Terms of Service

Service operator

BatesNumbers is operated by Kenneth D. Rucker, an individual sole proprietor based in St. Johns County, Florida, United States. References to "BatesNumbers," "we," "us," or "our" throughout these Terms refer to Kenneth D. Rucker in his capacity as the operator of the BatesNumbers service.

Agreement and authority

By creating an account, purchasing access, uploading files, or otherwise accessing or using BatesNumbers, you agree to these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you use the service for an organization, you represent that you have authority to accept these Terms on its behalf. You must be legally capable of entering into a binding agreement. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

Service

BatesNumbers provides an online service for applying sequential Bates numbers to uploaded files and document productions, including preview generation, job processing, and downloadable output files. The service is built for legal and document production workflows, but you remain responsible for deciding whether it is appropriate for your specific matter or use case.

The service is intended for supported file types and standard document production workflows. Some files, layouts, embedded content, passwords, corruption, unsupported fonts, unsupported file types, or unusual document structures may affect results, previews, or processing success.

BatesNumbers is a Bates numbering and convenience document-conversion service. It is not an electronic discovery (e-discovery) platform or a forensic examination, native-file production, evidence-preservation, chain-of-custody, legal review, privilege review, or document-authentication service. BatesNumbers does not determine what evidence must be collected, preserved, disclosed, or produced.

File conversion and output limitations

For supported source formats, BatesNumbers may convert documents or images to PDF and may render, normalize, flatten, resize, or otherwise transform content to produce numbered output. Such processing may alter appearance, layout, pagination, or file structure. Depending on the source file and conversion process, fonts, formatting, annotations, comments, tracked changes, hidden content, form fields, hyperlinks, attachments, embedded objects, digital signatures, interactive features, metadata, and other source-file attributes may be rendered differently, altered, excluded, or not preserved.

Generated PDFs, previews, and Bates indexes are representations of processed content, not guaranteed replicas of original or native files. BatesNumbers does not warrant that every component, data field, metadata value, or evidentiary attribute of a source file will be captured or preserved in an output.

A successful upload, generated preview, completed-job status, or available download means that the applicable processing step finished; it is not a certification of accuracy, completeness, source-file fidelity, evidentiary integrity, or fitness for any legal purpose. When exact document appearance or content preservation matters, consider preparing and verifying a PDF in the source application before uploading it.

Accounts, previews, and acceptable use

You agree to use the service only for lawful purposes and only with files you have the right to upload, process, and download. You must not attempt to interfere with the service, bypass plan or usage limits, reverse engineer restricted portions of the platform, or use the service to transmit malicious, infringing, or unlawful content.

You are responsible for safeguarding your account credentials, managing authorized users, and promptly notifying us if you suspect unauthorized account access or misuse.

Preview output is provided so you can verify placement, formatting, prefixes, and general appearance before full processing. A preview helps reduce mistakes, but it is still your responsibility to review all final output before filing, production, sharing, or relying on it in any workflow.

Your files and content

As between you and BatesNumbers, you retain any rights you lawfully hold in your uploaded files, generated outputs, and resulting work product, subject to third-party rights. BatesNumbers does not claim ownership of your documents. You grant BatesNumbers and its service providers limited permission to host, transmit, copy, convert, normalize, and process your files as needed to operate and secure the service, generate previews, complete numbering jobs, create downloadable outputs, and make results available to you.

You are responsible for the accuracy, legality, and appropriateness of the files and settings you submit, including prefixes, numbering ranges, placement choices, ordering, included or excluded files, and any downstream use of the output. BatesNumbers does not independently verify that your files, settings, numbering choices, or outputs comply with court rules, production agreements, filing requirements, or internal document policies.

Your review and verification responsibilities

Before relying on, sharing, serving, producing, or filing any generated output, you are responsible for independently reviewing it against the source material and your intended requirements. This includes verifying that the correct files were included, document and page counts are appropriate, content is legible and complete, layout and orientation are acceptable, file order is correct, and Bates numbers, prefixes, placement, sequence, and any accompanying indexes are accurate.

You must also determine whether converted content, attachments, annotations, metadata, or other source-file features require separate preservation or production. Previews, automated validation, processing-success messages, and downloadable indexes do not replace your review. You are responsible for preserving your originals and maintaining independent copies of documents and productions needed for your matter or records.

Responsibility for legal deadlines, disclosure and discovery obligations, protective orders, filing rules, and the decision to use any output remains with you and your legal or professional advisers. Where you identify an error, do not use the affected output without correcting or otherwise addressing it.

Sensitive information

You are responsible for determining whether your files contain confidential, privileged, personal, regulated, or otherwise sensitive information and whether BatesNumbers is appropriate for processing those files. You should not upload files unless you have the authority to do so and are comfortable with the service’s processing, retention, and deletion practices.

BatesNumbers does not independently identify privileged or confidential material, determine whether required consents or safeguards exist, or perform document review or redaction. You are responsible for applicable confidentiality, privacy, professional, contractual, and protective-order requirements before uploading, downloading, or disclosing content.

