If you are creating documents for print, make sure to check your word processor or desktop publishing software's settings for smart/printer's quotes. (This doesn't apply to web documents because many of the fonts don't support special characters or symbols.)

You should use the smart or printer's quotes (the ones with the curlicues and not the tick marks). If there are multiple people working on the same document, you could get a variety of quotation mark/apostrophe styles. The patchwork quilt look is not good for documents that need to have a polished or cohesive image.

You can set this option in Microsoft Word, and it will update your quotation marks and apostrophes from that point forward. Click Tools and select AutoCorrect Options. Click on the AutoFormat As You Type tab. Select "Straight Quotes" with "Smart Quotes." This will set the formatting from this point forward for your documents.