Musing: The Lobbying Problem

I’ve made it no secret that for a while now I’ve felt that our field has largely been led around on a leash by the lobbying and association management industries. You need look no further than how we were collectively brainwashed into “realtime is the future” and how quickly that changed to “digital is realtime, AI is realtime” to see that we were duped. Court reporters are fairly simple to understand. Once we were understood, all our quirks were exploited for the benefit of vendors and “professional leaders.” As they siphon the money away from us, we become less attractive, and I’d wager that within the next decade we’ll be abandoned by people we would’ve called friends today because the money simply won’t be there anymore.

Let me say it again: When we collectively had money, we had friends. As our power base shrinks, our friends are almost certainly making friends with the people poised to replace us. This is common sense through the lens of financial gain. And our relationships with a lot of our leaders are predicated on financial gain.

But there’s a greater issue at play when we talk about lobbying that nobody seems to talk about.

If the lobbyist solves your problems, you’ll no longer need a lobbyist. The lobbyist profits by never actually solving your problems and staying in your service as long as possible. In this regard, the lobbyist’s relationship with you becomes more important than the lobbyist’s relationship with the government he or she is supposed to be lobbying. If you like the lobbyist, you’ll walk through hell and back to keep the lobbyist. Even if there’s a raging lunatic online who’s going to tank your entire association for a shot at opening your eyes to the cold, hard truth, you’ll cling to your positive relationship with the lobbyist and view the man trying to open your eyes to the truth as your enemy.

What can be done about the lobbying problem?

We get serious about building skills from within, and we shift “without” relationships to a much more transactional, success-based payment system.

“But Chris, you can’t guarantee success in such matters!”

Well, exactly. You’re paying hundreds of thousands of dollars of our money out based on a maybe.

Based on a relationship.

Based on your feelings.

And I get it because at the end of the day I’m human too. I’ve done it. I’ll do it again.

But if you care about these students the way I do…

If you care about the bastion of upward mobility that our profession has historically been…

Then you will look beyond your relationship and solve the lobbying problem.

And if you do not, then do not be surprised when a raging lunatic tanks everything you stick your fingers in for fun and a shot at opening everyone’s eyes up to the cold, hard truth.

National Court Reporters Association Hires Lobbyist With Regard to AI

What am I supposed to do? I have to share this.

The NCRA has enlisted the help of Farragut Partners. I wish them well. This could be a big turning point in terms of the advocacy we’ve seen from the organization.

In time, I may even be willing to say that I was wrong.

………

But then again, perhaps not, because certainly nobody that’s ever fucked me has ever expressed that they were wrong or that what they did to me was wrong. I was kind of thrown a bone, but nobody told me about it, I just kind of had to discover it myself. That’s like someone writing a sorry note and leaving it in the park where they know I walk occasionally.

We give to this entity because we associate it with good feelings and unity. I gave thousands of dollars and uncounted hours. If I could go back and undo that, I wouldn’t. That’s how strong those feelings are. The darker side of that is the ostracizing and othering of people that have been burned by the entity. I can only turn to my own experience. I was, at one time, guilty of that othering, guilty of believing that those that spoke against the organization were fostering division that would hurt our profession.

I have learned that I was wrong. Those people have a dedication to our craft and the students we mentor that transcends organizational loyalty.

Organizational loyalty in place of loyalty to our fellow reporters is a disease. It excludes the possibility of meaningful reform and/or the building of new organizations flexible enough to meet modern challenges. Would you keep grandpa on life support if it meant sacrificing your son?

Here I am in control of the premier alternative publication for the court reporting industry. All I can say is that if I grow with your help, I’ll remember those good feelings. If I grow despite your othering, I’ll remember that too.

Stenonymous releases monthly readership stats as of March 23, 2024.

P.S.

I heard there may be a judge in California reviewing my work. Should you find yourself arriving on this page ever, just know that I have spent years documenting what I’ve documented, I would testify to the things that can be testified to, and the situation is so deleterious to the health of the fraudster corporations that they have allowed me to publish unabated in my own name well beyond the statute of limitations for defamation even after I personally alerted them that I was doing what I was doing. Of course, I submit this is because what I’ve written is true.

