California Pleading Paper Formatter

Part of The Annex: free AI tools from SentryHall.

Pleading paper is the page layout California trial courts use for written papers: numbered lines down the left side, set margins, and a footer with the paper's title. This page offers a blank template and an AI skill. The tool formats text you already wrote. It does not write, edit, or check what the text says.

Version 1.0.0.

By Alex (J.D. candidate, not a lawyer)

Downloads

This template follows a common California layout. Its top margin is 3/4 inch, its caption and filer blocks are single-spaced, its court title sits just below line 8, and its page number is 10 point. Rules 2.111(1), 2.108(1), 2.111(3), and 2.104 call for a 1 inch start, one-and-one-half or double spacing, a court title on line 8, and at least 12-point type. Check the filing court's instructions.

No sign-up and no email address are needed.

What California's format rules require

Rule 2.100(a) says the Judicial Council has preempted local rules on the form and format of trial-court papers. Rule 2.119 says these format rules do not apply to Judicial Council forms or local court forms. The summaries below reflect the rules as checked on October 10, 2026.

Rule	What it says
2.102	Papers not filed electronically use one side of each page only.
2.103	All papers are 8 1/2 by 11 inches. Papers not filed electronically use opaque, unglazed white or unbleached paper of at least 20-pound weight.
2.104	Font size is at least 12 points.
2.105	The font is "essentially equivalent to Courier, Times New Roman, or Arial."
2.106	Font color is black or blue-black.
2.107	The left margin is at least 1 inch and the right margin at least 1/2 inch.
2.108	Lines are one-and-one-half spaced or double-spaced and numbered. Line numbers sit at the left margin, separated from the text by at least 1/5 inch of space or a vertical line, restart at 1 on each page, and appear at a rate of at least three per vertical inch.
2.109	Pages are numbered at the bottom in Arabic numerals, starting with the first page. The number may be left off page 1.
2.110	Each page except exhibits has a footer below the page number, set off by a printed line. It holds the paper's title or a short form of it, in at least 10-point type.
2.111	Sets where each part of the first page goes.

Why most templates show 28 lines

Rule 2.108(4) requires at least three line numbers for every vertical inch. It does not name a number of lines. Most pleading paper uses 28 numbered lines because that is what a double-spaced 11-inch page with standard top and bottom space produces. The 28-line layout and the double vertical line at the left are common practice.

The first page

Rule 2.111 lists these positions, from the top of page 1:

Starting at line 1, 1 inch from the top and left of center: the filer's name, address, phone, fax, email, and State Bar number. A person filing without a lawyer lists their own details (2.111(1)).
Right of center, in the first 2 inches between lines 1 and 7: a blank space for the clerk (2.111(2)).
On line 8, at or below 3 1/3 inches from the top: the name of the court (2.111(3)).
Below that, left of center: the case title. To its right: the case number (2.111(4), (5)).
Below the case number: the nature of the paper, and on complaints and petitions, the character of the action (2.111(6)). Then the judge and department, if assigned (2.111(7)), and a referee, if one was appointed (2.111(8)).
In limited civil cases, the caption also carries the words "Limited Civil Case" (2.111(10)). On a complaint, petition, or application, rule 2.111(9) requires the amount demanded to be "stated as follows: 'Amount demanded exceeds $10,000' or 'Amount demanded does not exceed $10,000,' as required by Government Code section 70613."
If a pleading or stipulation reclassifies the case between limited and unlimited civil, the caption or title says so (2.111(11)).

The template marks each of these fields with a short bracketed label, such as [Case number], and leaves the clerk's space empty. You replace each label with your own words.

Use the blank template

Microsoft Word

Download the template and open it in Word.
Click each bracketed field on page 1 and type over it.
Type or paste your text into the body.
Double-click the footer and type the paper's title.

Google Docs

In Google Drive, upload the .docx and open it with Google Docs.
Check that the line numbers and footer came through. Docs can shift header and footer layouts on import.
Fill in the fields and text as in Word.

Use the AI skill

The skill gives an AI assistant instructions and a small Python script. The assistant uses them to put your text into the blank template, in place of its bracketed labels, and save a Word file. The script fills in the template. It does not change the layout.

AI assistants that support Agent Skills

Download skill.zip and add it as a skill in your AI assistant, following the assistant's help pages for adding skills. Then ask it to put your text on California pleading paper.

Other AI assistants that can run Python

Give the assistant SKILL.md and the script from skill.zip, and ask it to follow SKILL.md.

Chat AI assistants that cannot download files

Some chat AI assistants can run Python but cannot download files. With these, you only chat. Ask the assistant to read https://www.sentryhall.com/annex/pleading-paper/chat and follow it. If it cannot open that page, give it https://www.sentryhall.com/annex/pleading-paper/chat.txt instead.

That page holds one short script as text, with its sha256 fingerprint. The assistant copies the script, checks the fingerprint, fills the template with your text, and gives you the finished .docx file. If a fingerprint does not match, the assistant tells you the file may differ and copies the script again.

The body comes out as plain paragraphs, with no bold, italics, or headings. A first-page field you leave out shows as a blank line. This needs an assistant that can run Python. Some chat AI assistants cannot.

What to give it and what you get

Give the assistant the first-page details (filer block, court name, case title, case number, nature of the paper) and your finished text. It returns a .docx file. If a first-page detail is missing, the skill asks for it or leaves the field blank. It never makes one up.

What this tool does not do

It does not write, edit, reword, or correct legal content.
It does not suggest claims, defenses, arguments, or citations.
It does not check whether a paper is complete, correct, or on time.
It does not choose a court, a form, or a type of paper.
It does not fill in or replace Judicial Council forms (rule 2.119).
It does not sign documents or check signature requirements for electronic filing (rule 2.257).
It does not format appellate briefs, which follow different rules.

Before filing

Check the filing court's instructions before you file. A paper filed electronically must be in a format the court specifies, unless it cannot be created in that format (rule 2.256(b)). If an electronically filed paper cannot be formatted to meet another formatting rule, the electronic filing rules prevail. Check also whether a Judicial Council form is required for the paper. The California Rules of Court are at courts.ca.gov.

Where your text goes

This site has no upload box and receives none of your text. The template runs in your word processor. The skill runs in your AI assistant or on your computer, and its script makes no network calls. If you use an online AI assistant, that service's own terms cover what happens to the text you give it.

Versions and changes

1.0.0, October 10, 2026: first release.