Why do we have this document?

The purpose of the Wake Forest Law Communications Style Guide is to ensure consistency across Wake Forest Law’s written and visual communications. Consistency in communication helps to build brand recognition, audience trust, and cohesion and clarity in messaging. This guide covers topics including grammar, punctuation, commonly-used terms, brand-specific language, and more.

This style guide should be used by faculty and staff when creating or revising written and visual content and materials, such as website content, newsletters, formal emails, memos, etc. As the name suggests, it serves as a guide on the rules, tips, and best practices for communicating to the Law School’s various audiences, including students, alumni, and the general public. This style guide does not apply to academic writing, which has its own specific style rules and guidelines.

Note that this is a living document, meaning that it can and will evolve based on Wake Forest Law’s specific needs, changing trends, and emerging information about language and design.

Wake Forest Law-Specific Guidance

About Wake Forest Law

Use the following content when providing an overview and history of Wake Forest Law:

What began in 1894 as a fledgling department within Wake Forest College has grown into the prominent and highly-ranked Wake Forest University School of Law, one of the top law schools in the country.

In 1956, the University, including the Law School, relocated from Wake Forest, North Carolina to Winston-Salem. Thirty-seven years later, the Law School moved to its new space at the Worrell Professional Center, which it shared with the School of Business until 2013. In 2017, the Law School became home to the newest North Carolina Business Court, which is still housed at Worrell today.

Beginning with the 1905 appointment of Needham Yancey Gulley as the first dean of the Law School, Wake Forest Law’s tradition of exceptional leadership has persisted throughout the years, as has its reputation for outstanding teaching, scholarship, and service.

In keeping with the University’s motto of Pro Humanitate, the Wake Forest University School of Law has continued to build on its legacy of developing not just lawyers, but “citizen lawyers,” who will have a positive impact at the local, state, national, and international levels.

Wake Forest Law Specific Terms and Phrases

Brand Terms

These are some of the words, terms, and phrases that underscore the Wake Forest Law brand. These brand terms can be used in formal and informal writing to describe Wake Forest Law:

• Accessible

• Authentic

• Character

• Collaboration

• Community

• Creativity

• Engaged faculty

• Experiential education

• Experts

• Integrity

• Intimate learning environment

• Leadership

• Reputable

• Service

• Supportive

• Teacher-scholars

• Tradition

Referring to Wake Forest Law and Wake Forest University

Use the following to refer to Wake Forest Law:

• Wake Forest University School of Law

• Wake Forest Law

• School of Law

In formal written materials, never use Wake Law. It’s alright for students to use this phrasing, but content that the administration creates should not use this convention.

When referring to this specific law school, capitalize “Law School,” but when referring to law school in general, lowercase the words. In general, you should only use “Law School” in informal communications and only when Wake Forest Law has been explicitly mentioned prior.

• E.g., Wake Forest Law is my alma mater. I had a great experience at the Law School.

• E.g., I think attending law school can be very beneficial.

Use lowercase to refer to Wake Forest University when using “university.”

• E.g., The Law School is on the same campus as the rest of the university.

Wake Forest Law Tone and Style

Tone

When thinking about Wake Forest Law’s tone and style, consider the following:

• Our tone displays confidence and expertise while at the same time embodying warmth and authenticity

• When we use humor, it is light-hearted and earnest as opposed to sarcastic and biting

• The language we use is precise, accessible, and jargon-free; flowery language is not recommended

Style

Specific writing style guidelines include:

• Always use the honorific of “professor” in formal writing; for internal documents, this isn’t necessary

  • Do: The class was led by Professor Jim Smith.

  • Don’t: The class was led by Jim Smith.

• Do not capitalize types of law

  • Do: criminal law

  • Don’t: Criminal Law

• Capitalize course titles

  • Do: Constitutional Law course

  • Don’t: constitutional law course

• Always italicize and capitalize Pro Humanitate

• Court cases are always italicized

  • E.g., Brown v. Board of Education is a landmark case in US history.

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Terms

Given that language around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is constantly evolving, It is best to use phrasing and terminology that is generally and widely accepted in a given moment. Below are some specifics around how Wake Forest Law refers to racial- and disability-centric terms.

