Securing the Future of Court Reporting with a Responsible Charge Statement

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

Adopting a Responsible Charge Statement (similar to what the Society of Professional Engineers have implemented) could be an impactful and strategic move for the court reporting profession. This type of statement or standard would clarify the legal and ethical responsibilities of a court reporter, helping to further professionalize and legitimize the role.

Here’s why it could be a powerful step for court reporting:

1. Clear Accountability and Professionalism

  • A Responsible Charge Statement would help to define the scope of a court reporter’s responsibilities, ensuring that they are recognized as the primary authority on their work and can be held accountable for its accuracy, confidentiality, and integrity.
  • This clarity would elevate the profession in the eyes of the legal and business communities, much like it has for engineers.

2. Enhanced Trust and Credibility

  • Court reporters are tasked with documenting critical, often sensitive legal information. A Responsible Charge Statement would reinforce their role as trusted professionals who ensure the accuracy and integrity of the record. This could be key in an era where the public is increasingly skeptical of technology and automation, ensuring that court reporters are seen as irreplaceable in maintaining the accuracy of the legal record.

3. Standardization of Practices

  • Such a statement could be part of a broader initiative to standardize practices across the profession, including expectations for ethical conduct, the safeguarding of confidential information, and the quality of the transcripts. This would ensure consistency across regions and states, strengthening the profession’s reputation.

4. Legal Protection and Liability

  • By adopting a Responsible Charge Statement, court reporters may benefit from legal protection and clearer liability guidelines, particularly in situations where there might be disputes over the accuracy or integrity of a transcript. This could help clarify when they are liable for errors and when they are protected by their professional standards.

5. Distinguishing Court Reporters from Automation

  • With increasing use of AI and speech recognition technologies, having a clear Responsible Charge Statement could distinguish human court reporters from the automated systems that may not be able to provide the same level of accuracy or legal accountability. It would reinforce that court reporters are not just passive transcribers but highly skilled professionals with an irreplaceable role in the legal process.

6. Promoting Professional Development

  • The statement could also be linked to professional development and continuing education requirements, ensuring court reporters are always up-to-date with industry changes and the ethical standards expected in their work. This continuous learning would support the profession’s credibility in a rapidly changing technological landscape.

Next Steps

Adopting this type of statement could be spearheaded by court reporting associations, in collaboration with regulatory bodies and legal professionals, to ensure that it fits within existing legal frameworks. It would require an alignment with legal standards, professional development programs, and a comprehensive public relations effort to ensure widespread acceptance within the industry.

In conclusion, a Responsible Charge Statement could significantly strengthen the court reporting profession by providing a clear, accountable, and professional framework that enhances both its credibility and its ability to adapt to future challenges. It could go a long way in securing the profession’s long-term survival.

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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  1. Pingback: The Manufactured Court Reporter ‘Crisis’ and the Dangerous Push for Unlicensed Transcription – STENOIMPERIUM

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