Insulting!

[Lorrie L. Marchant]

Please, please tell me that no reporter would accept a job from this New York firm (New York!) that only pays a $.25 flat per page rate on the copies.  It's not as if the other rates are so spectacular that they offset this absolutely insulting copy page rate.  This rather infuriates me.  I am in utter disbelief that any reporter anywhere would work for this copy rate.

APPEARANCE:
Pre-9:00 a.m. 40.00
9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. 40.00
1:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. 40.00
Post 6:00 p.m. 40.00
RATES PER PAGE:
Regular (8th business day) 3.85 pp
Expedited* (3rd business days) +1.00 4.85 pp
2-Day* +1.25 5.10 pp
Daily* +1.50 5.35 pp
Immediate* +2.00 5.85 pp
*[Redacted] Reporting pays for only one expedite, daily
or immediate order (i.e. both sides order expedite,
we pay you one expedite fee)
ROUGH ASCII
1.00 pp
Combo-rate,
to same firm $1.85
REALTIME
1.00 pp
VIDEOTAPED PROCEEDINGS
0.15 per page
COPIES
0.25 per page flat rate
MINIMUM
Busts, brief statements, etc. $100.00
WAIT TIME
Not applicable to our type of work

[Barbara Memory]

Concur.

[Lorrie L. Marchant]

I fully concur.

[Erica Field]

And there will always be some undercutting reporter to take this work. That really is insulting. 

[Lorrie L. Marchant]

And infuriating!

[Erica Field]

What is the firm? Can someone email it to me? I am in Florida, but I take work from NYC firms a lot. My email is [e-mail].

[Jeremy Frank]

Lorrie, please advise as to which agency this is.  Thanks.  [e-mail] (Jeremy)

[Lindsay Pinkham]

I think we're going very close to violating business laws by all this discussion of specific rates.  I wouldn't want to get Kelli in trouble.  That's why we send private emails.  It's also a great idea to join your local rptr association (like DRA in California) to get together and network with other reporters and discuss topics like this in person in a seminar.  But the bottom line is don't accept a job from anybody until you have in writing (e-mail) their rates (including expedite surchages, no-show fees) and pay schedule.  If you don't get a check in 30 days and don't have any prior agreement, they can tell you the send checks out in 6 months, and there's not much you can do about it.  And if you find you were paid $3.00/page and were expecting $4.00, again, you're stuck if you didn't have an agreement.

[Barbara Memory]

I asked for the name, and was sent a private email. I just sent the name to y 'all that was sent to me.

Barbara

[Catuogno Court Reporting]

Lindsay - Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have labored for many years under the impression that free enterprise and market based capitalism were the foundations of our national economy?

I'm sure we all agree that a contract is a contract, and must be honored, and that breaking a contract is subject to penalties imposed by law.  No one here has proposed anything of the sort to my knowledge.

To be perfectly clear, a business document or correspondence that contains a simple price sheet may or may not have contract restrictions.  Read it carefully.  In many cases a business document inviting services at stated prices can be shared with impunity.  

No one is suggesting that laws should be broken, or that contracts or NDAs be violated.  If you prefer, put your head in the sand at your risk, but in my view there's no reason to be afraid of bonding as a community with similar interests.  Our profession is already under daily assault by the commercial sector, and being divided and in the dark makes it that much easier to destroy our livelihood.

Again, please correct me if you believe these statements to be unfair or legally questionable.

[Kelli Combs (admin)]

Lindsay is just saying to get pricing in writing so you don't get raped by the agency, which happens frequently, especially over the last 5 years.  We are all a little reluctant to work for agencies we don't know and trust without a recommendation.  Lots of unethical agencies out there.

[Lindsay Pinkham]

Person from Catuongo Reporting Agency:

I think you misinterpreted my message.

I'm saying that we are endangering ourselves and Kelli as the administrator of this website if we start encouraging each other in this public forum to adhere to specific rates - it's called price fixing, and it's a violation of federal antitrust laws.  

If we are in touch with the industry, we all know what the acceptable rates are, and we recognize when someone is lowballing us.  I'm just saying it's naive to accept a job from an agency without getting that information up front.  If you are forced to taken an agency to small claims court for underpayment, showing the judge a printout of their email to you quoting rates and then your paycheck will go a long way!

[Lorrie L. Marchant]

Nobody is price fixing. No preferred rates are being discussed openly here.  I would never put Kelli in jeopardy.  There is no reason that we should not be able to generally discuss rates.