Month: May 2020
The Olympics of Court Reporting
Court reporters are used to being the Rodney Dangerfield of the courtroom – we can’t get no respect! Sometimes it seems that no one truly understands and respects what hardworking court reporters do to preserve a verbatim record of deposition and courtroom proceedings.
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow often reads from court transcripts on the air, and at the end of a recent show took a few minutes to give a shout-out to court reporters.
https://twitter.com/MaddowBlog/status/1231029767509594118
Maddow said:
I do want to end with a special shout-out to all of the court reporters out there. It is really hard to get detailed, perfect court transcripts turned around same day so that we in the news media can read from them on the same day the court proceedings happen to let the public know what happened. There usually aren’t cameras or even recording devices in federal courts, and when something important happens in the federal courts it takes not a computer, but a human, a really really hard day’s work to get that stuff turned around so that we can present that material on TV and you can get the next best thing to being there. Thank you to all the court reporters. Someday I will be reincarnated as one if I am really good in this life.
Her comments showed that she truly understands what an important and strenuous job court reporters have and were very informative for viewers who might not really know what court reporters do and what goes into turning around realtime or same-day transcripts. Thank you, Rachel, for highlighting our hard work!
The Olympics of Court Reporting
As “Guardians of the Record,” court reporters provide a crucial role in our justice system, and they take ethical requirements seriously. All court reporters are subject to ethics rules, whether they’re imposed by a professional organization or a state licensing body. While the specific examples may vary, the principles of impartiality and confidentiality are found in any Court Reporting Code of Ethics.
Impartiality:
Court reporters must always act in a fair and impartial manner toward everyone involved in a proceeding. They should not give any opinion on the veracity of one witness or another or on the merits of the case. A court reporter should not provide a different quality of service from one party over another, and if there is any potential for a conflict of interest, they should disclose their relationship to the case—for example, the court reporter could be related to an attorney or party.
Court reporters should also avoid the practice of “incentive gifting,” which is a direct reward given in exchange for scheduling a future deposition. Such a practice can be seen as a type of “kickback,” creating a relationship with one side that doesn’t exist with the other.
Confidentiality:
Confidentiality is a critical aspect of our justice system. Court reporters have access to many types of confidential information, including business, financial, trade secret, and medical records. If deponents did not believe their testimony would be kept confidential they may hesitate to answer questions openly and honestly.
Court reporters should not talk about the substance of any deposition testimony with anyone, period.
Also, court reporters should not expose or sell a deposition transcript to anyone other than the parties without the consent of all parties involved. If the record is made public, however, the court reporter may sell the transcript to the public with or without the parties’ consent. If a non-party seeks a non-public transcript, they must do so through a legal process such as a subpoena or court order.
Being a guardian of the record entails more than just capturing and producing a verbatim record of deposition or courtroom testimony; it requires court reporters to strictly adhere to the ethical principles of impartiality and confidentiality.
You can put your trust in Greensboro Court Reporting that our court reporters understand the ethics involved in court reporting. Please call now to book your deposition: 336-790-1819 or you can schedule online.