Definition
"Tab" is a colloquial and administrative term used in legal practice primarily in two senses:
1. Documentary tab: A physical or digital divider, label, or index marker used to organize exhibits, pleadings, or documents within a legal file, brief, or record. Counsel frequently refer to "Tab A," "Tab B," and so on when directing a court or opposing party to specific documents within a compiled record or appendix.
2. Running account or credit tab: An informal but legally recognized term for an open, running account of charges — debt accumulated on credit extended without immediate payment, typically in the context of goods or services supplied over time. In this sense, a "tab" functions as an informal ledger of indebtedness, carrying legal significance when disputes arise over amounts owed or the existence of an agreement to pay.
A third, procedural usage appears in some common law jurisdictions: "tab" as shorthand for a brief or short memorandum submitted to a tribunal, though this is largely jurisdictional and informal.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A small flap or strip of material attached to something for identification, manipulation, or opening; also a digital navigational widget for switching between browser pages or application panels; in military slang, a fast march with full kit.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): The flap or latchet of a shoe fastened with string or buckle; a tag; a loop for pulling or lifting something; a border of lace or material on a bonnet; a loose pendant part of a garment.
The gap matters here. In legal practice, neither the physical flap nor the browser tab is the primary reference point. Legal usage has borrowed the organizational sense — a protruding identifier on a divider — and extended it to mean the document or exhibit behind that divider. Separately, the "running tab" sense (an open account of accumulated debt) carries contractual and collections significance entirely absent from common definitions.
Common Confusion
"Tab" in the documentary sense is sometimes used interchangeably with "exhibit," "appendix," or "schedule," but these terms carry distinct procedural weight. An exhibit is formally introduced into evidence; an appendix is attached to a brief; a schedule lists itemized information as part of a contract or filing. A "tab" is an organizational marker, not a procedural designation — using the terms interchangeably in court filings can create ambiguity about what has been formally tendered or incorporated.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working with compiled records, joint appendices, or brief appendices will encounter frequent references to tabs as document locators. When reading older transcripts or briefs, tabs may have been physical dividers that no longer correspond to any digital navigation system — a document described as "Tab 7" in a brief may not be labeled identically in a digitized court record. Check the index or table of contents of the original filing.
For the running account sense, researchers should be aware that "tab" rarely appears in formal legal instruments. When it does appear in case law, it is usually in the context of small claims or collections disputes, often in bar, restaurant, or hospitality industry litigation. Courts have treated a running tab as an open account, subject to the law of implied contracts and the applicable statute of limitations for oral or informal agreements — which varies significantly by jurisdiction and is shorter in many states than for written contracts.
Burrill's entry for "tab" is not a recognized standalone entry in that dictionary. The fragment appearing in the source material is a partial quotation from an entry on consideration or exchange — the text references "the giving or doing of one thing in exchange for... another thing," which is a definition of consideration, not of "tab." Researchers should not treat this fragment as Burrill's definition of "tab."
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary does not appear to contain a dedicated entry for "tab" as a legal term of art. The source material attributed to Burrill in this entry is a fragment concerning consideration and exchange — almost certainly a transcription artifact or OCR error placing unrelated text under this term. Historical legal dictionaries generally do not treat "tab" as a formal legal concept; it enters legal writing as a practical and administrative term, not a doctrinal one. This absence from the historical dictionary record is itself informative: "tab" accrued legal significance through usage in practice and litigation rather than through doctrinal development.
Jurisdictional Note
The "running tab as open account" treatment is subject to jurisdictional variation in limitations periods. Some states distinguish between oral open accounts and written accounts when calculating the statute of limitations for debt collection actions. Researchers dealing with tab-related collections disputes should verify the applicable limitations period in the relevant jurisdiction before assuming uniformity.