Checking Court and Filing Requirements

ExhibitPrep formats documents. It does not provide legal advice, submit filings, or determine whether evidence is admissible or a filing meets court requirements. A template, green check, completed preview, or payment is not court approval.

Understand what has been checked

Some guidance has not been verified against current official sources. A citation supports only its stated claim and scope. A review date records when that source was checked; it does not certify the entire page or your filing. Open the source and compare its court, proceeding, and exceptions with your matter before relying on it.

Preparation checks cover the items they name. Incomplete, not checked, and needs review do not mean passed. Follow the displayed next step, inspect the affected pages yourself, and repeat the review after a revision. See preparing the final download for the product review steps.

Check before preparing the set

1. Find the current rules on the court's official website. Also check the assigned judge's standing orders and orders entered in your case.
2. Confirm the required exhibit labels, numbering, index or contents, bookmarks, and any paper-divider requirements.
3. Check the filing provider's instructions for separate versus combined PDFs, file-size limits, searchable text, and other technical requirements.
4. Note any required redactions, confidentiality designations, or separate sealing procedure. An exhibit stamp or classification label does not perform these steps.
5. Choose the corresponding settings in ExhibitPrep. If a required feature is unavailable, complete that step with an appropriate tool and review the resulting file again.

Use a scoped preparation guide

In the Stamp settings, open Filing preparation guides. Choose a guide to see its scope, official source, checked date and remaining review steps. Selecting a guide does not change settings. Read the changes before choosing Apply navigation settings.

The California civil motions: exhibit navigation guide configures a combined PDF, standard contents, exhibit descriptions and full identifiers. Supply an accurate description for every exhibit and check each finished bookmark. The cited electronic-bookmark provision excludes self-represented submissions. This guide does not configure filing pagination or cover all California filing requirements.

The Federal CM/ECF: file-size review guide is a checklist and changes no settings. PACER explains that each court sets its own PDF limit. Look up the court’s current limit, set your workspace file-size warning and inspect each prepared PDF. The warning does not split or compress files.

A guide is not court approval. Confirm the official source remains current, and check local rules, judge orders and your filing portal. Recheck the output after changing settings.

Keep different numbering systems separate

A PDF page position counts through the entire file, including its contents and divider pages. A binder label such as A1 restarts within each exhibit. A Bates number identifies a source page using the sequence you choose. None automatically substitutes for another.

For example, California Rule of Court 3.1110(c) addresses consecutive Arabic pagination. Its exhibit provisions address the index and electronic bookmarks. The rule does not assign this product's Trial Binder style or a universal plaintiff-number/defendant-letter convention. Read the applicable text rather than relying on a template's name.

Selecting Standard contents creates references to PDF page positions; it does not by itself stamp a consecutive page number onto every page. Contents and dividers are also outside the source-page Bates sequence. See combining exhibits and Bates numbering.

Check the actual downloaded PDF

1. Open the file saved on your device, not only the preview.
2. Compare the document count, order, exhibit labels, and complete first and last pages with your source set.
3. Inspect stamp placement, rotations, dense pages, and any form entries. Confirm nothing needed for review is obscured.
4. Follow contents links and bookmarks and compare page references with the file you will submit.
5. If searchable text is required, search for text from a source page. A scanned picture of text may need OCR in another application; stamping does not provide OCR.
6. Confirm the final file size, filenames, and permitted submission format with the receiving system.

If the filing is rejected

Keep the rejection notice and the submitted file. Identify the specific issue before making changes: labels, pagination, missing pages, searchability, file size, or submission format require different fixes.

For an ExhibitPrep setting, open the saved job and choose Make a change. Prepare and review the revised result. For requirements outside the tool, use the appropriate document application. If the instruction is unclear, ask the clerk or filing provider about the stated technical issue. Seek legal advice for questions about your legal obligations or the use of evidence.

If you cannot find the paid job or download, start with purchase and download recovery before purchasing again. If a label or page still looks wrong, try stamp troubleshooting or use the issue-report option below with the steps you took and the visible error; do not include confidential evidence.

A successful local download is not confirmation of filing or acceptance. Check the receiving system's own status and notices.