On 01/06/2009 01:12 PM, [email protected] wrote: > Hello, > > I've been trying out the Open Office's word processing application for > our county law library's public computers. I am, over all, very > impressed and satisfied. > > One MSWord feature that we use here and I regret not seeing on the > Open Office app is Word's legal pleading paper and "Pleading Wizard" > features. By clicking on Word's "File," then "New," a box on screen > offers a "Legal" tab that includes a pleading-paper template and also > a "wizard" feature that permits answering basic questions about the > legal venue, the court, the parties, and the pleading's name. Then it > drafts the difficult caption portion on a numbered and lined document > template. > > I realize that there are probably enormous copyright hindrances to > adding such a feature to Open Office's writing app, but is there some > after-market add-on or macro that will emulate or substitute for this > MSWord feature? > > We get a lot of people who can't afford a lawyer in here and they > would be sunk without some foolproof way to draft documents that the > clerks downstairs will accept. > > Thanks for your kind attention and for some pretty terrific > applications. What do users who finally acquire them normally > contribute? > > Tom Anderson > Mendocino County Law Library > Ukiah, CA
There are several pleading templates available: <http://documentation.openoffice.org/Samples_Templates/User/template_2_x/writer/index.html> <http://documentation.openoffice.org/Samples_Templates/User/template/legal/index.html> Other resources: <http://www.google.com/search?q=openoffice+%2B%22pleading+template%22> <http://www.smalldataproblem.org/ooextras/index.php?page=downloads&cat=writer> [Pleading.stw PleadingGeneric.stw] Further, I'd recommend that you talk with the clerk downstairs and see if he/she will provide you with the non-pdf forms available here: http://www.mendocino.courts.ca.gov/forms.html Those forms are in pdf format and were created most likely in Word or similar. For example: http://www.mendocino.courts.ca.gov/forms.html DUI Advisement of Rights, Waiver, and Plea Form (1st offense, VC ยง 23152) was created using Word: PRU-100.pdf: Microsoft Word - PRU-100nonla-pre_PDF.doc If you can get the Word files, then you can convert them to OOo with some added formating. And after doing so, provide them back to the clerk & convince Ukiah to use OOo instead :-) That said, all of the forms are available in PDF format, both fillable and non-fillable (example: http://www.mendocino.courts.ca.gov/Packet%20Appeal%20Infraction.html) so I wonder how many of your customers actually need to create a pleading paper from scratch. -- You have been cc'd on this post as you have posted to an open OOo mailing list. Please see: http://www.openoffice.org/mail_list.html for details and how to subscribe or view the archives so that you may see responses from other OOo users. Please *only* reply to [email protected] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
