Miscellaneous

I?ve written on this topic many times before (e.g. here), but too many out there either haven?t gotten the message or willfully resist it. So here we go again ...

If you are writing in a proportionately spaced font (i.e. almost anything besides Courier*), you need only one space?not two?at the end of each sentence. The latest and (in my mind) most authoritative voice saying so is Matthew Butterick. Besides being a lawyer, Matthew has credentials most lawyers lack in this area. He has a visual-arts degree from Harvard, where he learned traditional letterpress printing and digital font design. He worked as a font designer for several years before entering law school and becoming a practicing litigator. He explains on his web site and in his new book why, when writing in a proportionately spaced font, one space is enough and two is too many. So if you?re still {sigh} putting two spaces after every sentence, please read what Matthew has to say about it.

Matthew is not alone in his view. Every authority I?ve consulted on this question agrees with him, including the following:

• The Chicago Manual of Style §§ 2.12 and 6.11 (15th ed. 2003).
• The U.S. Seventh Circuit?s Requirements and Suggestions for Typography in Briefs and Other Papers, page 5.
• Ruth Anne Robbins, Painting With Print: Incorporating Concepts of Typographic and Layout Design into the Text of Legal Writing Documents, 2 J. Assn. Legal Writing Directors 108, 129 (Fall 2004) (recommended by the U.S. Seventh Circuit).
• Kenneth A. Adams, A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, §§15.50?15.55 (2d ed. ABA 2008).

If you still insist on putting two spaces after every sentence despite using a proportionately spaced font, be my guest. But I?d like to know if anyone out there can cite any authority to support such a practice.

__________

* If, on the other hand, you?re using your computer to produce text in Courier or another monospaced font, put two spaces after every sentence, as you learned in typing class. But please consider re-examining your choice of fonts.