Bates numbering tool

A Bates number is a unique identifier on every page of a set of documents, most often a prefix and a fixed run of digits: ABC000001, ABC000002 and so on. The numbers run once across the whole set, so three files of 12, 3 and 40 pages numbered from 1 become ABC000001 to ABC000012, ABC000013 to ABC000015 and ABC000016 to ABC000055.

That is what makes it useful in litigation and disclosure. A deposition, a letter or a brief can cite ABC000014 and every party finds the same page, whatever file it sits in. The name comes from Edwin G. Bates, whose hand-stamp numbering machine did the same job on paper in the late 1800s, which is why Bates takes a capital.

If an ESI protocol, an agreement between the parties or a court order sets the format, follow it. Otherwise these conventions keep a production easy to work with:

• The prefix names the producing party, or the client and matter, so pages from both sides never collide: SMITH000001 for one side, JONES000001 for the other.
• The digits are fixed, six to eight in most productions, so the numbers sort in order. Seven digits cover nearly ten million pages.
• Numbers are never reused or skipped. A second production starts where the first ended: if the first ran to SMITH004210, the next begins at SMITH004211.
• The stamp sits in the margin, usually the bottom right, where it covers no text. On a page with content to the edge, pick another corner or a smaller size.

Redact before you number. If the redacted set is numbered first and pages then change, the numbers in the privilege log and the production stop matching.

Bates numbering is an Acrobat Pro feature. In current Acrobat, open the PDF and choose Edit, More, Bates numbering, Add; older versions put it under Tools, Edit PDF, More. Add the files, place the cursor in the header or footer box where the number should go, choose Insert Bates Number, and set the number of digits (3 to 15, six by default), the start number, the prefix and the suffix.

Acrobat will not number a protected or encrypted file, and it cannot edit numbers it has applied: you remove them under Bates numbering, Remove, and number again. In Foxit PDF Editor Pro the same feature is under Organize, Bates Numbering, Add. Without either, the tool above does the job in the browser, on Windows or a Mac.

Drop the files in the order they should be numbered; each one starts where the one before it stopped. Each download carries its range in its name, such as Contract (ABC000001-ABC000012).pdf, so the files sort in order in a folder. With more than one file, the index gives a spreadsheet of every file with its first and last number, which is the start of a production log. Your browser may ask once whether the page may download several files.

Keep the unnumbered originals. The stamp is written into each page, so the way to correct a production is to number the originals again. Preparing and checking a production is billable time, and Sixminute records it as it is worked, so it reaches the bill without a timesheet.