"Sharing" rough ASCIIs

[Andrea "Andi" Simonis]

Hi,
Just had a crappy job where one attorney (out of 5) wanted a dirty ASCII. When I asked the other attorneys if they would like one, the ordering attorney said she would just email her copy to everybody. This pissed me off on more than one level. What do you think? Hope this doesn't start a trend, since 14 of my last 20 jobs had dirty ASCIIs ordered. Does anyone know how to get around people just emailing our work and getting out of paying for the rough (and the copy)? Also, are we reallllly charging enough for a rough? Like some reporters, I also think this is a cheap way to almost get an expedite, and it is not worth the buck or so a page to drop everything to get these out. Please let me know your thoughts...

[howard stone]

I try not to do roughs for the reaons you mentioned, just a cheaper way of getting an expedite. Also I have heard of one too many stories from reporters who have had negative comments about their roughs. And since most reporters like to go home and clean up the rough, it just makes extra work, puts me behind, and then I still have to do the job. It's a lose, lose situation.

[Mary Ann Payonk]

Hi, Howard. Had you seen the posts by a reporter on the NCRA Forum in months and years past who insists that rough drafts have been a very bad thing? He's very adamant in that position, and I wondered if you'd seen that before.

It seems to be a losing situation when we're not paid for what we do, but rough draft work is a specialty, just like realtime. Just my opinion, but it should NOT be expected of every reporter, because every reporter simply can't crank out a readable rough draft. Perhaps those reporters who had negative comments about their roughs shouldn't have accepted the job, or the firm shouldn't have assigned them the job.

As I said in another post, I don't think there's a shortage of reporters, but there certainly is a shortage of quality, including rough draft quality. Reporters who can crank out pristine rough drafts ... "like buttah," as I've heard it put before ... should know the VALUE of their skill there. Some assignments that "just" call for a rough draft demand that the reporter provide the rough at breaks, lunchtime, and IMMEDIATELY at the end of the day. There's little time for clean-up of that work, so an even more skilled reporter is required to provide that service, which is realtime-level. Again, NOT for cheap, and certainly not for free. When reporters with those amazing abilities to turn out near-perfect work are called upon to DO that, they should be paid and paid well for those services. If an agency decides those services aren't worth all that much and can't pay good page rates for those buttery rough drafts, then their reputations will suffer when unqualified reporters tackle the job, and reporters will feel used and abused by being asked to do something beyond their skillset and more trouble than it's actually worth.

Sorry to go off like that, but it's a pet peeve of mine.

M.A.

[Judy]

and it's not a certified transcript that can be used in any legal proceeding. It's notes for research or for prep work for the attorney.

That's the comment in your post that I think will get the most attention. I'm certainly not one to say it's happened to me, but I understand that that's exactly what they're trying to do. And when they do do that, then what is the reasonable price to charge?

I'm sure MaryAnn can elaborate further on this subject.

[Judy]

According to CA CSR board: Work product - Gvt. Code 69954(d).

[Judy]

Or maybe incorporate it into our certificate.

[Mary Ann Payonk]

Judy is by FAR the resident expert on all things CA! Is that Government Code Section for officials only? I note that the cost of copy sales to the same party is limited to one-third the original cost.

I believe TX rules limit the cost of copy sales to one-third the cost of the original, but I don't know if TX mentions extra copies to the same side.

There's a whole 'nother thread topic right there, whether that's right at all, to limit how much a freelance firm can sell their services and work product for. But, Judy, can you tell us whether the Gvt Code is for officials only?

M.A.

[Judy]

See, I'm no expert on anything because I don't know. When I called the CSR to get their opinion -- and they knew I was a freelance depo reporter -- that's the code they cited me.

[Judy]

I Googled 69954(d) and got to this site:

http://petrofsky.org/misc/legal-docs/Eclipse/Eclipse-vs-Does-CA-200...

See how he has that as a header? Very interesting idea. I like it.

[Judy]

Here's the cite actual wording:

(d) Any court, party, or person who has purchased a transcript
may, without paying a further fee to the reporter, reproduce a copy
or portion thereof as an exhibit pursuant to court order or rule, or
for internal use, but shall not otherwise provide or sell a copy or
copies to any other party or person.

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Thats what I am talking about!!
Way to go to who ever the reporter is, its HIS product and he is protecting it.
I bet attorneys will NOT try to test this, its as serious as theft... I know I wont.

[Melissa]

Monti,
What do you mean attys are posting roughs online and anyone can download them?

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

well, i have found transcripts online available for anyone to download by simple googling my name.
to be fair, I dont know if it was the attorneys or some other party that did the actual uploads.