[ddub]

I'm using paragraphs with the Line Spacing set at "Double." I have the Spacing box checked that says "Don't add space between paragraphs of the same style." And both the "Before" and "After" spacing for each paragraph is set to "0 pt."

I want to decrease the double-spacing that Word automatically applies BETWEEN paragraphs that are double-spaced. In other words, I want to keep the paragraphs and everything in them double-spaced, but decrease JUST the space after the last line of each paragraph and before the first line of the next paragraphs. Unfortunately, I can't just use single-spacing or multiple-spacing, as this is a legal brief and the court specifically requires double-spacing. But there's no requirement that the spacing BETWEEN the paragraphs needs to also be double-spaced, so I want to make the space between paragraphs slightly less than double-spaced. With my font size for the document text set to 12, and thus Word automatically adding 12-pt double-spacing between every line (and accordingly also between every paragraph), I'd really like the space between the paragraphs to be 10-pt.

If you'd dying to know why I want to do this so badly, it's because I think the 12-pt space between the actual paragraphs just looks like way too much white space (I think it looks fine for the paragraphs themselves, just not between them). More importantly than mere aesthetics, I'm on a strict page limit that I've already exceeded, so every single line matters. And one more specific reason is that I'm able to make my subsection headings (i.e., Introduction, Jurisdiction, Parties, Facts, etc.) single-spaced, so I can go to Paragraph Indents and Spacing Spacing, and set the Line Spacing for just the one line of the subsection headings to "Single" and the spacing After to "10-pt." But the problem with that is, I can't decrease the space BEFORE those subsection headings—since it's pulling the double-space formatting from the last line of the double-spaced paragraphs that precede each subsection heading—so I end up with an obviously uneven looking space before (12-pt) and after (10-pt) each subsection heading.

I've been using Word for years and have rarely come across a formatting question that I either can't figure out myself through trial & error, or at least find a quick answer Googling it. But this one is apparently the lone enigma.

Thanks a million in advance if anyone has any idea how to make this happen!