I made myself so obnoxious that if the matter ever does reach a courtroom, the morons will have to explain why they harass court reporters for what they put on Facebook while letting me do this for years and years. The U.S. Legal reps will have their blatant sexism and bullying of women dragged out into the light.

But I still fear for this country. Many people have asked why SBF and others are able to get away with the things that they get away with for so long.

As it turns out, a 14-year professional in a field can document and publish extensively about a fraud being committed, including passing information to law enforcement and journalists, and nothing will be done.

Nothing.

For years.

On an issue impacting tens of thousands of people.

Because it’s not important enough?

Because we are not important enough.

States would rather wait until irreparable harm is done.

States would rather fight for their right to avoid enforcing the law.

And I’m going to put it on the record, that’s not justice. It’s not a nation of laws. It’s not anything I was raised to believe in.

I’m desperately searching for others like me.

Florida: They’re Cutting Us Out. Other States Are Next.

As the corporate consolidation of America continues, I received correspondence from a valued reader and donor I’d like to share.

“Hi Chris!

I’m not sure that we have spoken before directly, but I am a monthly supporter of your blog. I just read the post about the Lexitas independent contractor agreement, and it made me wonder if you’ve heard about this new practice they have in some jurisdictions of automatically recording the ENTIRETY of a Zoom meeting for depositions. Obviously, it’s kind of messed up because there are personal conversations that sometimes happen between clients, counsel, and witnesses before and after the deposition officially begins along with plenty of “off-the-record” exchanges such as social security numbers and dates of birth. I figure that’s their legal problem since they’re doing it. (In fairness, the parties do get an alert they have to click through that it is being recorded.)

But from an “independent contractor” perspective, they’ve previously required us to turn over our notes in order to be paid. Many of us simply refused, as it is OUR work product and we carry our own liability insurance policies in case of catastrophic failure.

But now they’ve taken that choice away from ALL stenographers. I’m hearing rumblings that the the plan is to have a nice and clear recording because they’re pissing off stenographers left and right, and now that they have these recordings, they can outsource them to typists and the reporter will lose all control of the final transcript and, perhaps the most annoying, the income.

Have you heard anything of this? Do we have any recourse at all short of refusing to cover their work?

This could be a problem unique to Florida since we have a lot of jobs that don’t order until weeks, months, or years later.

I don’t know if Lexitas reporters in other markets would even care since it isn’t affecting them YET, which has been my unfortunate experience when trying to rally other stenographers to demand change.

Thoughts? Advice? I’ve thought of requesting an NCRA Cope opinion on it, but I am not exactly succinct and unbiased in my presentation.

Appreciate all that you do!”

And, for the record, I responded:

“Hello. I’m not sure we’ve spoken directly either but I deeply appreciate your donations. It is people like you that will put Stenonymous on the map.

I have heard of similar stuff occurring. it’s pretty certain the big boxes are outsourcing. I’ve seen advertisements myself. Though I haven’t been told about any specific agreement. They’re also using influencer culture to fill seats.

I do not know of an easy solution here. The recourse would be social, legal, or political in my view. Socially, we can withhold work as you said. But it’s my view that we can also create a media firestorm that highlights the degradation of quality and the overcharging of consumers, alongside the lawbreaking I write about. This has been the point of most of my work and a part of my publishing strategy. Most of the field plays this more proper, professional role while I attempt to reach wider audiences through this “writing shock jock” routine. I am hopeful that the end result is that the companies start second guessing their choices, because I am almost certain their choices are costing them more than they’re letting on.

Legally, if we could find a statute that they’re violating, someone might have a cause of action against them, and they can sue. Kind of like the Holly Moose case, except this time, hopefully whoever it is would win a la StoryCloud. In my case, I’ve been putting my feelers out for potential claimants on the lawbreaking I found, but I haven’t found anyone willing to take this on.

Politically we can campaign for laws, but big money people who can hire lobbyists usually win that game.

In the end, whatever solution we have is likely going to require a lot of people coming together. We’re dealing with entities that make millions. And we should do this with or without our associations, because I have found that many associations are risk averse to the point of absurdity and to the point where their members’ jobs are now threatened because we spent decades failing to educate the public and explore the science behind what we do.

