- Georgia exhibit marking and exchange rule (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26) (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26)
Governs exhibit marking, exchange deadlines, and disclosure for commercial litigation cases in Georgia courts.
Commercial Litigation Exhibits in Georgia
Your summary-judgment opposition is due on Friday. The master agreement, three amendments, an email production and a damages report go in as exhibits to your declaration, in an order that follows the argument, with a contents page the court can navigate.
Complete guide to preparing commercial litigation exhibits that comply with Georgia court requirements. Learn the correct labeling conventions, exchange deadlines, and e-filing procedures.
- Georgia's primary rule governing exhibit preparation is O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26.
- Plaintiffs in Georgia label exhibits with Sequential numbers, no letters (1, 2, 3...).
- Defendants in Georgia label exhibits with Same numeric sequence continues (4, 5, 6...).
- Georgia courts require electronic exhibits to be filed through eFileGA.
- Exhibits must be exchanged with opposing counsel 10 days before trial (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26) under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26.
- Common commercial litigation exhibits in Georgia include contracts, financial records, business communications.
- ExhibitPrep applies Georgia exhibit stamps entirely in the browser, so commercial litigation case files never leave the user's computer.
What goes wrong with commercial litigation exhibits, and how it is handled
What goes wrongThe exhibits go in as one bookmarked PDF in the order the brief cites them, with a table of contents.
How ExhibitPrep handles itCombining produces one PDF in exhibit order, with an optional table of contents and clickable bookmarks; each contents entry lists the exhibit label, its title when you add one, and the page it starts on.
What goes wrongThe argument moves while you draft, and the exhibit order has to move with it without relabeling by hand.
How ExhibitPrep handles itDrag exhibits into a new order and the labels reassign in that order; exhibit titles stay with their documents.
What goes wrongThe other side's production carries its own Bates range, and your exhibits need page references of their own.
How ExhibitPrep handles itBates numbering adds page numbers with the prefix, starting number and zero padding you set — ABC-001 onward — and the count continues across the documents in a set or restarts in each file.
What goes wrongThe local rule wants a multi-page exhibit internally paginated, so a 60-page agreement has to read 3, 3-2, 3-3 … on every page.
How ExhibitPrep handles itTurn on Number every page of each exhibit and the stamp itself carries the page number — Exhibit 1 on the first page, then Exhibit 1-2, Exhibit 1-3 to the last page — with a hyphen or a period, previewed page by page and read back from every page before the file is delivered.
Essential tools for commercial litigation exhibits
Combine with a table of contents
One PDF in exhibit order, with an optional table of contents and clickable bookmarks
How it worksBates numbering
Page numbers with the prefix, starting number and zero padding you set — ABC-001 onward
How it worksExhibit list
A captioned Exhibit List PDF built from the labels and titles you assigned
How it worksGeorgia Exhibit Requirements at a Glance
| Plaintiff Exhibits | Sequential numbers, no letters (1, 2, 3...) |
| Defendant Exhibits | Same numeric sequence continues (4, 5, 6...) |
| Exchange Deadline | 10 days before trial (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26) |
| Primary Rule | O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26 |
| E-Filing System | eFileGA |
Common Commercial Litigation Exhibits
Contracts
Agreements, amendments, exhibits, and related documents. For Georgia e-filing on eFileGA, confirm the current file-size cap (Not confirmed — check the filing portal) before uploading.
Financial Records
Invoices, payments, accounting records, P&L statements
Business Communications
Emails, letters, meeting notes documenting the dispute
Expert Reports
Damages calculations, industry experts, accountants
Corporate Documents
Board minutes, resolutions, organizational documents
Due Diligence Materials
Transaction documents, representations, disclosures
Ready to Stamp Your Exhibits?
Create exhibits for Georgia filing review in under 2 minutes
Georgia-Specific Considerations
- Georgia's statewide Business Court, created by a 2018 constitutional amendment and seated in Atlanta, hears complex commercial disputes that meet its amount-in-controversy and complexity thresholds — cases that don't qualify stay in the county Superior Court
- Georgia adopted the Uniform Commercial Code with local variations under O.C.G.A. Title 11, governing most contract and sale-of-goods disputes
- Because every exhibit shares one continuous numeric sequence under Uniform Superior Court Rule 7.2, large commercial cases with dozens of contract exhibits need careful sequencing rather than a separate plaintiff/defendant series
- Georgia's Arbitration Code under O.C.G.A. § 9-9-1 diverts a significant share of commercial disputes out of court, so exhibits often need to satisfy an arbitrator's rules before any court filing at all
How to Prepare Your Exhibits
Gather Your Documents
Collect all documents relevant to your commercial litigation case. This typically includes contracts, financial records, business communications, and other supporting evidence.
Convert to PDF
Convert all documents to PDF format. Georgia courts require electronic exhibits to be filed via eFileGA. Scan paper documents at 300 DPI.
Apply Exhibit Labels
Use ExhibitPrep to add exhibit stamps for Georgia filing review. Plaintiffs commonly use Sequential numbers, no letters (1, 2, 3...), while defendants commonly use Same numeric sequence continues (4, 5, 6...); verify the governing rules.
Exchange with Opposing Counsel
Exchange your exhibit list and copies with opposing counsel 10 days before trial (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26) per O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26.
Save Hours on Exhibit Preparation
ExhibitPrep stamps all your commercial litigation exhibits in minutes, not hours. Upload your documents, select the correct Georgia template, and download court-ready exhibits.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Georgia's Business Court, and does every commercial case qualify?
Georgia's statewide Business Court, created by a 2018 constitutional amendment and based in Atlanta, hears complex commercial disputes that meet its amount-in-controversy and subject-matter thresholds — it isn't automatic for every contract dispute. Cases that don't qualify proceed in the relevant county's Superior Court under the general O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26 discovery framework.
How does Georgia's UCC framework affect contract dispute exhibits?
Georgia adopted the Uniform Commercial Code with state-specific variations under O.C.G.A. Title 11, so sale-of-goods and secured-transaction exhibits need to track Georgia's specific statutory language, not a generic UCC citation. Purchase orders, invoices, and security agreements are the exhibits that typically anchor a Georgia UCC dispute.
Do Georgia commercial exhibits get split into separate plaintiff and defendant series?
No. Georgia assigns one continuous numeric sequence to every exhibit under Uniform Superior Court Rule 7.2, so a commercial case with dozens of contract amendments from both sides gets numbered straight through rather than split into separate series. That makes sequencing discipline more important in Georgia than in states that use a letter series for one side.
How common is arbitration in Georgia commercial disputes, and does it change exhibit prep?
Georgia's Arbitration Code under O.C.G.A. § 9-9-1 diverts a significant share of commercial disputes out of court, so exhibits often need to satisfy the arbitrator's own procedural rules — which can differ from Superior Court practice — before any court involvement, typically limited to confirming or vacating the award.
What's Georgia's file size limit for financial exhibits in a commercial case?
Georgia has no confirmed statewide per-document upload cap, so read the limit your county portal displays before filing. Whatever it is, it constrains financial records, expert damages reports and due-diligence files, so split multi-exhibit financial packages into individual PDFs rather than filing one combined document.
Related Resources
Ready to Stamp Your Georgia Exhibits?
Create commercial litigation exhibits for Georgia filing review in minutes with ExhibitPrep.
Start Stamping ExhibitsFree to preview • No account required • $4.99 to download
ExhibitPrep formats documents; it does not provide legal advice or filing approval. Some guidance remains unverified. Citations support only their stated claims and scope. Review the finished files against current court instructions and case orders before filing. Check requirements and the finished PDF before filing.