A Primer on Legal Exhibit Tabs
Legal exhibit tabs are navigation tools that help lawyers and legal professionals to keep their trial exhibits organized. Trial exhibits are, in essence, the physical proofs of the case that the lawyer will use to support and frame legal arguments during the case. Legal exhibit tabs replace the cumbersome clip in an effort to improve the efficiency of document organization and presentation. Tabs also assist in ordering stacks of documents in a logical and quantifiable way. Lawyers and paralegals attach legal exhibit tabs to the edge of each trial or court exhibit as a visual and information-based organizational tool. With different formats and orientations, trial exhibit tabs may be customized to fit any specification depending on individual or firm preferences.
In a tabbed stack, a legend may also be attached to the top of the stack so the stack itself can be easily identified without having to open each tab. As both presentation tools and organization tools for exhibit stacks, legal exhibit tabs serve two significant purposes: 1) they provide a simple way to locate required documents and 2) they mark the various points of reference in a timeline of events. By organizing their documents in a methodical manner, lawyers are able to present evidence and records in a fashion that is ordered and easy-to-follow. Legal exhibit tabs in a stack can also be color-coded and indexed-allowing for further customization of stacks.
Legal exhibit tabs are an important part of presenting evidence in legal proceedings. In courts , when trials are held, a legal exhibit tablet showing up in trial exhibit stacks is covered by a transparent plastic filing template that attaches from top to bottom and secures the tabs in place. The legal exhibit tab indicates to the lawyer that the tab or stack can be removed and opened so the paper or image contents can be accessed.
Similar to the way that page dividers are used in books and other types of printed literature, legal exhibit tabbing lets lawyers at a glance read the trials outline without having to sift through the evidence contained in a legal exhibit stack. Therefore, this allows lawyers to quickly refer a reference counsel or judge to a specific piece of evidence without having to shuffle through the stack first. Although legal exhibit tabs provide a fast reference to the core elements in a trial stack, there are some critical differences to consider. In legal proceedings, proper orientation of legal exhibit tabs is paramount. Conversely, for most non-legal settings, proper orientation of page dividers is typically not a consideration for the user. But in a trial exhibit stack, the legal exhibit tabs should always indicate the flow of the chronology in which the files in the stack should be viewed.
Different Varieties of Legal Exhibit Tabs
Exhibit tabs can be purchased for a number of different approaches, all of which are intended to facilitate more organized, effective exhibits. These include:
Numeric tabs – These are the classic page, A-Z exhibit tabs. They can be inserted at the beginning of every piece of evidence or the first page of each exhibit, and then they follow numerically through the rest of the exhibits. If there are multiple exhibits, such as when a large number of documents are involved, the tabs can be placed according to the number of pages in the exhibits. The numbered or lettered tabs make it easy for the reader/viewer to quickly find the listed exhibit in the hearing or trial.
Color-coded tabs – The advantage of color-coded tabs is that they can be organized by category. Instead of following the numeric approach, the tabs can arrange exhibits into groups by experience/capability/characteristics of a party, parties, or attorneys involved in a case. This method allows the reader/viewer to more easily contextualize the information found in the exhibit set.
Alphabetic tabs – Similar to the color-coded tabs, the alphabetic tabs organize the exhibits according to an overall A-Z guide of the particular subject to which they pertain. The alphabetic tabs can be used in separate sets of subject groups or as a single group. This organization allows the reader/viewer to distinguish the relevance of individual exhibits to the case more quickly.
Various size options – While colored and alphabetic tabs tend to be found in smaller sizes (i.e., half, one-third, and two-thirds sheet), larger tabs (full, double full tab, and legal-size) are possible through custom printing. Tab colors are generally chosen according to the color scheme of the exhibit set itself or determined by the type of tab being used for the set.
The Advantages of Legal Exhibit Tabs
The advantages are clear; it’s hard to ignore the appeal of organization, efficiency in document retrieval, as well as the enhancement of a case or presentation in court. Both Varano and Beck believe in the maxim, "A well prepared case is half won." This is especially true in today’s legal environment where organization is synonymous with professionalism and leads to efficiency, while practice technology is the greatest competitive differentiator among law firms. That makes the investment in an exhibit tab solution almost a no-brainer.
How to Select Legal Exhibit Tabs
Choosing the right legal exhibit tabs for your needs involves several considerations, including purpose, setting, and filing system. These factors should be considered even before you decide on tab thickness and tab material. Some of the most common uses for tabbed documents by our customers include: depositions, arbitrations and mediations, hearings and trials, and hearings before administrative bodies. The needs and preferences of the various parties involved in the matter will need to be addressed to determine the most appropriate tab for each document set. Individual and corporate clients often have tabs with their names and/or logos, or simply prefer colors that compliment their branding. Some courts mandate a local rule regarding tab color (for instance, some probate courts in California require that all tabs be yellow). On occasion, relevant parties may have no specific preferences. The project coordinator will be able to assist in determining the best choices for tab thickness and tab material to meet the commonly expressed needs of all involved parties.
