Let’s Play the Blame Game!

Posted bystenoimperiumPosted inCourt Reporting, Legal ServicesTags:, , , , , , , , ,

Have you read Christopher Day’s article, “Forced to Pay NCRA…”?

Forced to Pay NCRA Membership Dues to Work In Your State? Contact Stenonymous!

I’ve long believed it’s problematic for a third-party nonprofit organization to require a license in order to work in a state, yet this practice is common and not widely questioned.

In the 1980s, the National Society of Professional Engineers (PE) faced a similar issue: too many people were calling themselves engineers. To address this, the PE implemented several strategies:

  1. Title protection for professional engineers (PE).
  2. State certification in all 50 states.
  3. Enforceable laws prohibiting anyone without a license from claiming the title or practicing as a PE.
  4. Publishing a “Responsible Charge Statement,” among other measures.

These steps were instrumental in the success of the engineering industry. Many engineering firms have thrived, keeping up with wage inflation, with some companies earning millions annually. This is a model that stenographers could have followed—and arguably should have—if a similar strategy had been adopted.

Instead, the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) introduced its own certification, but only succeeded in getting 8 states to mandate it and 13 more to make it an optional requirement alongside their own state licensing. Unfortunately, this left 27 states without any form of licensing protection. This gap allowed the digital transcription movement to exploit the lack of regulation, starting with states like Florida, where they’ve completely dominated the market. Meanwhile, stenographers are left struggling with fewer opportunities.

The view that the NCRA’s actions (or lack thereof) have contributed to the decline of our industry isn’t popular, but it’s one worth considering. What the NCRA should have done was abandon its certification program and instead advocate for a standardized “CSR” (Certified Stenographic Reporter) license across all states. Had this happened, along with title protection and a Responsible Charge Statement in each state, we would have been much stronger, and the rise of digital transcription would have faced far more resistance.

While it’s likely illegal to require certification from a single monopolistic organization—something the PE didn’t attempt to do—this issue has yet to be addressed in court. The NCRA could push for a state license, but it cannot require a license from a third-party monopoly. This opens the door for potential antitrust lawsuits. Interestingly, it seems Christopher Day is in talks with someone who may be preparing to challenge the current system.

If this issue were to come to light, the response would be massive. Reporters who have spent years and significant amounts of money on certification exams, CEUs, and conferences would be up in arms. Such a challenge could drastically shake up our industry, and we’d see plenty of backlash from those invested in the current setup.

A possible solution to this issue would be for the NCRA to collaborate with state governments, professional organizations, and individual stenographers to establish a universally recognized, standardized “CSR” (Certified Stenographic Reporter) license across all states. This unified approach would ensure consistency in qualifications, title protection, and professional standards, strengthening the profession and making it more difficult for digital transcription methods to replace us. By working toward state-mandated CSR licenses and implementing a uniform “Responsible Charge Statement,” the NCRA could help solidify the role of human stenographers, offering greater legal and professional protection nationwide. This proactive, collaborative effort would not only restore the credibility of our profession but also secure its future by defending it against further encroachment. Rather than perpetuating cycles of infighting and divisiveness, we should come together as one force, advocating for a solution that benefits everyone. By setting aside differences, we can demonstrate the power of unity in protecting and growing the stenographic profession for years to come.

Published by stenoimperium

We exist to facilitate the fortifying of the Stenography profession and ensure its survival for the next hundred years! As court reporters, we've handed the relationship role with our customers, or attorneys, over to the agencies and their sales reps.  This has done a lot of damage to our industry.  It has taken away our ability to have those relationships, the ability to be humanized and valued.  We've become a replaceable commodity. Merely saying we are the “Gold Standard” tells them that we’re the best, but there are alternatives.  Who we are though, is much, much more powerful than that!  We are the Responsible Charge.  “Responsible Charge” means responsibility for the direction, control, supervision, and possession of stenographic & transcription work, as the case may be, to assure that the work product has been critically examined and evaluated for compliance with appropriate professional standards by a licensee in the profession, and by sealing and signing the documents, the professional stenographer accepts responsibility for the stenographic or transcription work, respectively, represented by the documents and that applicable stenographic and professional standards have been met.  This designation exists in other professions, such as engineering, land surveying, public water works, landscape architects, land surveyors, fire preventionists, geologists, architects, and more.  In the case of professional engineers, the engineering association adopted a Responsible Charge position statement that says, “A professional engineer is only considered to be in responsible charge of an engineering work if the professional engineer makes independent professional decisions regarding the engineering work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional engineer’s physical presence at the location where the engineering work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the engineering work.” If we were to adopt a Responsible Charge position statement for our industry, we could start with a draft that looks something like this: "A professional court reporter, or stenographer, is only considered to be in responsible charge of court reporting work if the professional court reporter makes independent professional decisions regarding the court reporting work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional court reporter’s physical presence at the location where the court reporting work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the court reporting work.” Shared purpose The cornerstone of a strategic narrative is a shared purpose. This shared purpose is the outcome that you and your customer are working toward together. It’s more than a value proposition of what you deliver to them. Or a mission of what you do for the world. It’s the journey that you are on with them. By having a shared purpose, the relationship shifts from consumer to co-creator. In court reporting, our mission is “to bring justice to every litigant in the U.S.”  That purpose is shared by all involved in the litigation process – judges, attorneys, everyone.  Who we are is the Responsible Charge.  How we do that is by Protecting the Record.

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