Question on new court reporter ethics - CSRNation2024-03-28T18:40:53Zhttp://csrnation.ning.com/forum/topics/question-on-new-court-reporter-ethics?commentId=1736041%3AComment%3A1277560&feed=yes&xn_auth=noHi Cynthia,
Many thanks for s…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2013-07-18:1736041:Comment:12775302013-07-18T11:29:53.963ZBill Parsonshttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/BillParsons
<p><strong>Hi Cynthia,</strong></p>
<p><strong>Many thanks for sharing the California Court Reporters Board regulation. The California Court Reporters Board exactly follows NCRA's guidance in setting up its regulations as you have posted the regulation.</strong></p>
<p><strong> I believe there are two court reporters on the board and three non-court reporters, and that board has employees.</strong></p>
<p><strong>My question is: Why is the regulation written as applying to only civil…</strong></p>
<p><strong>Hi Cynthia,</strong></p>
<p><strong>Many thanks for sharing the California Court Reporters Board regulation. The California Court Reporters Board exactly follows NCRA's guidance in setting up its regulations as you have posted the regulation.</strong></p>
<p><strong> I believe there are two court reporters on the board and three non-court reporters, and that board has employees.</strong></p>
<p><strong>My question is: Why is the regulation written as applying to only civil proceedings with no mention of criminal proceedings?</strong></p>
<p><strong>It would seem the California regulation has no application to the conduct of California court reporters working in the California criminal courts.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Best Regards, Bill </strong></p>
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<p></p> I wasn't even sure where to p…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2013-07-17:1736041:Comment:12777002013-07-17T17:15:41.746ZCynthia Dunbarhttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/CynthiaDunbar
<p>I wasn't even sure where to put this reply. But for what it's worth, this is from California:</p>
<p></p>
<p>CRB Code of Conduct Text<br></br> Section 2475 - Professional Standards of Practice<br></br> COURT REPORTERS BOARD OF CALIFORNIA</p>
<p><br></br> <strong>ORDER OF ADOPTION - FINAL REGULATORY TEXT</strong> <strong>EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY 10, 2007</strong></p>
<p>Article 8. Denial, Suspension and Revocation of Certificates<br></br> Adopt Section 2475 as follows:</p>
<p><strong>§ 2475. Professional…</strong></p>
<p>I wasn't even sure where to put this reply. But for what it's worth, this is from California:</p>
<p></p>
<p>CRB Code of Conduct Text<br/> Section 2475 - Professional Standards of Practice<br/> COURT REPORTERS BOARD OF CALIFORNIA</p>
<p><br/> <strong>ORDER OF ADOPTION - FINAL REGULATORY TEXT</strong> <strong>EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY 10, 2007</strong></p>
<p>Article 8. Denial, Suspension and Revocation of Certificates<br/> Adopt Section 2475 as follows:</p>
<p><strong>§ 2475. Professional Standards of Practice.</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>(5) In addition to the requirements of Section 2025.220(a)(5) of the Code of Civil Procedure, promptly notify, when reasonably able to do so, all known parties in attendance at a deposition or civil court proceeding and/or their attorneys of a request for preparation of all or any part of a transcript, including a rough draft, in electronic or paper form. No such notification is necessary when the request is from the court.<br/> (6) Act without bias toward, or prejudice against, any parties and/or their attorneys.<br/> (7) Not enter into, arrange, or participate in a relationship that compromises the impartiality of the certified shorthand reporter, including, but not limited to, a relationship in which compensation for reporting services is based upon the outcome of the proceeding.</p> Again, we'll have to agree to…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2013-07-16:1736041:Comment:12775602013-07-16T21:51:48.458ZLisa Migliore Blackhttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/LisaMigliore
<p>Again, we'll have to agree to disagree on what constitutes "new." The last revision was a decade ago to this NCRA AO.</p>
<p>Again, we'll have to agree to disagree on what constitutes "new." The last revision was a decade ago to this NCRA AO.</p> Hi Lisa,
Here is some further…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2013-07-16:1736041:Comment:12776512013-07-16T15:35:45.861ZBill Parsonshttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/BillParsons
<p><strong>Hi Lisa,</strong></p>
<p><strong>Here is some further info for your consideration regarding the differences of opinion regarding the NCRA equal service ethic and the NCRA recommendations in handling excerpts of testimony of a trial in progress.</strong></p>
