809.81.Rule (Form of papers).

Every document filed in the court of appeals or supreme court has to follow the same physical format unless a rule expressly says otherwise. Section 809.81 requires 8.5-by-11-inch paper, a monospaced or proportional serif font (or, if handwritten, legible printed text without cursive except for the signature), double spacing, a minimum 1.25-inch margin on the sides and a minimum 1-inch margin top and bottom, and page numbers centered at the bottom in Arabic numerals starting at 1. Whatever process produces the document has to leave a clear, black image on a white background -- carbon copies are not allowed -- and the pages must be bound together at the top left corner.

Two more requirements protect the people involved in a case. Any document required by law to be confidential must refer to individuals only by initials or another appropriate pseudonym or designation, not by name. And the caption on a document generally has to include the full name of each party from the circuit court, identifying each party’s status there and in the appellate court, with a few exceptions -- a domestic abuse or harassment injunction appeal where “petitioner” substitutes for a name, or a different caption the clerk has approved. In the supreme court, “petitioner” gets added to the designation of whoever files a petition for review, while the party responding keeps the same designation used in the court of appeals.