No legal advice or professional services

BatesNumbers provides technical tooling only. We do not provide legal advice, litigation support advice, records management advice, or professional review of your documents. Nothing on the site or in the service should be treated as legal guidance regarding what to produce, how to label it, or whether output is sufficient for a given court, matter, agency, or opposing party.

If your workflow has legal, evidentiary, procedural, or compliance implications, you should review the final output yourself and, where appropriate, consult qualified counsel or another appropriate professional before relying on it.

Availability, storage, and deletion

We may update, suspend, restrict, or discontinue all or part of the service at any time, including for maintenance, security, abuse prevention, capacity management, or product changes. We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability, specific processing speeds, or error-free operation.

Uploaded files and generated outputs are processed and retained temporarily, then automatically deleted according to your plan’s retention settings. Retention periods can vary by plan, account type, and selected retention options. You are responsible for reviewing your current plan details and for downloading and retaining any output you need before it is removed.

BatesNumbers is not a long-term records repository, backup system, evidence-preservation service, or litigation-hold service. Files and outputs may become unavailable or irretrievable after deletion, account closure, or the end of an access or retention period. Maintain your own original files and any necessary backup copies of completed productions.

You may delete uploaded files and generated outputs yourself when those controls are available. Some account, billing, support, security, diagnostic, and operational records may be retained separately for legitimate business, legal, security, tax, accounting, fraud prevention, or compliance purposes.

Fees and billing

Paid features, subscriptions, usage limits, one-off purchases, access periods, retention periods, and pricing may change over time. Applicable prices, limits, access periods, retention settings, and billing terms will be presented at the point of purchase, within the service, or in your plan details. Unless otherwise stated in writing or required by law, fees are non-refundable.

Where a subscription is offered with automatic renewal, the renewal interval, recurring charge, and cancellation terms are those disclosed before purchase. Unless cancelled through an available cancellation method before the applicable renewal, recurring subscriptions may continue to renew and incur charges. Cancellation ordinarily stops future renewals rather than retroactively refunding an already-paid term, except as expressly offered or required by law.

You are responsible for any taxes, payment obligations, chargebacks, or account restrictions associated with your use of paid features. We may suspend or limit access for non-payment, suspected abuse, usage-limit violations, or payment disputes.

Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. BATESNUMBERS DISCLAIMS IMPLIED WARRANTIES INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND DOES NOT WARRANT UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE PROCESSING OR THAT OUTPUT WILL SATISFY A PARTICULAR COURT, DISCOVERY, EVIDENTIARY, PRODUCTION, OR OTHER LEGAL REQUIREMENT.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BATESNUMBERS AND ITS OWNERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA OR EVIDENCE, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, DELAYS, MISSED DEADLINES, REJECTED FILINGS, DISCOVERY OR PRODUCTION DISPUTES, SANCTIONS, ADVERSE CASE OUTCOMES, OR COSTS ARISING FROM CONTENT OMISSIONS, CONVERSION ERRORS, OR NUMBERING ERRORS, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF BATESNUMBERS AND THE PARTIES IDENTIFIED ABOVE FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNT YOU PAID TO BATESNUMBERS FOR THE SERVICE DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM OR (B) US $100. THIS CAP APPLIES IN THE AGGREGATE, REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF CLAIMS OR THE LEGAL THEORY ASSERTED, INCLUDING CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, OR OTHER TORT CLAIMS.

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability to the extent such limitation or exclusion is prohibited by applicable law.

Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless BatesNumbers and its owners, officers, employees, and service providers from third-party claims, liabilities, and reasonable legal expenses to the extent arising from (a) files or content you upload or disclose without required rights or authority, (b) your unlawful or infringing use or distribution of content, or (c) your material breach of these Terms. This obligation does not require you to indemnify BatesNumbers for its own unlawful conduct or to the extent a claim results from BatesNumbers’ own wrongful acts.

Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate access when reasonably necessary to address material violations of these Terms, security threats, abuse, suspected unlawful activity, or non-payment. Account closure or expiration does not relieve you of obligations incurred before closure and may result in loss of access to files and outputs under applicable retention and deletion practices.

Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The effective date above identifies the current version. For material changes, we will provide notice as required by applicable law. Changes apply prospectively unless otherwise agreed or permitted by law. If you do not agree to revised Terms, you should stop using the service and cancel any recurring subscription. Your continued use after revised Terms take effect constitutes acceptance to the extent permitted by law.

Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to the service shall be governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles, except where applicable federal law controls.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, any legal action or proceeding arising out of or relating to these Terms or the service shall be brought exclusively in the state courts located in St. Johns County, Florida, or, where federal subject-matter jurisdiction exists, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division. The parties consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts, except where applicable law requires otherwise.

General provisions

If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain effective to the extent permitted by law. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later. Section headings are provided for convenience only. These Terms, together with applicable plan and purchase terms disclosed to you and any separate written agreement expressly entered into by BatesNumbers, govern your use of the service.

Contact

Questions about these terms? Please use our contact form.