Can't you just send me a rough on the side.

[Tricia Annebid]

Can't you just send me a rough on the side? This was the question the attorney asked me today at the end of the deposition. He asked me how much extra the rough would cost. I gave him the usual answer. "There is a fee, but I don't know what it is. You'll have to call the office. "

Attorney. "Can't you just send me one on the side?"
Me: NO. I NEED TO GET PAID.
Attorney: But with all the technology today, it's so easy for you to do it.
Me: Do you know how hard I had to work to get to the level that I can provide rough drafts and realtime. Not all reporters can do that. Most reporters don't do that. Most reporters don't even come to the depositions with a laptop.
Attorney: That's why I always use this same firm. Every reporter does.

(You bet your bippy-only in my head)

Opposing attorney: That's right. Most reporters don't do realtime.

(well, I didn't get a rough today, but he won't try that one again!)

[Cathryn Bauer]

WILD APPLAUSE!!!!

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Haha! you showed him!
I see this happen to reporters all the time, i feel like saying something on their behalf but I am just a simple videographer.

[Patricia Babits]

I had a post about this on another site. It's kind of a long story, but I was basically threatened by an attorney that he wouldn't use me for the next job if I didn't give him a free rough draft. I wouldn't. The court reporting agency wouldn't, although they gave him a discount because it was a couple of days later. He told me his home reporting agency give free rough and realttime on every job.

Well, guess what? It's almost a year later, and I am still working on the case. He even made a comment at the last depo that he had a "new-found respect for what you guys do." I'm not sure why, I think because I had to read back a lot that day, and I also asked him to slow down once. I think it made him realize we're not robots. LOL.

By the way, I'm not a realtime writer, so a rough is a ton of extra work for me. No one should give it away, realtime writer or not.

[Judy]

Every time I think about giving an attorney a break on a charge, I remind myself how my attorney nickle and dimed me for a stupid support hearing. It's truly disgusting how these guys charge their clients. And then for them to come back on us and complain about our charges? They really should be ashamed of themselves.

The only way I stopped the hemorrhaging of the attorneys' fees was to stop paying his bill in a timely manner. He complained. I said, hey, I've got no more money for this ridiculous matter. It needs to come to an end NOW! Once his payments stopped, the matter was finally concluded.

Again, they should all be ashamed of themselves.

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

I really hate it when an attorney that makes $250+ an hour complains about how we (Reporters and videographers) are raising the cost of litigation.
Huuuuuu? I make $150-$400 a day, you make $250+ a freaking hour and I am raising the cost of litigation? lol!

[Lisa Dee]

People are so crazy! Did he think that you would really do it? Good for you, though!! It takes guts to stand up for yourself.

[Katy Cuellar]

Is that true, that most reporters don't take laptops to the job? I thought everyone did.

As far as the rough drafts, I'm not ready for real-time, and probably will never be. I've seen some rough drafts here and there...totally shameful. My feeling is that the record speaks for itself, and there's only one transcript, and that is the final transcript. I can go home and turn out what I can call a "rough draft" for the next day, but usually the only thing different about it might be that I haven't proofread it, but oftentimes it is the final, so I am, in effect, doing an overnight job for just a few dollars more rather than the expedited fee.

One time I went to a depo, and the attorney said he asked for a real-time reporter for the day. I called in to the office, and there were no RT reporters available, so he let me stay. It was a horrendous job, lots of names (Hawaiian names), numbers, really, really long day, very fast, four attorneys, etc. I was thinking that I was glad I wasn't a RT reporter, because even if I were the big champion, I still don't think I could have ever written that in real-time.