Exhibit list template: how to build an index of exhibits

What an exhibit list is for

Whether it is called a list of exhibits, an index of exhibits or an exhibit index, the document does the same job: it identifies every exhibit a party relies on, in number order, with enough detail to find and recognise it. Readers use it to locate documents, to check what was filed when, and later to build the hearing bundle.

Procedural orders often prescribe it. The model clause in the ICCA Drafting Sourcebook asks for a full, consolidated index with each written submission, in table form. ICSID’s model procedural order requires every pleading to be accompanied by a cumulative index of all supporting documents filed so far, showing each document’s number and the pleading it was submitted with. In US trial practice, judges commonly require an exhibit list ahead of trial.

The columns that matter

Number

The exhibit number exactly as cited — C-1, R-14, Anlage K 3. One row per exhibit, in number order.

Date

The date of the document, not the date of filing. Write it out (“3 May 2023”) and mark undated documents as “undated” rather than guessing.

Description

Type, author, recipient and subject, in neutral words. The ICCA model clause suggests the pattern “Email by X to Y dated … concerning …”.

Author and recipient

Optional separate columns. They make a long list sortable and help witnesses and experts find their own documents.

Pages

The page count. It helps plan bundles and shows at a glance whether a document is complete.

First filed with

The submission, witness statement or expert report the exhibit was first filed with. ICSID’s model order asks for this; the ICCA clause asks for the document in which the exhibit is referred to.

Add a language or translation column if documents come in several languages. ICSID’s model order puts the language in each file name and in the index, for example C-0001-ENG.

Describe, don’t argue. “Letter wrongfully terminating the agreement” is argument if termination is disputed; “Letter from Northgate to Harbourline dated 2 June 2023” is not.

A template you can copy

The example below uses a fictional dispute. Download it as a Word template — landscape A4, a header row that repeats on every page, page numbers — or copy the structure into a spreadsheet, and adapt the columns to your procedural order.

Download the template (Word, .docx)

One practical trap: if the number column is sorted as text, C-10 lands before C-9. Either pad the numbers (C-009) or sort by a hidden column holding the plain number.

Per-submission or cumulative?

A per-submission list shows only the exhibits filed with one submission — C-42 to C-77 with the Reply. A cumulative list (also called consolidated) shows every exhibit filed so far. ICSID’s model order and the ICCA model clause both ask for the cumulative version with each submission, because it lets the reader check the whole record in one place.

• Keep one master list for the whole case and produce per-submission lists from it by filtering on “First filed with”.
• If the order asks for both, file the cumulative list and mark the new exhibits, for instance in bold or with a column for the submission.
• Before the hearing, the parties’ lists are usually combined into the bundle index; ICSID’s model order provides for a consolidated hyperlinked index of the entire case file at the end of the written phase.

Separate lists for authorities and testimony

Keep factual exhibits, legal authorities, witness statements and expert reports in separate lists — or separate parts of one index — each in its own series. ICSID’s template names the files “Index of Exhibits” and “Index of Legal Authorities” with the number range they cover. Legal authorities are best listed with their short forms and pinpoints; see the guide to the table of authorities in Word.

Common mistakes

• Dates in numeric form. 03/05/2023 is 3 May in London and 5 March in New York. Write the month in words.
• List and brief disagree. The brief was renumbered but the list was not, or the list contains numbers the brief never cites.
• One document, two numbers. The same email filed as C-14 and again as C-52, or a document the other side already filed exhibited again.
• Reused numbers. A withdrawn exhibit’s number given to a new document. Leave the gap and mark it “withdrawn”.
• File names that don’t match. The ICCA model clause names each file after its exhibit number (C-1.pdf); “Scan_0042.pdf” helps nobody.
• Translations not flagged. The reader should see from the list which exhibits come with a translation.