Dkt.

Law & Legal abbreviation · Litigation

Dkt.
Stands forDocket
CategoriesLaw & Legal

Dkt. stands for Docket, a litigation abbreviation.

Abbreviation used in court filings and opinions to cite an entry on the court's docket by number, as in "Dkt. 45", meaning the 45th entry. It lets judges and lawyers point precisely to an earlier filing in the same case.

Example: Plaintiff's declaration, Dkt. 52-3, attaches the original purchase order.

Usage notes

Attachments to a filing are designated with a hyphen and number, so "Dkt. 52-3" is the third attachment to entry 52. Some courts prefer "ECF No." or "Doc." The docket also records minute entries, hearings and short orders that have no separate document.

More litigation abbreviations

  • Compl. – Complaint
  • CPLR – Civil Practice Law and Rules
  • Decl. – Declaration
  • Def. – Defendant
  • Dep. – Deposition
  • DJ – Declaratory judgment
  • EBT – Examination before trial
  • ECF – Electronic Case Files
  • ENE – Early neutral evaluation
  • ER – Excerpts of record
  • ESI – Electronically stored information
  • EUO – Examination under oath

See all 71 litigation abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.

This entry is for general education and is not legal advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.