I have a big ask of you, and if you don’t want me to, it’s fine. But may I publish your email (redacting your personal information)? I believe that if other reporters become aware of the situation in Florida, they might coordinate with someone like Jackie Mentecky to push back.

There may not be easy answers. But I’m willing to work hard to find new ones.”

February 2024 NYC Deposition Reporter Unionization Report

In my “Chaotic Good” post I floated the idea of unionization for “freelancers.” I also provided a form that people could sign up if they were interested in the idea, which I urge my fellow New Yorkers to share and sign on for.

After my post, someone I love very much urged me to seek guidance from a lawyer on this issue. If you want your name here, just let me know.

Another court reporter insisted that my “Chaotic Good” post was filled with supposition and put together by hope and duct tape. I have now spoken to a lawyer whose life mission is worker organization. Let’s just say my supposition, hope, and duct tape is more like the concrete foundation on which we build a better tomorrow for you and your families. Take it or leave it.

As it turns out, much of what I wrote in the aforementioned post is true. As told to me by the attorney:

There are many factors balanced or viewed by a fact finder when deciding if someone is an independent contractor or misclassified employee. What the parties call the relationship does not matter. So, for example, Lexitas’s Independent Contractor Agreement means jack shit. I wonder who could have predicted that.
There are two tracks reporters could take to push the issue. The first would be some kind of class action that could be pushed all the way to the Court of Appeals, New York State’s highest court. The second would be finding enough reporters from a specific New York City office and filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
No matter what track is selected, the organizing workers would have to decide whether to form a new organization or form under an existing organization. It is probably better to go with an established union.
Misclassification class action track. This option would take years and quite a lot of money in legal fees. Given the facts I expressed to the attorney, he commented that the misclassification route would probably be better.
NLRB track. This option would be quicker and is more attractive in that sense. In the event of an NLRB petition, the employer will likely say that the petitioners are independent contractors and not employees. the NLRB will hold a hearing to decide the issue. The NLRB is more favorable to workers than many courts, including New York’s courts. The company being unionized may attempt to withhold work from the petitioners, but if it’s found that petitioners are employees (and there are good reasons to believe they would), such action would be illegal union busting, and those retaliated against could be compensated for it. The NLRB track would require dedicated campaigners. This would be smarter to do at a smaller agency first, because it requires a majority of workers at the agency.
Digital court reporters and voice writers. Where agencies use a mix of court reporters, it would make sense to unionize all together. After unionization, a contract could be put in place that sets ratios of reporters, and that contract would have to be followed by law.
Contracts generally. Anything that can be put inside an enforceable contract is fair game. So, again, the right to work from home and refuse jobs, some kind of system could be put in place to allow for that. Many of the “benefits” court reporters enjoy from being “freelancers” can be secured contractually. The lawyer noted something like “it sounds like you are all getting all the drawbacks of being an independent contractor with none of the benefits.” Meaning we take on the self-employment taxes and so forth, but we have little to no customer control or independent branding, and are generally not allowed to subcontract our jobs to others as we would be if we were true independent contractors.
This will take a lot of perseverance no matter what. It may also take a lot of time. Organizers and campaigners must be ready for a fight.

I want to stop and pick on point 6 a little, because court reporters are probably like “no, no, no, no, no.” Let me give you reality. Veritext has been advertising for digital court reporters every day for years. The larger companies of our field are, without any doubt whatsoever, slowly siphoning us out for digital court reporters. If you do have any doubts about this, feel free to reach out to Jackie Mentecky and ask her how things are going in Florida. To summarize: Stenographers cannot get work and are having trouble affording their bills because digital court reporters are being sent on the jobs they would have had. I have personally corresponded with people that are having trouble paying their bills because of agency mistreatment. So if you do nothing, you will be replaced. And even if you are not replaced, the constant influx of court reporters from both our stenographic recruitment drive and Veritext’s cash-dump strategy will create a worker glut that will reduce or freeze your rates. To understand why this is, you have to look at supply and demand. Demand for court reporters is forecasted to pretty much remain the same, with 3% job growth currently forecasted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So if the demand is remaining the same, and the supply is going up, eventually our gentle shortage will become a deluge of workers who will all be competing to get the same jobs. This is why New York City is 30 years behind inflation. And that was with stenographers competing with each other, not with a combined workforce.

