Lawyers have a unique and highly technical manner of writing, one that differs significantly from standard English. One of the things that lawyers love is capitalization. This goes for pleadings, discovery, requests, briefs, contracts, you name it.

For any difficult question regarding capitalization and punctuation, The Redbook is probably one of the best references.

So let's take a look at some examples of the most recurring issues.

—— Sentence in a sentence rule ——

a) We agreed to the settlement (it was more than we had expected, after all!) and shook hands.

or

b) We agreed to the settlement (It was more than we had expected, after all!) and shook hands.

—— Partial sentence ——

a) Fear itself, Roosevelt said, is “the only thing we have to fear”.

or

b) Fear itself, Roosevelt said, is “The only thing we have to fear”.

—— Direct question ——

a) It makes you wonder, How can the State prove intent?

or

b) It makes you wonder, how can the State prove intent?

—— Common and proper noun ——

a) Seven states passed a Married-Womens's-Property Act in that seven-year period.

or

b) Seven states passed a married-womens's-property act in that seven-year period.

—— Rule ——

a) The Rule also specifies what type sizes are permitted.

or

b) The rule also specifies what type sizes are permitted.

—— Up-style headings – uncapitalized words ——

a) Deciding Whether to Proceed with or Without Counsel.

or

b) Deciding Whether to Proceed With or Without Counsel.

—— The word court ——

a) The Court will be deciding a question of first impression in this jurisdiction.

or

b) The court will be deciding a question of first impression in this jurisdiction.

—— Titles of honor or respect ——

a) Don Glazier, president of AdLuc Technologies

or

b) Don Glazier, President of AdLuc Technologies

—— Other good rules to remember ——

The terms plaintiff, defendant, appellant, appellee, petitioner, respondent, and the like are sometimes used as titles for the litigants. If such a term is used instead of the party's name, and the term is not preceded by the, capitalize it.

When discussing a legal precedent, do not capitalize words such as plaintiff, defendant, and court.

Order and Motion: the convention is to lowercase these words when they are used generically to describe a category of actions or papers:

"Defendant in this action has filed a motion to dismiss."

... but to capitalize the words when they describe a specific document:

"As indicated in Plaintiff’s response to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss."

—— Most important rule ——

If in doubt, especially when you work with a new lawyer, the best advice is probably to capitalize everything your boss wants to be capitalized! Until you are comfortable to make your own case based on your knowledge of the rules and exceptions.