Guides
How to number trial exhibits: common conventions
Exhibit numbering looks trivial until two parties arrive with a document each calls Exhibit 7. Then it costs the first fifteen minutes of a trial day and a certain amount of goodwill.
This page is for whoever decides the numbering plan — usually the lead paralegal, sometimes counsel, occasionally the court. It sets out the conventions in common use, what each one is good at, and how to keep a scheme consistent once you commit to it. It does not tell you which scheme is required, because no scheme is required everywhere.
Before you start
Gather the pre-trial order, any scheduling order, the judge's standing orders, and whatever the other side has said about numbering in meet-and-confer correspondence. In many cases the scheme is assigned to you rather than chosen, and discovering that late means renumbering.
You also want the deposition exhibit history. If documents were already marked at depositions, there is a decision to make about whether trial numbering continues that sequence or starts fresh, and it is much easier to make before anybody prints a binder.
On format: whatever scheme you pick, write the identifier the same way every time. Zero-pad if you use plain numbers so files sort correctly, and pick one separator — P-1, not sometimes P1 and sometimes P 1. Exhibit Room accepts any exhibit number you type, including letters, prefixes and sub-numbers, so consistency is a discipline rather than a constraint the software imposes.
Step by step
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Find out whether the scheme is already fixed
Read the pre-trial order first. Courts sometimes assign ranges — one party numbers from 1, the other from 500 — or require party prefixes, or reserve a block for joint exhibits. If the order is silent, ask at the pre-trial conference rather than assuming, and confirm the answer in writing to the other side.
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Understand plain sequential numbering
Exhibits are numbered 1, 2, 3 in the order they appear on the list. It is simple to say out loud, easy for the court reporter, and unambiguous when only one set exists. Its weakness shows when two parties each maintain their own sequence, because "Exhibit 12" then needs a qualifier every single time. Exhibit Room defaults to a zero-padded version of this — 001, 002, 003 — which keeps lists and file names sorting correctly.
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Understand letters and lettered ranges
Some practices mark exhibits A, B, C, running to AA, BB and beyond when the set is large. Letters read well in a short case and are easy to distinguish from page numbers when spoken. They become unwieldy past thirty or forty documents, and a jury asked to compare Exhibit M with Exhibit N will not thank you. Type the letter into the exhibit number field and Exhibit Room uses it as-is.
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Understand party prefixes
Plaintiff's exhibits take P-1, P-2; defendant's take D-1, D-2; joint or stipulated exhibits sometimes take J-1 or JX-1. The prefix answers the "whose exhibit" question in the identifier itself, which is why multi-party cases gravitate toward it. With three or more parties, initials or short party abbreviations are common instead of a single letter.
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Understand sub-numbering
Sub-numbers group related items under one parent: A-1, A-2, A-3 for three photographs of the same site, or P-14.1 and P-14.2 for two amendments to one agreement. This keeps a family together on the list and in argument. Use it sparingly — a set that is three levels deep is harder to navigate than a flat set with good descriptions.
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Decide what happens to deposition exhibit numbers
Two approaches are common: carry the deposition number through to trial so the transcript and the trial record use one identifier, or renumber for trial and note the deposition number in the exhibit's description. Either works; mixing them does not. Whichever you choose, record the mapping. Exhibit Room's description field is a reasonable place to keep "Dep. Ex. 23 (Reyes, 14 Mar)" alongside the trial number.
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Reserve room for late additions
Leave a block at the end of the sequence, or agree a suffix convention such as P-41A, for documents that appear after the exchange. Inserting a new document in the middle of a numbered set is how two versions of a list end up in circulation. Decide the rule before you need it.
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Apply the scheme once, then check it end to end
Enter the numbers, then read the list aloud against the documents with a second person. You are checking for duplicates, skipped numbers, and identifiers that differ only in punctuation. In Exhibit Room the number sits next to the exhibit name in the list and appears on screen during presentation, so a mismatch is usually visible the first time you present.
Examples
In the fictional matter of Smith v. Jones, the pre-trial order is silent on numbering and the parties agree a plan at the conference.
Plaintiff uses P-1 through P-40. Defendant uses D-1 through D-25. Six documents neither side disputes are pulled out as joint exhibits, J-1 through J-6, which saves foundation time on the first morning. Eleven photographs of the stairwell, all taken on the same inspection, become P-9.1 through P-9.11 so that counsel can say "the P-9 series" and everyone knows what is meant. Three documents that surface after the exchange deadline are added as P-41A, P-41B and P-41C rather than being slipped into the sequence.
Deposition exhibits are renumbered for trial, and each exhibit's description records the old identifier — for instance, Dep. Ex. 23 (Reyes, 14 Mar) on P-17. When the witness is asked about "the email you were shown at your deposition," the paralegal can find the trial number in a second.
Related terminology
The identifier itself is the exhibit number, distinct from the Bates number stamped during production, which numbers pages rather than exhibits. A document that has been given its number but not yet received is a marked exhibit; the document you eventually argue from is a trial exhibit whether or not it carries a party prefix.
Frequently asked questions
Does Exhibit Room apply Bates numbers or stamp exhibit labels onto the PDF?
No. There is no Bates stamping and no exhibit sticker or label burned into the page. The exhibit number is metadata that appears in the exhibit list and on screen during presentation; the PDF file itself is never modified.
Can I change an exhibit number after I have imported the document?
Yes. Rename or renumber an exhibit at any time from its context actions. Do it before the exchange deadline if you possibly can, and update your list in the same sitting.
What is the practical limit on a numbering scheme?
Whatever a person under pressure can say correctly. If counsel has to pause to get the identifier right, the scheme is too elaborate. Short prefixes and one level of sub-numbering cover almost every case.
Should joint exhibits get their own prefix?
Many teams do it because it signals that no foundation argument is coming, which helps the court plan the day. It is a convention, not a requirement, and it needs the other side's agreement to be worth anything.
Do numbers need to be zero-padded?
Not for the court, but it helps your file system and your spreadsheet sort correctly. 008 and 042 sort in the order you expect; 8 and 42 do not when mixed with 100.
Number exhibits your way and keep them that way
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