• Capitalize Black when referring to Black people

• Use Latino (or Latina) or Hispanic as opposed to Latinx

• Always be as specific as possible when referring to groups of people (if you have the specific information available):

  • Do: Korean-American

  • Don’t: Asian-American

• Try to avoid using ableist language

  • Examples: “fall on deaf ears,” “the way they acted was nuts,” “what a lame joke”

• Use people-first language

  • Do: people with disabilities

  • Don’t: disabled people

General Grammar & Style

Acronyms & Abbreviations

Acronyms

• Always define an acronym upon first use followed by the acronym in parentheses:

  • E.g., American Bar Association (ABA)

• After initially defining the acronym, you can use that throughout the text.

• Always use a comma after “e.g.,” (“exempli gratia” meaning “for example”), “i.e.,” (“id est” meaning “in other words”). When using “etc.” be sure to include a period.

  • What are your favorite parts about your first year of law school? (e.g., Foundations Week, Homecoming Weekend, meeting new people)

Abbreviations

Do not use periods in abbreviations but do use capital letters.

• E.g., Wake Forest Law is one of the best law schools in the US.

Capitalization

Names of days, months, and holidays are always capitalized. The word “day” after a holiday should also be capitalized:

• E.g., Valentine’s Day

When referring to a season in general, it should be lowercase, but when referred to a specific season alongside a year, it should be capitalized:

• E.g., I adore the spring flowers

• E.g., I recall fondly Spring 2023 when the flowers were at their brightest.

• Avoid the phrasing “I recall fondly spring of 2023.” “Of” is not needed.

Degrees

When spelling out a degree, lowercase the degree name and do not use an apostrophe. When using the

acronym for a degree, it should be capitalized* with no periods in between the letters.

• She received her juris doctor from Wake Forest Law.

• She received her JD from Wake Forest University

*The exception to this rule is a doctorate, which has a lowercase “h.”

• E.g., She received a PhD from Wake Forest.

Distinctions/Honorifics

Different variation of the word that denotes a graduate of a higher education institution:

• alumna – singular and feminine

  • E.g., She is an alumnus of Wake Forest Law.

• alumnae – plural and feminine

  • E.g., Both women are alumnae of Wake Forest Law.

• alumnus – singular and masculin

• alumni – plural and masculine (or mixed gender)

  • E.g., He is an alumnus of Wake Forest Law.

  • E.g., All Wake Forest Law alumni are invited to a formal reception following the presentation.

• alum – singular and gender-neutral; an informal reference

  • E.g., I am proud to be an alum of Wake Forest Law!

• alums – plural and gender-neutral; an informal reference

  • E.g., Wake Forest Law alums are the best!

When referring to Wake Forest Law alumni in written documents, always use their graduation year in parentheses and with a closed apostrophe:

• ● E.g., Emily Smith (JD ’87) is a wonderful alumna and a generous donor.

Lists

Bulleted Lists

Always begin the list item with a capital letter. Additionally, single sentence bullet items should not

have periods at the end, while two or more sentences should always have periods after each sentence.

E.g.,

My favorite things about Wake Forest Law are:

• Access to faculty and mentors

• A supportive environment conducive to learning

• Resources and opportunities to engage with my peers

Wake Forest Law is a wonderful place:

• Students are exceptional. They are some of the best in the country.

• Faculty are accessible

• Staff are hard-working

Numbered Lists

Always begin the list item with a capital letter. In contrast to bulleted lists, single sentence numbered

items should have periods at the end. This is for aesthetic purposes, since a period is used after the

numeral in a list.

E.g.,

My favorite things about Wake Forest Law are:

1. Access to faculty and mentors.

2. A supportive environment conducive to learning.

3. Resources and opportunities to engage with my peers.

Numbers & Numerals

Rules to follow:

• Spell out numbers one through nine, then use numerals for 10 and above

  • Do: I’m teaching two courses but over the years I have taught 12 different courses.

  • Don’t: I’m teaching 2 courses but over the years I have taught 12 different courses.

• When a number begins a sentence, it is always spelled out

  • Do: Six hundred students are enrolled at Wake Forest Law.

  • Don’t: 600 students are enrolled at Wake Forest Law.

• If a year must begin a sentence, spell it out. However, try to avoid this structure if possible.

  • Do: Twenty-twenty-three was a banner year for Wake Forest Law.

  • Don’t: 2023 was a banner year for Wake Forest Law.

• If a number beginning a sentence is followed by another number of the same category, spell out all numbers or reword the sentence

  • Do: Fifty, one hundred, or two hundred are the options for donation amounts.

  • Don’t: Fifty, 100, or 200 are the options for donation amounts.

