Delightfully geeky news story about a legal kerfuffle over typefaces

Writing in Palatino Linotype, Easterbrook warned against display faces that “wear out judicial eyes after just a few pages and make understanding harder.”

“We hope that Bernhard Modern has made its last appearance in an appellate brief,” the Monday ruling said.

State and federal courts across the country all have their own practice rules or guidance. There are rules for word counts and filing deadlines. There are rules about excessive footnotes and obscure acronyms. The Chicago-based 7th Circuit’s own typography guidance, opens new tab runs seven pages.

Easterbrook’s opinion, now part of that canon, made a splash in legal circles on social media. In a post on X, Arizona Court of Appeals Judge Jennifer Perkins said the 7th Circuit’s new guidance on fonts will be “required reading for clerks in my chambers.” —Reuters