<p><strong>I think court reporters following NCRA's new ethic of "equal service to all" can create problems for court reporters employed in the courts.</strong></p>
<p><strong>The following is a post from a court reporter forum…</strong></p>
<p><strong>Hi Lisa,</strong></p>
<p><strong>Here is some further info for your consideration regarding the differences of opinion regarding the NCRA equal service ethic and the NCRA recommendations in handling excerpts of testimony of a trial in progress.</strong></p>
<p><strong>I think court reporters following NCRA's new ethic of "equal service to all" can create problems for court reporters employed in the courts.</strong></p>
<p><strong>The following is a post from a court reporter forum where the lawyer was set to "go off" and was "absolutely livid" with a court reporter following NCRA's new ethic.</strong></p>
<p><strong>"Although I'm not an official court reporter, I have done court work.</strong></p>
<p><strong>"One time a young attorney came up to my seat and bent down and whispered in my ear 'we need that last Q and A written out on a piece of paper. Can you do that?' I said, 'Of course!'</strong></p>
<p><strong>"And so I wrote out two copies, handed one to him, one to the other side. He was absolutely livid! He started to 'go off' on me for giving the other side the information."</strong></p>
<p><strong>Also, the disclosure of transcript excerpts came up at a New Jersey Court Reporters Association Spring Seminar.</strong></p>
<p><strong>The lawyers on the panel of experts disagreed with the NCRA restated Advisory Opinion 22.</strong></p>
<p><strong>"When the issue of excerpts of the transcript came up, the attorneys on the panel said there's no way they would want the other attorney (s) to know what they ordered. They feel that if they want just an excerpt to use for the next day's proceeding, no one should know about it."</strong></p>
<p><strong>The Alaska Bar Association Ethics Opinion 88-4 stated as follows:</strong></p>
<p><strong>"The Committee has been asked whether it is unethical for an attorney to instruct a court reporter not to inform opposing counsel that the attorney has requested transcription of a deposition.</strong></p>
<p><strong>"Whether such request will constitute unethical conduct depends on the facts and circumstances at the time the request is made. There is no ethical requirement that an attorney disclose to opposing counsel that he/she has requested transcription of a deposition. Therefore, in the normal course of events an instruction to a court reporter not to contact opposing counsel to ask if counsel wants a copy is not unethical.</strong></p>
<p><strong>"...However, to the extent the court reporter, for business reasons, simply makes a practice of contacting opposing counsel to inquire whether counsel wishes a copy, it would not be unethical for counsel to instruct the court reporter not to do so.</strong></p>
<p><strong>"Similarly, a lawyer who orders a daily transcript during a trial may instruct the court reporter not to inform opposing counsel that the lawyer has ordered the transcript."</strong></p>
<p><strong>Here's some additional interesting material from Chapter 2, Overview of Statutes, Rules and Case Law Governing Court Reporters in the State of Indiana.</strong></p>
<p><strong>"As noted in Chapter 1, a court reporter is an officer of the court under the Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct canons.</strong></p>
<p><strong>"A court reporter is required to use common sense and powers of observation in order to spot situations where the fair and impartial administration of justice may be threatened.</strong></p>
<p><strong>"A court reporter is under a continuing obligation to raise any perceived concerns to the judge's attention."</strong></p>
<p><strong>Also, Mr. O.D. Landry is the National Verbatim Reporters Association expert on court reporter ethics. Mr. Landry is considered an expert in courtroom ethics. He wrote a column on ethics in The Verbatim Reporter Magazine and conducted seminars on court reporter ethics.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Mr. Landry told me that any official court reporter with a question on how to handle a transcript excerpt or readback situation should ask his judge for advice in how to handle the situation of courtroom conduct where a court reporter is dealing with requests for transcript excerpts of court testimony and testimony readbacks to counsel.</strong></p>
<p><strong>So you can see from reading the above materials, there is disagreement in the legal community on the new NCRA ethics.</strong></p>
