Electronic Exhibit Stickers

When offering evidence at trial, the first step is to have the evidence marked for identification and placed under the court’s custody. In the distant past, the process of marking an exhibit often occurred at the time the witness was first  asked about the evidence. This caused the flow of the examination to be interrupted while the court clerk took the time to place an identifying mark on the exhibit and log it into the record. With the advent of modern digital document formats, most courts now require the parties to pre-mark their trial exhibits electronically in order to streamline the process.

General Rules Regarding Exhibit Stickers

The style, placement, numbering system, and information required in the exhibit sticker is ultimately dependent upon the judge, courtroom, and the complexity of the case. It is best to confirm the Local Rules of the court which are generally posted on the court’s website. There is often a pre-trial readiness conference where the judge goes over the exhibit requirements in advance of trial. However, some common practices for exhibit stickers are identified below.

• Color: Defense often uses blue stickers, while plaintiffs use yellow stickers
• Placement: While this can vary widely due to the available white space on the document, stickers are frequently placed as consistently as possible in the upper or lower right quadrants of the document
• Naming Convention: Sequential numbering systems are often used in conjunction with an identifying word or prefix to indicate if the document is a plaintiff or defense exhibit. For example a common sticker may say Defense 0001 or DX001 versus Plaintiff 0001 or PX001

Electronic Stamping

With electronic exhibits, placing exhibit stickers is often a process that falls to the trial technology team in the days immediately preceding the trial. The software for stamping exhibits has continually improved over the years, and has greatly driven down the time and costs associated with stamping the exhibits. Click here for an overview of the existing software available.