Spring 2002, pg. 74. Getting interactive court forms off the Internet is becoming easier. Her's a guide to finding them.

• Author: HUGH CALKINS

Maine Bar Journal

2002.

Spring 2002, pg. 74.

Getting interactive court forms off the Internet is becoming easier. Her's a guide to finding them

Maine Bar JournalSpring 2002Getting interactive court forms off the Internet is becoming easier. Her's a guide to finding them.HUGH CALKINSThere is a great variety of legal forms available on the internet. The first distinction to make when talking about them is between static and interactive forms. Static forms, usually .pdf (portable document format) forms created with Adobe Acrobat, can be viewed, downloaded and printed, but can't be manipulated or prepared on line. They still require the use of a typewriter or goose quill to be completed. Interactive forms, often also .pdf forms-but also existing in various word processing formats such as Word, WordPerfect and RTF (rich text format)-can be prepared on line and printed as completed forms.

PDF forms, and some versions of the word processing forms, have a fixed format. That is, fields within the document can filled out, but the document itself cannot be changed. A two-page document remains a two-page document. Paragraph 13 remains paragraph 13. Other of the word processing forms can be manipulated and changed like any other word processing document.

Maine Court Forms

One of the most successful sections of the Pine Tree Legal Assistance and Volunteer Lawyers Project Web sites is the interactive court forms page:(http://www.ptla.org/forms.htm)

More than 200,000 of the forms, in both interactive and static format, were downloaded in 2001. Although we made the forms available initially for our pro se clients and volunteer attorneys, we find that many private lawyers and firms use them extensively. Interactive versions of the court forms are also available on the Maine State Bar Association Web site: (http://www.mainebar.org)

You will need your password to access them.

These forms are all in .pdf format and were created in Adobe Acrobat, translating from the courts' arcane WordPerfect for MacIntosh format. Nearly all computers with Web browsers also have Acrobat Reader, which, in its more recent versions, allows site visitors to download, prepare, and print these interactive court forms. Acrobat Reader is available for free from the Adobe Web site for those who don't already have it on their computers. However, because it is free, Adobe...