And if stenographers do not do this, then digital court reporters might do it after our numbers thin out a little more. Who do you think gets to set the ratio if that happens?

Special note to the rest of the country: What’s happening in New York City and Florida is just an accelerated version of what’s coming for you. I know you don’t like to read that, but this is the nature of corporate consolidation of the country. MEDICAL DOCTORS are having difficulty and pay disparity is causing massive worker shortages in pretty much every field. How long do you think your licenses are going to protect you? They barely do now.

I am taking steps to obtain records from the defunct Federation of Shorthand. If obtained, they will likely be shared with the lawyer, and may be shared with this audience. If anyone would like to assist me in this endeavor, please reach out to contact@stenonymous.com. It seems that either we will need to pay for reproduction of the records OR visit in person at 70 Washington Square South.

Real talk. I got mine. You can look my salary up online. I don’t need to help you. I don’t need to care about you. I don’t need to spend time writing blogs or publishing information for you. I didn’t need to save your job from the Speech-to-Text Institute propaganda machine. I didn’t need to make a forum where you could discuss rates freely. You can spend your days whining on Facebook about how the agency won’t pay your rates or you can unionize and lock them into a contract where they have to pay your rates from now until the end of time.

On one end, you have a guy who uses a considerable amount of his free time to help people he’ll never know. On the other end, you have corporations that are factually doing everything they can to create market conditions that reduce your income. I don’t think this is a difficult decision, but I’ve been wrong before.

The Speech-to-Text Institute is an organization that was accused of fraud and illegal anticompetitive conduct, was subsequently sued, and shut down its website in 2023.

Conclusion

Unionization for New York City deposition reporters is possible but will require action on the part of court reporters. You can use me as a shield to organize by filling out that form I linked at the top.

ADD-ONS

A union is not the only course of action that can be taken. We can also push for a New York City or New York State price transparency bill where companies would be required to tell court reporters what the consumer is being billed and tell the consumer what the court reporter is being paid. A second option, suggested by another lawyer, is creating something of a cooperative agency that competes directly with the big box brigade. All of these options are preferable to doing nothing. All of these options require organization, so quite frankly, if you’re interested in 1/3, you should still sign up on my link.

“In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.” -George Orwell

Bulletin: NCRA Misquote Removed & ILCRA Victory

Some time ago I wrote about how a quote was falsely attributed to the National Court Reporters Association, stating there’s a need for 33,000 digital court reporters by 2033. That misquote was still up in the first quarter of 2022, and I brought it up in a discussion with President Dibble. Upon checking again today, I found the quote removed. This is a win for the profession. Student consumers across the country looking into court reporting don’t deserve to be misled.

In other news, the Illinois Court Reporter Association published a document on their recent lobbying victory.

This shows the importance of reporters coming together and working for things that collectively benefit us. State and national association membership is one of simplest ways to organize and act. A big thank you to both associations for showing us that.

I have more to write on NCRA, but I need time to collect my thoughts in light of this new information. Enjoy the victory, stenographers!

NCRA 2.0 May 2019 Survey

Truly, NCRA has continued its commitment to being inclusionary and making changes to benefit all stenographers and members. Today we got an email that asked us to share our thoughts. That means you, reader, can participate in shaping the discussion for the field. You can be pretty sure that your words are going to reach somebody. Feel free to discuss it here, but before you do, go answer up, because your feelings matter, and the NCRA has taken an important step in letting you know that by asking. I encourage everyone, from the people that I am regularly in correspondence with to my anonymous readers to check in with your ideas for the future and how to make an NCRA that you want to be a part of.

And here are my own answers, to the extent they may be helpful or act as a beginning for bigger, better ideas.

What’s your GREAT idea?

“Most of our fights are won or lost at the state level. NCRA has historically taken on a supportive role and/or a federal, national approach. It is probably time to put at least some focus on states, particularly the big four identified by Ducker, Illinois, California, New York, Texas. Ducker said over 50 percent of court reporting was out of those states. If we lose in any of the four, it’s over. I understand there is a committee for this type of thing now, but it will take some more press to get this knowledge to the members that have left / stopped renewing. As a very sad example, a friend of mine formerly worked with the Workers Comp Board of New York, which was gutted by electronic recording. When that person called NCRA, that person was told something along the lines of it’s a state matter and that NCRA is federal — of course, that was the NCRA then and not today’s NCRA 2.0 — but today that means one fewer member for NCRA. We can’t change the past. We can make the future better.”

