Pleading Paper Template California
If you are filing documents in a California state court, you must use pleading paper — a specific format governed by California Rules of Court (CRC) rules 2.100 through 2.119. A proper California pleading paper template includes 28 numbered lines per page, a double vertical rule on the left side, one-inch margins, and Times New Roman 12-point font. Whether you are filing a motion, a declaration, or an opposition, the court expects every page to follow this layout exactly.
What Goes on a Pleading Paper Template
A compliant California pleading paper template starts with an attorney or self-represented filer block in the upper-left corner, containing the filer's name, State Bar number (if applicable), address, phone number, and email. To the right of that block is a "FOR COURT USE ONLY" box. Below the filer block sits the court name and county, centered and underlined. Below that is the two-column caption box: the left side lists the parties (Plaintiff v. Defendant, or Petitioner v. Respondent), and the right side lists the case number, document title, judge, department, and hearing information.
Key Formatting Specifications
- Page size: 8.5 × 11 inches (standard letter)
- Margins: 1 inch on all sides (some courts accept 0.5-inch right margin)
- Font: Times New Roman, 12-point for body text
- Line numbering: 1 through 28, consecutively down the left margin
- Vertical rule: A double vertical line between the line numbers and the body text
- Footer: Page number centered, followed by a line and the document title
Why You Should Not Use a Blank Word Document
Many self-represented litigants try to format their pleadings in a blank Word document, manually adding line numbers and drawing caption boxes with tables. This approach almost always leads to errors — line numbers that don't align, caption boxes with broken borders, or text that spills past 28 lines. Courts can reject filings for these formatting defects, costing you time and potentially missing critical deadlines. Using a properly built template or an automated formatter eliminates these risks.
How CourtFormat Helps
Instead of searching for a downloadable template and filling it in by hand, you can paste your raw document text into CourtFormat. The tool automatically places your content onto properly formatted California pleading paper — with correct line numbering, caption boxes, court-use boxes, margins, and footers. It checks your document against CRC 2.100–2.119 and flags any compliance issues before you file. You get a filing-ready PDF or DOCX without manually adjusting a single line number.