The Hidden Cost of Attorneys “Saving Money” – How Rough Orders Are Breaking the Court Reporting System

Posted bystenoimperiumPosted inCourt ReportingTags:, , , , , , , , ,

Once upon a time, there was a system. A smooth, well-oiled, time-tested method that allowed court reporters like me to deliver daily trial transcripts—accurate, polished, and fast. Attorneys could rely on same-day delivery, and in return, I could count on the premium income from daily transcript orders. That income made it possible to hire a team: seasoned scopists and proofreaders who helped me deliver under pressure, ensuring quality and speed without sacrificing either.

That system is unraveling.

Lately, in an effort to trim costs, attorneys have pivoted from ordering certified daily transcripts to requesting “roughs” instead. On paper, it seems like a cheaper option: a rough is just $2.50 per page, compared to $5.99 for a daily. But here’s the kicker—they still end up ordering a final transcript later at the regular delivery rate of $3.99 per page. That means they’re paying $6.49 per page total, more than the $5.99 they’d pay for a next-day certified expedite that includes everything.

But that’s not even the real problem.

When only a rough is ordered, I still have to prep it like a daily—my team of scopists scopes it that same day, and I deliver it as a rough without doing the final proofing or certification. Then the clock starts ticking on the 30-day deadline for the certified final. What attorneys don’t see is the domino effect this has on the entire process.

Sometimes, they wait until the eve of closing arguments to request the final. That’s not just unreasonable—it’s impossible.

Meanwhile, my backlog of pages grows. I’m not only finishing the final versions from the current trial, but I’m also juggling other ongoing cases, appellate transcripts, and trying to line up support for upcoming work. When I do manage to secure a team for a scheduled daily trial, I rely on that commitment. But then, on the first day, an attorney casually tells me, “We won’t need dailies this week.”

Now my pre-booked scopists, having cleared their schedules for nothing, go find other work. And wouldn’t you know it—by Friday, the attorney changes course and orders a daily transcript. Only now, there’s no one left to help. One of my best scopists is out recovering from surgery. Another is brand new. And I’m re-scoping my own work deep into the night.

Sunday night rolls around, and I get the dreaded email:
“Hi, am I ever going to receive these?”

What attorneys don’t see behind that question is a court reporter who has been working non-stop all weekend. A woman with a husband and an 8-year-old daughter who miss her deeply. A family fraying at the edges. A home office that has become a pressure cooker. A husband half-jokingly asking if there’s a “Disgruntled Husbands of Court Reporters” Facebook group. A little girl tugging at her mom’s sleeve, asking why she’s always in her office. And a reporter whose nails haven’t seen a manicure in weeks, whose soul hasn’t seen a day off in longer.

This isn’t sustainable.

Attorneys: I get it. Budgets are tight. But roughs aren’t the answer. They’re a short-term saving that leads to long-term chaos—for you and for us. Consider ordering a next-day expedite instead. You’ll get the certified transcript you need, quickly and cleanly. And you’ll be supporting a system that’s built to deliver under pressure—when it’s properly supported.

Court reporting is more than just typing fast. It’s an intricate dance of accuracy, speed, and expertise. When you value the work we do, we can deliver our best.

Let’s build that system back—together.

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.

Leave a comment