• When specific dates are expressed, use cardinal numbers as opposed to ordinals

  • Do: October 5, 2023

  • Don’t: October 5th, 2023

• However, when a date is mentioned without the month or year, an ordinal number can be used and does not need to be spelled out

  • Do: The 5th of the month

  • Don’t: The fifth of the month

• When listing a century or decade, there should be no apostrophe between the year and the “s.”

  • Do: The 1950s were an anomaly in US culture.

  • Don’t: The 1950’s were an anomaly in US culture.

Publications and Media

• Use italics when referring to books, newspapers (print and online), movies, and podcast programs, but use quotation marks when referring to an article title.

  • E.g., I had an article, “Scholarship around International Law,” published in the New York Times.

• When citing books, articles, websites, etc., use parenthetical citations consisting of the source title, followed by a comma, and then the year of publication in parentheses. Punctuation should be outside of the parenthesis.

  • E.g., It was recently determined that burnout is a real thing (World Health Organization, 2019). Link to the source where possible, always hyperlinking the title.

• For a complete guide to citations, please refer to the Chicago Manual of Style Citation Guide.

Punctuation

Oxford comma

Items in a series are normally separated by commas. When a conjunction joins the last two elements in a series of three or more, a comma—known as the serial or series comma or the Oxford comma—should appear before the conjunction.

• Do: Wake Forest Law students are excellent problem solvers, negotiators, and leaders.

• Don’t: Wake Forest Law students are excellent problem solvers, negotiators and leaders.

Time

Use lowercase a.m. (ante meridiem) and p.m. (post meridiem) with periods after each letter

• Do: Court will begin at 9:00 a.m.

• Don’t: Court will begin at 9:00am.

Hyphens 

Used in compound words and names, and in word division

• E.g., Please use the check-in table to complete your paperwork.

• E.g., Karen Smith-Jones

An abbreviated compound is treated as a single word, so a hyphen, not an en dash, is used in such phrases as “US-Canadian relations”

En Dash

Looks like this: –

Used to connect numbers and, less often, words

• E.g., 2023–2024

With continuing numbers—such as dates, times, and page numbers—it signifies up to and including (or through)

• E.g., Read pages 110–120.

An en dash may be used to indicate a number range that is ongoing; for example, to indicate the dates of a serial publication or to give the birth date of a living person. No space intervenes between the en dash and any mark of punctuation that follows.

• E.g., 1950–

Em Dash

Looks like this: —

Em dashes are used to set off an amplifying or explanatory element and in that sense can function as an alternative to parentheses, commas, or a colon—especially when an abrupt break in thought is called for.

• E.g., The faculty at Wake Forest Law take great care to be accessible to students—in particular those who need extra assistance.

An em dash or a pair of em dashes may indicate a sudden break in thought or sentence structure or an interruption in dialogue.

• E.g., Wake Forest Law—located on the edge of Wake Forest University’s campus—is one of the top law schools in the nation.

Roles & Titles

Civil, military, religious, and professional titles are capitalized when they immediately precede a personal name. In formal prose and other generic text, titles are normally lowercase when following a name.

• Do: Associate Dean John Smith is an important part of the law school.

• Do: John Smith, associate dean, is an important part of the law school.

Titles & Headers

When using titles and headers, use the following rules:

• Capitalize the first and the last word

• Capitalize nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs (including phrasal verbs such as “play with”), adverbs, and subordinate conjunctions

• Lowercase articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions, and prepositions (regardless of length)

• Lowercase prepositions, regardless of length, except when they are used adverbially or adjectivally (up in Look Up, down in Turn Down, on in The On Button, to in Come To, etc.)

• Lowercase the common coordinating conjunctions and, but, for, or, and nor.

• In compound adjectives in headers/titles, compound adjectives should be capitalized:

  • Do: Providing High-Quality Services

  • Don’t: Providing High-quality Services

Style Guide

Colors

Dominant colors should be Old Gold and Black. The secondary colors support our primary colors while offering variety. 

Accent colors should be used sparingly for applications such as bar charts, emphasizing small amounts of text or distinguishing particular events. 

