Where Federal Courts Want the Exhibit Sticker Placed

The exhibit sticker has one job: identify a document at a glance from across the courtroom. That only works if the sticker is where the court expects to see it. Federal districts disagree on placement — some want lower-right, some want upper-right, some have a separate rule for landscape orientation, and a handful color-code by party. Here's the working map.

The four placement zones

Lower-right corner

The most common placement in federal court. The sticker sits below the Bates number (which usually goes in the bottom corner too — in which case the sticker is on the first page only and the Bates number wraps the whole production).

• Districts using this: D. Ariz., N.D. Cal., D. Alaska.
• D. Ariz.'s rule: sticker on the lower-right of a blank cover sheet that precedes the document; photos under 8"×10" get stapled to the cover sheet, and photos 8"×10" or larger get the sticker on the reverse side, upper-right corner. See the Standard Exhibit Marking Instructions (PDF).

Upper-right corner

Common in districts where the bottom of the page is reserved for Bates numbers and footer endorsements. Putting the sticker on top keeps it from competing with page-level markings.

• Districts using this: M.D. Fla., W.D. Pa., M.D. Pa.
• M.D. Fla.'s Rule 3.07: exhibit tags "numbered sequentially, stapled to upper-right-hand corner." Composite exhibits use a number/letter combination (Ex. 1/A, 1/B, 1/C). See Judge Mizelle's Exhibit Labels and List PDF.

Upper-left corner

Less common, but the convention in the Southern District of Georgia and a few other districts that use color-coded tags.

• Districts using this: S.D. Ga.
• S.D. Ga.'s rule: "Consecutively number each exhibit tag and place in upper-left corner. Omit all exhibit tabs (interfere with scanning)." See the S.D. Ga. Exhibit Info page.

Orientation-dependent (portrait vs. landscape)

A handful of districts split the rule by document orientation. The District of New Hampshire is the cleanest example: portrait documents get the sticker in the upper-right; landscape documents get it in the upper-left, so when the document goes into the courtroom rack the sticker faces the camera regardless of how it's oriented.

• Districts using orientation-split: D.N.H., D.N.D.
• D.N.H. Procedure for Marking Exhibits (PDF)

Color coding

A small but important pattern. Several districts use colored sticker paper to distinguish offering parties at a glance:

• D. Ariz.: Plaintiff = yellow, Defendant = blue.
• D. Alaska: Plaintiff = yellow, Defendant = blue.
• S.D. Ga.: a four-color scheme — Court = pink, Government = yellow, Plaintiff = blue, Defendant = green. Color takes precedence over textual party labels because the courtroom deputy scans the stack visually.

What about CONFIDENTIAL endorsements?

When a document carries a confidentiality endorsement (CONFIDENTIAL, AEO, etc.), conventional placement is:

• Endorsement — top-center or top-right of every page.
• Exhibit sticker — first-page corner per the local rule.
• Bates number — bottom-corner of every page.

See our guide on endorsements for placement details when a protective order is in play.

The shortcut

Stampify lets you set sticker corner per template (upper-right, upper-left, lower-right, lower-left) and stores the placement per-judge or per-jurisdiction so you don't have to look up the rule each time. Color is configurable on the same template — yellow for D. Ariz. plaintiffs, blue for S.D. Ga. plaintiffs, no override needed.