An Excellent scopist looking for a reporter

[Rebecca Blasco]

My name is Rebecca and I am an excellent scopist on Case Catalyst 8. I am a former Federal court reporter out of Los Angeles sidelined by carpal tunnel.

My current reporter has taken a hiatus for the next few months and may not return to reporting at all. I always meet my deadlines, I always do an excellent job, and I am available immediately.

I am thorough, detail oriented, deadline sensitive, know the difference between affect/effect, accept/except; complement/compliment, etc. I take my job seriously as this is how I pay the rent. I don't have any trouble listening to audio, I don't have any trouble with expedites, and my rough drafts are good enough to be finals.

If you have need for a scopist who actually cares, please email me.

[Susan Jaye]

Hi Rebecca,

Sorry to hear about your carpal tunnel. I would love to talk to you. I'm in L.A.



"I don't have any trouble listening to audio, I don't have any trouble with expedites, and my rough drafts are good enough to be final."

I would love to speak with you. My regular email is [e-mail]. Please email your number there so I will know how to get in touch with you.

Thanks so much.

Sue

310 273 8016 home
310 505 2580 cell

[Shelley Holmes]

Hi Rebecca,
I am a deposition reporter in the L.A. area looking for a scopist. Please send me your rates.
[e-mail]
Shelley Holmes
CSR

[Rebecca Blasco]

Hi, Shelley,

My rates are $1.00/page for regular turnaround, $1.50 for expedite and $2.00 for daily copy.

I don't charge extra for technical, medical, experts, etc., and if you have any birth injury stuff, I'll give you a 25% discount. I also don't charge extra for listening to audio.

You can write me at my email address: [e-mail] and you can either send me your phone number, or I'll send you mine and then we can talk more in depth.

Rebecca

[Rebecca Blasco]

Thanks!

It was a really hard decision, Eclipse or Case, because I had reporters who were begging me to get software to scope for them. In the end I chose Case because that's what Mom and siblings are on. I don't scope for family; too hard to keep the relational lines clear, but if they ever had an emergency, I could help.

While I gotcha here . . . any ideas on how to collect from a reporter who owes me money who has seemingly fallen off the planet since I sent my bill??

[Rebecca Blasco]

I do proofreading.

Small claims is not really an option. I'm a few states away, and as we all know, judgment is not collection. At this point I don't know what to do to collect as she won't return my emails or phone calls. I could understand if I did a crappy job, but I didn't do a crappy job, so I really don't know what the deal is. Frustrated.

[Katy Cuellar]

Rebecca, you should charge C.O.D. for jobs out of your area or get a deposit in advance or start taking credit cards. I know that doesn't make for good business relations, but you gotta protect yourself!.

[Rebecca Blasco]

In truth, I've never run into this problem before, a reporter not paying me. I could understand if I had done a crappy job for her, but I did not. She was totally happy with my work and has always been totally happy with my work, so if there's an issue I don't know about, I'm really scratching my head as to what it could be. I'm not a schizophrenic scopist, doing a good job today and a lousy job tomorrow. This is how I support my family and so I always do my very best work. There might be the odd time out due to extenuating circumstances, but if there is, it is far and few between. At that point I would expect my reporter to tell me what a lousy job I did so I could offer a discount.

I don't have a way to take credit cards per se, but I have had people send me wire transfers through Western Union or MoneyGram for a single job over $500. This gets me paid quickly and I don't have to worry about waiting for a check to arrive or worrying that it won't clear the bank, or worse yet, Oh, I took a few days off and forgot to send you a check. I also always tell them to take the wire fee out of my paycheck, so to speak, as a 'convenience fee'; that way they're not out of pocket. I think that's only fair.

See, I operate from the vantage point of having been on the wrong side of broke. I pretty much straddle that line anymore, as most of us do, which makes it all the more important to get paid in a timely fashion, but it also makes it hard for me to demand money up front for something I haven't done yet. I am also not one of these folks who assumes that a court reporter is rich because of the nature of his/her job, and so I would not want to put someone who needs my help on the spot financially because they need my help RIGHT NOW but are afraid to ask because they don't have the cash until next week.

I know, I know. Someone's going to write me back and say, Why are you bitching if you're not willing to change your habits? I guess therein lies the issue. What do you do when you don't want to "punish" everyone for one person's bad deed?

On another note, Reporters, I understand your not wanting to pay someone if they've done a crappy job, but you have to tell them that you're not going to pay them and not just let someone wonder when that check is coming, hoping they're going to get paid this week so they can buy gasoline and milk. This is real in today's world, and you have no idea how you could be affecting someone's life and ability to feed their children because of a situation that really might be a one-off scenario. You never know why someone did a bad job. It could be as simple as they didn't understand your directions, or as ridiculous as they just didn't care, and you can usually tell that by the attitude they take with you on the phone.

Please don't misunderstand me; I'm not accusing anyone of anything bad. I have been both reporter and scopist and so I get to see this issue from both sides of the coin.

[Judy]

Rebecca,

Just out of curiosity, why do you give a 25% discount for birth injury stuff?

Judy

[Rebecca Blasco]

I guess the best way to put it is I have a great deal of experience in this area, much more than I should, and so I offer a discount to, let's say, continue my education. In that respect, I take it that you are helping me more than I am helping you, so why not get the discount?

I know about the drugs, the maneuvers, the interventions, the stop gap measures and what they all mean and how they fit together, which is more important than just knowing the words. I know what it means to be "pitted out" and how that comes about. I know what it means when someone says McRoberts Maneuver, and why they couldn't have said that if they're talking about a C-Section. I mean, let's be honest, if someone is talking about having performed a C-Section after a failed McRoberts, there's a lot more going on there than someone wasn't paying attention.

[Judy]

Wow. I think you should be charging a premium for your vast knowledge. I haven't gotten a birth injury case in a while -- plus I'm in Eclipse -- but I sure would send you any if I could. Just because it's easier for you doesn't mean you should charge less than somebody else doing the same job.

[Rebecca Blasco]

Generally speaking I agree with you, and that happens to be the way of the world economically speaking; if you want a premium product, you're going to be paying a premium price. But it really, truly is more important for me to learn more and be more knowledgeable about what's going on and why in a birth injury than to make more money. I really do "need to know."

[Lisa Vargas]

I am looking for a scopist for this weekend, if you are available. My name is Lisa Vargas, and I am on Case Catalyst 8.0. I have a somewhat medical deposition and am having trouble finding a few words. I would like to have this expedited for Sunday. My phone number is 951`-264-1267 if you are available. Thank you.


Lisa Vargas