<p><strong>I am trying to encourage reporters to go by the old ethics and to keep the info about an attorney ordering a court trial transcript excerpt to his or herself as has been done for the last 100 years or more prior to the new NCRA ethics.</strong></p>
<p><strong>I hope my raising the issue of the new NCRA ethics and calling attention to the disagreements about the use of those new NCRA ethics in the courtroom will encourage court reporters employed in the courts not to follow the new NCRA ethics and to thus avoid getting themselves in trouble.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Best Regards, Bill</strong></p> Hi Lisa,
Thanks for sharing y…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2013-07-16:1736041:Comment:12774722013-07-16T13:25:07.637ZBill Parsonshttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/BillParsons
<p><strong>Hi Lisa,</strong></p>
<p><strong>Thanks for sharing your thoughtful input. </strong></p>
<p><strong>I think the prior inconsistent statements can refer to statements made in direct examination that are being cross-examined upon.</strong></p>
<p><strong>The material I quoted was from Wikipedia.</strong></p>
<p><strong>I will see if I can get a clearer reference.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Again thank you for your thoughtful input.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Best Regards,…</strong></p>
<p><strong>Hi Lisa,</strong></p>
<p><strong>Thanks for sharing your thoughtful input. </strong></p>
<p><strong>I think the prior inconsistent statements can refer to statements made in direct examination that are being cross-examined upon.</strong></p>
<p><strong>The material I quoted was from Wikipedia.</strong></p>
<p><strong>I will see if I can get a clearer reference.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Again thank you for your thoughtful input.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Best Regards, Bill</strong></p>
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<p></p> I don't read what you've cite…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2013-07-16:1736041:Comment:12774232013-07-16T12:52:57.393ZLisa Migliore Blackhttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/LisaMigliore
<p>I don't read what you've cited as on point to whether excerpts need to be offered to both counsel. "contents of a prior inconsistent statement to a <strong>witness</strong>..."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I don't read what you've cited as on point to whether excerpts need to be offered to both counsel. "contents of a prior inconsistent statement to a <strong>witness</strong>..."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p> My Goodness, NCRA has taken i…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2013-07-16:1736041:Comment:12775442013-07-16T09:58:56.115ZBill Parsonshttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/BillParsons
<p>My Goodness, NCRA has taken it upon itself to make up its own ethics which are contrary to the law of the land.</p>
<p>Check out legal precedents that have governed this land.</p>
<p>The rules of impeaching witnesses:</p>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Inconsistent_statement">nconsistent statement</span><span class="mw-editsection">[…</span></h3>
<p>My Goodness, NCRA has taken it upon itself to make up its own ethics which are contrary to the law of the land.</p>
<p>Check out legal precedents that have governed this land.</p>
<p>The rules of impeaching witnesses:</p>
<h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Inconsistent_statement">nconsistent statement</span><span class="mw-editsection">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Witness_impeachment&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Inconsistent statement">edit</a>]</span></h3>
<p>A party may impeach a witness by introducing those of her prior statements which are inconsistent with her current testimony at trial. In a minority of jurisdictions that follow FRE 801, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_consistent_statements_and_prior_inconsistent_statements" title="Prior consistent statements and prior inconsistent statements">prior inconsistent statement</a> may be used not only to impeach, but also as substantive evidence.</p>
<p>A prior inconsistent statement is admissible to impeach a witness if</p>
<ol>
<li>the statement was given under penalty of perjury at a trial, hearing, or other proceeding or in a deposition;</li>
<li>the witness testifies at the present trial; and</li>
<li>the witness is subject to cross-examination about the prior statement <sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witness_impeachment#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup></li>
</ol>
