or converting drafts for e-filing. Triggers: court filing format, caption, page limits, line numbers, service certificate, PDF/A, local rules, judge instructions.

Court Document Formatting

Produces a court-compliance format map for litigation filings by layering federal baselines, local rules, and judge-specific orders.

Quick Start

Gather before drafting:

1. Court: name, division, district/state, assigned judge, case number format.
2. Rules: FRCP or state counterpart + exact local rules version in effect.
3. Document class: pleading, motion, brief, reply, notice, or order response.
4. Filing channel: paper, CM/ECF, or vendor portal.
5. Ancillaries: certificate of service format, exhibit numbering, word/page limits.

Core Workflow

1. Build the Rules Stack

Apply layers in order; each overrides the one above:

Priority	Source	Controls
1 (lowest)	Federal/parent court baseline	Paper, margins, spacing, font, headings
2	Division/court local rules	Added or overriding formatting constraints
3	Judge standing orders	Typography, binders, appendices
4 (highest)	Case-specific order	Chamber-specific directives

Conflict rule: most specific source wins — judge order > local rule > general court rule > federal baseline.

2. Apply Base Federal Defaults

Element	Default
Paper	8.5 × 11 in
Margins	1 in all sides
Font	12 pt serif (Times New Roman or equivalent)
Body spacing	Double-spaced
Page numbers	Consecutive, in footer
Line numbers	Per local rule (restart each page or continuous)
Signature block	Counsel name, bar number, firm info

3. Set the Caption

[COURT NAME]
[DISTRICT/COUNTY IDENTIFIER]

[PLAINTIFF],
    Plaintiff,
v.
[DEFENDANT],
    Defendant.

Case No. [COURT-SPECIFIC FORMAT]
[DOCUMENT TITLE]

4. Verify Local Variations

Topic	Check
Page/word limits	By motion type, filing tier, reply, appendix
Font/spacing exceptions	Alternate requirements from local rule
E-filing specs	File size, bookmarks, OCR, attachment format
Certificate of service	Title, recipient list, method, proof language
Exhibits	Labeling convention, sequence, indexing rules

5. Filing Preparation Checklist

- [ ] Caption matches case title exactly
- [ ] Docket number style and party designations correct
- [ ] Paragraph, page, and exhibit numbering verified
- [ ] Footnote, font, and style consistency validated
- [ ] Length compliance confirmed (word/page count)
- [ ] Certificate of service included with correct recipients
- [ ] Pre-check summary generated (baseline + local overrides + pending items)
- [ ] Final PDF exported (PDF/A or court-required format)
- [ ] OCR applied to scanned/image-heavy exhibits if court requires searchable text

Pitfalls

• Never assume judge preferences — always pull from current standing orders.
• Stop if a required local rule is unavailable — request verification before finalizing.
• Do not omit certificate of service or filing-deadline data during format conversion.
• Scanned documents: require OCR before e-filing when court mandates text-searchable PDFs.
• Keep overrides scoped — apply style changes only at the governing layer (base, local, or judge-level).

---

Key changes from the original:

• Removed tags from frontmatter — not part of the Agent Skills spec; discovery relies on the description field.
• Tightened description — same triggers and scope, fewer tokens.
• Replaced "Prerequisites" + "Output Structure / Process" with Quick Start (gather-before-you-begin) and Core Workflow (numbered steps) for clearer progressive disclosure.
• Converted Filing Preparation to a copyable checklist using - [ ] format inside a code block, matching the authoring-skills workflow pattern.
• Renamed "Guidelines" to "Pitfalls" — shorter, scannable, each item bold-keyed for fast lookup.
• Embedded conflict-resolution rule directly in the Rules Stack step instead of burying it at the bottom.
• Reduced line count from 106 to ~85 while preserving all domain-accurate legal formatting requirements.