How can YOU help?

“I can write. I can research. Perhaps one avenue to go down is to build a strong case for federal educational grants, see what Congress has passed in relation to other industries and begin building a strong case for stenographic education funding. NCRA has been efficient at this type of federal lobbying before and that can continue.”

Other IDEAS?

“1. Perhaps a reworking of the bylaws is in order. Leadership in NCRA is limited to Registered members, but this ends up being more exclusionary than other methods. The unfortunate truth is that there may be qualified leaders among your participating members. We had this issue in New York. In our case it was that retired and educator stenographers could not join the board. We voted on it twice, and both times, members stepped up and said if they want to lead, have them lead.

2. Inclusionary leadership. There are infinite ideas in the world. Perhaps it would be beneficial to NCRA’s image to come out with two or three big ideas that are being discussed, and either formally vote or informally poll members to see which is most important to them. I wouldn’t bind the board to the vote, but it’d probably make people, even the people that cannot donate time or effort in other ways, feel they have a voice. And to those that “lose” the vote, you can tell them this issue is still on our radar. You matter. Ultimately, memberships are selling the organization, and with regard to sales, feelings matter.

3. If the time and data is available, make an effort to reach out to those who have not renewed. Perhaps talk to them about their beliefs or why they left. Thank them, encourage them to give NCRA 2.0 a try, and make a note of common themes. For example, if you found that 25 percent of non renewals were for a specific organizational reason, wouldn’t it be worth addressing?”

Associations and Why You Matter

The other day on Facebook I came across some rather honest remarks about the upcoming NYSCRA social. They said hey, Diamond Reporting has been depressing our rates for a while, how are we supposed to feel with their names on this event?

Let’s just say we have touched on the fact that sponsors of events do not control the event. The working reporter controls the NYSCRA leadership, and when you sign up as a member you become a part of the decision-making process.

This blog is all about the working reporter. By the time I’m done with it, I’ll have figured out how to organize the dozens of posts a bit better and the 200 or so monthly readers will have an easier time finding information. That said, it’s time to talk less about Stenonymous and more about you.

You matter. I did the math on it. Think of anything you want to legislate in New York. Stenographers in the courts? Bring back the Workers Comp stenographers? Copy protection since courts often rule our transcripts are not copyright protected? This is all done with funding, representation, and grassroots action. Lobbying is expensive and can cost 5,000 to 50,000 a month. In a six-month New York legislative session that might be 30,000 to 300,000 dollars a year. Seems impossible, right? But let’s use some easy numbers. There are 1,300 reporters on the NYSCRA Facebook page. If 500 of those reporters (38 percent) donated 100 bucks a year, which is less than the $165 annual membership, NYSCRA would have a lobbying war chest of 50,000 a year cash. In only two years, NYSCRA would have the cash for a $100,000 lobbying campaign. What could we do with a biannual lobbying campaign of 100k? Even assuming we fail half of all campaigns for ten years, that’s 2 or 3 successful campaigns. Between playing political Powerball and grassroots action, we have a serious shot at making a difference. For a C-note a year and a letter or two when there’s a campaign on, January to June, you’re looking at bolstering your field, securing your job, and protecting all of your fellow stenographers.

And I’m not saying 100 a year is easy to give up. I’ve given up thousands of dollars in membership fees and donations to organizations over the years. I’ve felt the sting of putting down money I didn’t necessarily have. I felt the pain when the Workers Comp campaigns failed. It cost a lot of good people their job and made those that kept the job miserable. I know a lot of you reading felt what I felt. I know a lot of you reading had to do more than feel it. Some of you had to live it. But there are two options: Suffer through the defeats so that we might see victory, or put our heads in the sand and wait for the next big thing to come around and threaten our jobs.

There’s a lot to say for the human factor. Machines don’t vote. Politicians will side with stenographers when they learn how many stenographers they represent. But the bottom line is we have to put together resources to educate them. To do that, you matter.