Why do the bates numbers have leading zeros?

The font used for the bates numbers is a monospaced typeface which was intentionally chosen for easier legibility as each characterr takes up the same amount of space. A font like Times New Roman is a proportionally spaced typeface which means the same number of characters can appear wider or narrower on each page as the characters change. We default to adding leading zeros in the numbering so that the corner of a large document can be flipped through rapidly to check for a specific number without changing the alignment of the numbers.