WalkingPDF

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How pages go missing from a production

Pages disappear from a production in three ways: a document was never imaged, a document was imaged but dropped from the set, or the set was renumbered after the drop so the sequence looks continuous. The first two leave a gap in the Bates range. The third leaves no gap at all, which is why the range alone is not enough - the page count per document and the load file have to agree with it.

Three ways a page goes missing

The first is upstream: a document was identified but never imaged, so it never entered the set at all. The Bates range is continuous and correct; the document is simply absent, and nothing in the numbering will show it.

The second is a drop: a page was imaged, numbered, and then lost in a copy, a merge or a re-export. This leaves a visible gap - 4470 followed by 4472.

The third is a renumber: the set was stamped, pages were lost, and the set was stamped again so the numbers run clean. This is the dangerous one, because the sequence looks perfect and the gap has moved into the relationship between the documents and the images.

The arithmetic that catches a gap

For a continuously numbered set, the number of pages should equal the last Bates number minus the first, plus one. If the set runs 0001 to 4412 and holds 4,100 images, ten pages are missing regardless of whether the numbers look continuous.

The second check is per document. If a document's start and end numbers imply nine pages and the load file lists seven rows, two pages are gone from that document even though the overall range is intact.

What a gap proves, and what it does not

A gap proves that a number was allocated and no page carries it. It does not prove that a page is missing from the case: confidential material is sometimes withheld, and withheld pages are frequently not numbered at all, which leaves no gap. A gap that is explained in the transmittal letter is not a defect; a gap nobody can explain is.

This is why the report states the gap and its location rather than declaring the production defective. The judgment belongs to the person who knows what was withheld and why.

Checking a set you received

The same arithmetic runs in reverse when a vendor or opposing counsel sends you a set. Read the first and last stamp, count the pages, compare against the load file and the index. A receiving check that finds nothing is worth as much as one that finds a gap: it is the difference between assuming the set is complete and being able to say you looked.

Frequently asked questions

Is a Bates gap always a problem?

No. Withheld and redacted-out pages are often skipped deliberately, and a transmittal letter will normally say so. A gap becomes a problem when it is unexplained, because the receiving party cannot tell an intentional omission from a lost page.

Can a production be complete with a gap in the numbering?

Yes. Completeness is a question about documents, not numbers. A set can have gaps in its stamps and contain every page that was meant to be produced.

What if the pages are missing but the numbers are continuous?

That is the renumbered case, and it is the one a range check misses. Compare the page count against the range, and compare each document's page count against the rows in the load file.

Keep reading

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