Legal Definitions - Bates number

A Bates number, also known as a Bates-stamp number, is a unique identifying number that is assigned to a document or individual pages of a document. The number is usually used to identify documents produced during discovery.

The term "Bates" comes from the name of a company that made a self-advancing stamp machine used to apply the numbers to documents.

• A legal team may use Bates numbers to keep track of documents during a trial.
• A company may use Bates numbers to organize and identify important business documents.

These examples illustrate how Bates numbers can be used to keep track of important documents and ensure that they are easily identifiable and organized.