Thus, at their discretion, both the Superior and Municipal courts can accept duplex-printed papers. If you know the specific judge who will preside over your case in a Superior, Municipal or Unified Court, seek permission to file duplex-printed papers from the Deputy Clerk who works for that judge. If you do not know which judge will hear your case, seek permission from the Clerk of the Court who oversees the court in which your case will be heard. Duplex-printed documents achieve greater business efficiency and save money by yielding less paper to handle. Duplex-printed documents are smaller than those printed on one side, requiring less postage to mail.
Smaller documents require the purchase of less paper.
Paper costs, on average, 0.5 cents per sheet. The requirement that California trial court documents be bound at the top is the likely reason why the trial courts don't allow duplex-printed briefs. The ability to change the binding selection for duplex-printed pages is actually in the word processing program on your computer, not in the printer. Microsoft Word and Novell WordPerfect both have this ability. The California Integrated Waste Management Board provided technical assistance in preparing this factsheet.