You may choose your own accent colors, as long as they are not these colors:

• UNC Blue

• Duke Blue

• NC State Red

Primary Pallet

• Wake Forest Gold

  • CMYK: 35, 45, 92, 12

  • RGB: 158, 126, 56

  • HEX: 9E7E38

• Black

  • CMYK: 0, 0, 0, 100

  • RGB: 0, 0, 0

  • HEX: 000000

Secondary Pallet

• Yellow 123

  • CMYK: 0, 16, 89, 0

  • RGB: 253, 195, 20

  • HEX: FDC314

• Cool Gray 11

  • CMYK: 44, 34, 22, 77

  • RGB: 83, 86, 90

  • HEX: 53565A

Accent Colors

• Red

  • CMYK: 0, 95, 100, 0

  • RGB: 215, 31, 15

  • HEX: D71F0F

• Orange

  • CMYK: 0, 40, 71, 0

  • RGB: 233, 156, 79

  • HEX: E99C4F

• Green

  • CMYK: 100, 0, 68, 1

  • RGB: 0, 146, 112

  • HEX: 009270

• Blue

  • CMYK: 96, 22, 8, 29

  • RGB: 0, 101, 138

  • HEX: 00658A

• Purple

  • CMYK: 34, 100, 6, 17

  • RGB: 150, 20, 116

  • HEX: 961474

Typography

The Wake Forest Law website uses two distinct typefaces that are also acceptable to use for law school visual idenity in addition to offical Wake Forest University typefaces. All four fonts are available for free from Google Fonts and are compatible with both Windows and Mac computers.

Alternative system fonts are Garamond for the serif typeface and Arial for sans serif.

Quattrocentro

Quattrocentro is a serif typeface that is utilized throughout the law school website. It’s suitable for nearly any use, including cover titles, initial caps, large text, subheads, quotes and body copy.

Cormorant

The primary serif typeface for Wake Forest University is Cormorant and is suitable for nearly any use.

Pathway Gothic One

Pathway Gothic One is a sans serif typeface utilized for headers and other section markers throughout the law school website. Because this typeface is difficult to read in large quantities, it should be used sparingly for distinctive titles, headers, and other small amounts of text.

Nunito Sans

The primary sans serif typeface for Wake Forest University is Nunito Sans and is suitable for nearly any use.

Logos

The complete suite of Wake Forest School of Law logos can be accessed by anyone at the law school when signed into their Wake Forest Gmail account.

The full-color Wake Forest School of Law logo should be used whenever possible. In any situation where the full-color logo is not possible, use the one-color logo in gold, black or white, whichever provides sufficient contrast. Do not use any logo over a pattern or image without a contrasting, opaque, solid-color background behind it.

Goodies

Show off your Wake Forest Law pride wherever you can. Wallpapers may be used as computer desktop and Zoom backgrounds. Designs in our evolving graphics bank may be used for digital and print collateral, as well as departmental promotional and recruitment swag*†.

Policies

The Wake Forest Law visual style guide exists under the parent guidelines of the Wake Forest University Identity Standards. The University recognizes the need for individual schools to exercise creativity in developing individual branding and customizations, but within reason. Please adhere to the following protocols in order to maintain a consistent and professional visual identity that both reflects our unique personality in the Wake Forest community and respects institutional standards and trends.

• When a need for a custom design arises, or when in doubt about anything relating to the law school’s visual identity, contact the law school’s Assistant Director of Visual Commuication for guidance and resources.

• Students may not independently design or produce any branded merch* representing the Wake Forest Law institution through sole use of the school name, school logos, and/or monikers such as “Deac” and “Legal Deac.” 

• Students may independently produce merch*† branding a specific student organization or event. All designs and merch colors must be approved by the law school’s Assistant Director of Visual Communication before proceeding with an order.

• Ideas? Inspiration? Permissions? Exceptions? Contact the law school’s Assistant Director of Visual Communication, Holly Swenson.

Accetable uses of the school name

• Wake Forest University School of Law

• Wake Forest Law

• the Law School

• "Wake Law" is a well-loved term for the law school community, but it should never be used in official correspondence, scholarship, or media contributions

* “Merch” is a comprehensive term designating any type of branded merchandise such as, but not limited to, apparel, beverage containers, stickers, office supplies, and other decorative items.

† Swag designs, even those utilizing sanctioned Wake Forest Law graphics, need to be approved by the law school’s Assistant Director of Visual Communication before placing an order.

Wake Forest Trademarks

The WF Logo and the Demon Deacon Logo are trademarks of Wake Forest University and are not allowed to be used on any law student merch, print, or digital collateral.

Additional Resources

Below are some additional resources to consult if you need assistance or clarification.

• Much of the guidance in this style guide is based on the Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS). When in doubt about grammar, please consult this reference.

• Grammar Girl is another useful resource

• For DEI-specific guidance, consult The Diversity Style Guide

• If you have specific questions or suggestions, you can reach out to a team member of the Marketing & Communications department or lawcomm@wfu.edu.