<p>The cross-examining attorney <strong>need not disclose or show the contents of a prior inconsistent statement to a witness prior to the moment she is questioned.</strong> If the witness' attorney asks to see the prior inconsistent statement, however, the questioning attorney must show or disclose its contents.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witness_impeachment#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup></p>
<p>Bill Parsons</p>
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<p></p> You may not agree with his me…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2013-07-14:1736041:Comment:12770322013-07-14T19:06:45.953ZLisa O'Sullivanhttp://csrnation.ning.com/xn/detail/u_1xulkcyjwrslf
<p>You may not agree with his methods, but Bill is a good-hearted person. I think he feels it’s somewhat of a mission to help improve NCRA, and as part of that, he points out instances in which he feels NCRA is misstepping. One way in which NCRA is misstepping is the promotion of self-interest dressed up as ethics. That's my take of his posts, anyway.</p>
<p>You may not agree with his methods, but Bill is a good-hearted person. I think he feels it’s somewhat of a mission to help improve NCRA, and as part of that, he points out instances in which he feels NCRA is misstepping. One way in which NCRA is misstepping is the promotion of self-interest dressed up as ethics. That's my take of his posts, anyway.</p> Lisa wrote: What exactly are…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2013-07-14:1736041:Comment:12771002013-07-14T13:18:41.124ZAdam Millerhttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/AdamMiller
<p>Lisa wrote: <span>What exactly are you trying to accomplish, Bill? If it's nothing more than to complain that NCRA --</span></p>
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<p><span>You should've stopped right there, Migs. Bill's entire world revolves around complaining that NCRA xxxx.</span></p>
<p><span>It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.</span></p>
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<p><span>adm</span></p>
<p>Lisa wrote: <span>What exactly are you trying to accomplish, Bill? If it's nothing more than to complain that NCRA --</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span>You should've stopped right there, Migs. Bill's entire world revolves around complaining that NCRA xxxx.</span></p>
<p><span>It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span>adm</span></p> Bill, counsel has absolutely…tag:csrnation.ning.com,2013-07-14:1736041:Comment:12770152013-07-14T11:36:49.292ZLisa Migliore Blackhttp://csrnation.ning.com/profile/LisaMigliore
<p>Bill, counsel has absolutely no right to extend any sort of confidentiality or attorney-client privilege with their communications with a court reporter or non-party. All correspondence with an expert witness (at least in the state(s) where I work) are fair game. If counsel discusses case strategy or other matters on a break in front of me or other third parties, we could be called to testify. </p>
<p>In keeping with my obligation to provide like services to all parties, if an attorney…</p>
<p>Bill, counsel has absolutely no right to extend any sort of confidentiality or attorney-client privilege with their communications with a court reporter or non-party. All correspondence with an expert witness (at least in the state(s) where I work) are fair game. If counsel discusses case strategy or other matters on a break in front of me or other third parties, we could be called to testify. </p>
<p>In keeping with my obligation to provide like services to all parties, if an attorney orders a rough draft or expedited transcript, I notify opposing counsel that such is available should they desire it. I view the excerpts in the same fashion. My notification is generic: "A rough draft/expedited transcript/transcript excerpt is available. Please contact the office if you would like to order these services."</p>
<p>Additionally, pro bono services are available for indigent litigants. If a litigant qualifies for such, the excerpts could be available for free or at a reduced cost. </p>
<p>There are arguments on both sides of the coin on this issue. No matter which way you sway in your professional position, you are going to piss off somebody. If you provide the excerpts, you risk angering the requesting attorney. If you don't disclose the availability of an excerpt and offer to provide it to the opposition, you risk angering that party. </p>
<p>If you have case law or board ruling or what have you in your state to guide you, great. NCRA provides for that situation with the caveat to its advisory opinions. State rules, regulations, and law govern. </p>
<p>What exactly are you trying to accomplish, Bill? If it's nothing more than to complain that NCRA's advisory opinion doesn't apply in your state as one of 50, carry on...respectfully, without me:)</p>
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