UNIQUE NUMBERS (NO DUPLICATES)
By default, AgileLaw keeps exhibit numbers unique within a case — the same stamp text can't be used twice in the same case, so you'll never end up with a duplicate exhibit number. If you start at Exhibit 1 in your first deposition and finish at Exhibit 7, the system will auto-suggest Exhibit 8 the next time you mark an exhibit.
You enter the number in the Mark exhibit dialog. You don't have to accept the suggestion, but you can't re-use 1 through 7. You could have Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 1a, for example, since those aren't exact duplicates.
NOTE: The uniqueness scope is a firm setting. Case-wide (the default) is described above. A firm can instead make numbers unique per deposition, which lets every deposition start over at Exhibit 1. Ask an account administrator if you want this changed.
EXHIBIT CONTINUITY
Once a deposition is concluded, the exhibit stamps applied in that deposition are locked — they can't be changed, renumbered, or removed. Until the deposition is concluded, the host can still change an exhibit's number or remove the exhibit within the session.
WHY WE DO IT THIS WAY
Duplicate exhibit numbers cause problems when reviewing the transcript, because the duplication creates confusion about which document the witness was actually reviewing. If there were two Exhibit 5's, then when the witness said they were looking at Exhibit 5, which document were they really reviewing?
Also, when an exhibit keeps the same number throughout a case, referencing it in transcripts and briefs is much easier, because the same exhibit always has the same number. When you reference Exhibit 3 it is always the same document. That saves time and spares the reader from having to figure out what Exhibit 3 was in any particular deposition.
IF YOU NORMALLY START EACH DEPOSITION AT EXHIBIT 1
If you normally start each deposition at Exhibit 1, we'd ask you to give the case-wide method a try. With paper it was much harder to remember what number you stopped at in the previous deposition, so the risk of duplicating numbers was much greater. With AgileLaw those concerns are eliminated, so you won't have mistakes using a sequential numbering system. It really doesn't matter what number you give any particular exhibit — you could start at Exhibit 73 just as easily as Exhibit 1. It's just a label. So give this method a try even if you haven't done it this way with paper.
AgileLaw also makes it easy to download an archive of the documents used with each witness, so you don't need stamp numbers to determine which documents were presented to a particular witness. See the Download exhibit archive article for how to access the archive of documents shown to a witness.
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO START EACH DEPOSITION AT EXHIBIT 1
If your firm keeps case-wide numbering but you really want to reuse low numbers, give each stamp a unique string. One way is to use leading zeros: Exhibit 1 is not a duplicate of Exhibit 01, which is also not a duplicate of Exhibit 001. Another way is to add the deponent's last name as a prefix or suffix — Smith 1, Smith 2, Smith 3, and so on.
With either method, the document keeps whatever stamp you apply. If you reuse that same document in a later deposition, it will still carry the stamp applied originally. If you don't want the old stamp on the document in the second deposition, upload a fresh copy — the new copy is "clean" (no stamp) and you can mark it again with a different number.
(If your firm uses per-deposition numbering instead, each deposition simply starts fresh at Exhibit 1 with no workaround needed.)
MULTIPLE SIMULTANEOUS DEPOSITIONS
If you're conducting multiple simultaneous depositions in the same case (and using case-wide numbering), AgileLaw prevents duplicates across them. As soon as an exhibit number is saved in one deposition, it's already taken for the case and won't be offered in another. Consider the depositions of George Washington and John Adams being taken simultaneously. If Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2 are marked in the Washington deposition, then when the first document is marked in the Adams deposition the system will suggest 3. The next document marked in either deposition would then be 4, and so on.
The system will also skip any numbers already used on documents that were pre-marked with exhibit stamps, even if those documents haven't been revealed to a witness in any deposition.