We do not recommend using a heavy weight stock for the page tabs in addition to the paper tabs. Heavy weight paper tabs or cardstock tabs can give the impression that something is hidden behind that page, which is not the case with the typical plastic tab.
How to Effectively Utilize Legal Exhibit Tabs
The method by which tabs are labeled, and thus, referenced in the court record is vital. The use of letters (A, B, C) or Roman numerals (I, II, III), is the most common form of labeling and referencing within the legal community. It is important to note that the first document or exhibit must be labeled as "1" or "A". "A" cannot be used twice, nor can "B" nor "C" – simply because there are tabs associated with each letter or Roman numeral within the exhibit itself as well as for pagination. After two (2) or more exhibits, it is not uncommon for the third or fourth exhibit to be referenced in a continuing fashion according to the legal numbers or letters. (i.e., C1, C1a, C1b, C1c, etc.). Perhaps one of the easiest ways to avoid the need to paginate documents over and over again is to tab each document or exhibit and designate a letter or number as a bookmark attached to that particular document or exhibit. Then, when you put these documents together, you have only one C Tab or C1 Tab for that particular section. Because this numbering system is so important, and because appeals occur months or years after a trial or deposition, it is critical to use good judgment in designating the numbering or letter referencing system to use. Make sure that the references to and use of these legal exhibit tabs are appropriate, in and of themselves, as they may determine your success or failure at the appellate court level. Many law firms now do not use tabs between exhibits, simply separating them by a page break instead. The court will allow or require that the tabs be removed before filing or reading for presentation at the trial bench . This makes it much easier for the reader of the exhibit to page through a document in its entirety without distraction. It is important to maintain exhibit order by starting at the first exhibit listed on the trial exhibit list and continue on consecutively as listed. If you add additional exhibits to the exhibit list, make a note on the index of exhibits and notify all of the parties simultaneously, so that no one will be confused in using the wrong reference. Changes should also be noted on a copy of your original trial exhibit list, so that a complete new updated list may easily be supplied to the court, if requested. If you do not have a good trial index when you get to the appellate level or to the appellate brief, you will have a difficult time sifting through any large volume of documents, and your case may very well fail at the appellate level because of the less than brilliant organization of the binder. The appellate court will expect both sides of a trial or deposition to be organized and the referencing clear and concise. There is one particular area that is very difficult is to successfully reverse after so much time has passed. Although the appellate court should not review the documents that have been omitted or poorly indexed, it often does so. That alone can make or break your appellate case. Therefore, the care that is taken at the beginning can save you a lot of time, money and effort in the specialized area of appellate documentation and presentation, so just as careful planning is lent to your legal documents, planning must be allowed for the later use and presentation of those same documents.
Where to Buy Legal Exhibit Tabs
Legal exhibit tabs are available from a variety of sources: office supply stores such as Staples or Office Depot (but, be careful when you buy at these places – sometimes they stock a product that is not the same as what you ordered in the past); bookstore chains (for some reason, bookstores carry more legal tabs than other places); craft stores and The Container Store (I’ve even searched etsy.com to find used, second-hand or vintage legal tab products); as well as online at any of the big retailers ranging from Amazon.com to eBay to PaperDirect.com If you can’t find what you are looking for at any of these places, consider contacting the manufacturers directly or searching Google or Yahoo or Bing to find out if there is a distributor in your area.
Best of all, I’ve found that some legal publishing companies sell them directly to the public. They typically buy en bulk so can offer their exhibit tabs at a 25 – 50% discount over what you’d pay for those same items at your local office supply store.
The Latest in Legal Exhibit Tabs
With the rapidly changing landscape of litigation and technology, legal exhibit tabs are not left behind. You will find on the market now digital exhibit tabs. As the world moves forward to electronic documents, so does the support provided for those documents. Legal exhibit tabs can now be created in a digital format as opposed to printed paper. The principle remains the same, however, the delivery is changing.
The need for an exhibit tab review is more time consuming with digital files. A dedicated team of document review attorneys are used to this task so they become more efficient. Their responsibility is checking each individual file for a tab that has been created for it , which leaves no room for human error. Once identified, the document can be toggled on and off for the proper view. This process is heavily implemented when a new discovery request is issued, which ultimately changes the way past requests are delivered. Going forward, the programming changes dates for documents that are older than a new request. They are removed from the first tab and assigned a new tab for the appropriately dated request.
With these current practices in play, exhibit tab will continue being a mainstay in the judicial process.