Legal Writing Pads 8.5"x11.75" - 6 Pack Canary Yellow Perforated Lawyer Notepads with Extra-Strong Back & 100 Sheets per Pad - Ideal for Courtroom Notes, Legal Drafting & Office Documentation (63396)

I love these things. So much that I have "normal" 8.5x14 pads sitting around going unused (reminder, these are 8.5x11 which I have grown to prefer). I had seen a few attorneys use wide margin pads over the years but my firm never would buy them. And I always felt dumb running my pen down the middle of a pad...why not just buy it right the first time?!? So, when I started my own firm I bought a pack of the "standard" legal pads and then these. My love of these pads is expressed best when I say I've since bought several more packs of these docket ruled pads while almost the full pack of the standard legal pads go unused in my storage cupboard.Why do I like them? Well, for the central reason of the very wide left margin. The left margin is about 2.75 inches from left edge instead of the normal 1.25 inches. Why? So you can make better and larger doodles of your adversary or judge or arbitrator! Well, that too, but mainly so you make better, larger and more notes in the margin as you run your hearing. Instead of trying to squeeze things into a little gutter. I mean, c'mon, this is your job and livelihood...why write small and cram things in? The pads also have a very stiff back and paper, while it could be thicker, is of good quality and handles ink well. No bleeding. I have also grown to prefer 8.5x11 over 14. My files are letter sized anyway, not legal, so why continue to fold-over the bottom quarter of a legal sheet. Yeah, there are those using legal files...so maybe it isn't a big deal, but when you do use legal sized folders a full legal sheet can bury your exhibits and other notes which are undoubtedly printed on 8.5x11 paper anyway. Whatever. I don't buy into the idea a 14 inch pad allows more notes per page. Well, obviously it does, but what's the problem with just flipping to a new page? I guess size is a personal preference, but the wide left margin is why you need this pad.Okay, thin paper, so what? I'm taking notes with the pads not publishing a book. The paper is thin, and perhaps it is not feasible to use the backside because the handwriting from the front side comes through. I could care less. I don't use the backside anyway because I hate flipping the sheets over when I'm searching for something I wrote.I love the Cornell format. I take notes on the right side and go back and write thoughts, to do's, and important take-aways on the left side.I love the fact that they tear off easily. The law ruled lines make it so much easier to write quick compact notes, and they give you more lines per page. Couple that with 100 sheets, and you have yourself a workhorse.In MHO, if you are so focused on the quality of the paper you use to take routine notes, then you are probably not focused enough on the task at hand. Might there be folks out there that have a legitimate reason to consider the quality of the paper, I'm 100% sure there are; however, I suspect that they are a small minority. The quality of this paper matches the task it is designed for.My recommendation: Don't fret anymore, buy the pads, and get to work.I was a big fan of the Ampad Gold Fibre legal pads. The paper was thick, and the perforation was excellent, allowing each page to tear off cleanly. I cannot abide how some pads allow the paper to tear at the top of the page, getting worse and worse as you go down the pad. I am a historian. I translate 200-year-old Spanish official records. I write my source citations at the top of the page, and if half of the top of the page is gone because of poor perforation, which allows the sheet to tear raggedly at the top, it is of no use to me. The last time I went to buy the Ampad Gold Fibre, I could not find them. Office Depot and Staples had replaced them with their own very inferior brands. The paper on those house-brand pads is too light (15 lb.) and the perforation is miserable. The pages tear raggedly at the top, leaving up to half of the top margin on the pad. I was not happy. I resorted to disassembling the pad so that I could have whole pages, with no tearing at the top. I ordered the Tops product from Amazon, and have been happy with it. There is an occasional bad tear, but they are usually minor, and taking care when tearing corrects that immediately. The paper is a bit light -- with my fountain pen, I can use only one side of each sheet -- but that is a minor point. The paper holds the ink well without feathering or smearing. The other thing I like -- even love -- about these Tops pads is that they come narrow ruled, which I prefer. At Office Depot and Staples, I could only find wide-ruled pads,which I do not like at all.I recommend these pads for several reasons, in no particular order:1) The backing is thick enough and stiff enough the pads are good for writing when no desk is available. I often have need to take notes when outdoors and away from office furniture.2) The paper is of good quality.3) I had my own system for taking notes that took advantage of law ruled note paper decades before I learned of the Cornell Note System. I still like mine better but law ruled works perfectly for the Cornell System.4) I prefer canary colored writing paper.5) These pads have more pages than many available. They are priced a bit more but cost per sheet is the same so the backing and color tip the scales for me.These are worth the extra over the Amazon brand! The sheets tear off easily and are of decent thickness. The fact that they’re 100 pages instead of the standard 50 means I don’t have nearly as many pads laying around which is a big plus. It’s easier to find what I’m looking for when going through past notes.The holes are punched through, smooth, spaced well, and consistent. I regularly add sheets from these into my binders.Definitely the best note pads I’ve used in a long long time!good