Templates
Trial exhibit index template
An exhibit index is an internal finding aid. Where the exhibit list is the document you exchange and file, the index answers the questions that come up in the war room: which tab holds Exhibit 006, who produced it, how many pages it runs to, and what the PDF on the shared drive is called.
Keep both. They share the exhibit number as a join key and nothing else. This template uses the fictional Smith v. Jones matter, a two-binder set with a mixed production, so you can see how a partly finished index looks. The companion trial exhibit list covers the filed version.
Exhibit index — Smith v. Jones, binders 1 and 2
| Tab | Exhibit No. | Title | Source / custodian | Bates range | Pages | File name | Location | Prep status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 001 | Residential construction contract | Smith production | SMITH000001-000012 | 12 | 001-contract-2025-03-14.pdf | Binder 1, tab 1 | Final |
| 2 | 002 | Change order No. 2 | Smith production | SMITH000013-000015 | 3 | 002-change-order-2.pdf | Binder 1, tab 2 | Final |
| 3 | 003 | Photograph, kitchen subfloor | D. Smith, mobile phone | SMITH000101 | 1 | 003-photo-subfloor.pdf | Binder 1, tab 3 | Final |
| 4 | 004 | Email chain re leak under sink | Jones production | JONES000440-000443 | 4 | 004-email-leak.pdf | Binder 1, tab 4 | Final |
| 5 | 005 | Invoice No. 4471 | Jones production | JONES000512-000513 | 2 | 005-invoice-4471.pdf | Binder 1, tab 5 | Final |
| 6 | 006 | Payment ledger, March to August 2025 | Smith production | SMITH000210-000213 | 4 | 006-payment-ledger.pdf | Binder 2, tab 1 | Re-export pending |
| 7 | 007 | Repair estimate, Cedar Ridge Restoration | K. Doyle, Cedar Ridge | SMITH000301-000304 | 4 | 007-repair-estimate.pdf | Binder 2, tab 2 | Final |
| 8 | 008 | Site inspection report | A. Pierce, inspector | SMITH000330-000341 | 12 | 008-inspection-report.pdf | Binder 2, tab 3 | Color copy ordered |
Name files so they sort the way the binder is ordered: exhibit number first, then a short slug. The Prep status column tracks your own production work, not the evidentiary record, so keep words like Final, Re-scan, Awaiting color rather than Admitted. Page counts are worth maintaining because copy orders and bench sets are priced and packed by page. Run a separate index per party set instead of mixing plaintiff and defense rows in one sheet.
How to fill it in
Fill the File name column by copying the actual name from disk, character for character. An index that says 006-ledger.pdf when the file is 006-payment-ledger-v3.pdf is worse than no index at all, because it gets trusted.
The Source column is the fastest authentication note you will ever write: who produced it, or who took it. When a witness asks where a photograph came from, the answer is already on the sheet. Page counts come from the final PDF, not the paper original, since a duplex scan and a single-sided print disagree more often than you would like.
Update Location the moment a binder is split into volumes, and keep the Tab column contiguous. If a late exhibit arrives, give it the next free number and add it at the end of the binder rather than renumbering everything behind it. How to organize trial exhibits walks through the wider folder structure, and exhibit number covers the identifier itself.
Adapting it to your court
Some teams add a Volume column once a set passes two binders, and a Copies column counting the bench, witness, clerk and opposing sets so the copy order is a single glance. In matters governed by a protective order, a Designation column recording Confidential or Attorneys Eyes Only saves a scramble at the courtroom door.
Where a document was produced natively, a short Native format note tells you why the PDF looks like a printout and where the original lives. Teams working with an electronic filing system often add the filing stamp or docket entry number for exhibits already on the record.
What a court expects to receive varies by jurisdiction and by judge, and an index is usually an internal document rather than something you file. Check the pretrial order before you assume either way, and ask the courtroom deputy whether a copy of the index is welcome at the clerk's table.
Using it with Exhibit Room
Tab order and the order of exhibits in the app should match. Exhibits can be dragged into any order in the exhibit manager, so you can make the screen mirror the binder instead of re-cutting tabs; see exhibit organization.
The Title column maps to the exhibit name in the app, with room for the longer version in the description field. Two limits are worth planning around: each exhibit holds one PDF, and PDF is the only supported import format, so a multi-part document has to be combined into a single file before it goes in. The Location column tracks paper that the software knows nothing about, which is precisely why the index earns its place.
When the index reads Final across the board, export the trial to a single .exhibitroom file as your snapshot of that state. There is no index export inside the app, so this CSV stays the finding aid your team reads.
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