Does Coalition to Capture the Record Really Have An Access-to-Justice Mission?

The Coalition to Capture the Record was brought to my attention.

First interesting thing to note, the website doubles down on the shortage narrative of the Speech-to-Text Institute Bloc, the group of corporations I identified as having joined in a fraud.

Note that then-NCRA-President Jason Meadors had previously noted the Ducker Report that had forecasted the shortage had been pretty well debunked. This is following NCRA STRONG’s assertion that it was outdated. I guess I played a role there too.

The Coalition to Capture the Record doubles down on the court reporter shortage fraud despite a president of the largest court reporting association in the country admitting Ducker was debunked and a committee of the National Court Reporters Association more or less describing it as defunct.

They also conveniently sidestep the access-to-justice issues previously brought up by stenographers. Digital and AI could cause more harm than good.

There’s also an implication that it’ll bring down the cost of litigation. This long-running lie was called into question by a 2009 study.

So once again, it’s that same behavior we saw Speech-to-Text Institute engaging in. “The shortage is the shortage and we can’t beat it so we must go digital.” This is being done despite the overwhelming evidence that localized shortages can be beat. For example, in New York City, a localized Bronx shortage was recently plugged in our courts. Turns out when we actually try to fill these spots, we’re successful, and the political machinery that stops us from filling spots is the problem.

There’s also a pull from STAR’s playbook, the organization a lot of the fraudsters ran to in order to legitimize their positions again (they also went AAERT). They call for unity.

If digital court reporters and stenographers are equal, why aren’t they paid the same? I know that bothers my audience. But let’s ask that question out loud and often, because eventually digital court reporters will start asking for more — and then this whole song and dance becomes moot, because it’s about replacing our workforce with a workforce that’s easier to abuse and control. It has never, ever been about shortage.

Ever.

This next gem led me to conclude that this is not a serious organization, but a potential propaganda front.

Why does the Coalition to Capture the Record care about whether digital court reporters will replace stenographers?

Think about it. If your mission is access to justice, what does anything else matter? All this stuff about shortage and “we won’t replace you”, and all that nonsense, it’s not a message you would write to people interested in access. It’s a message you would write to stenographers you are trying to placate so that they don’t take a stand against their own elimination. A narrative to disarm and demoralize. “Give up, there is nothing you can do, join us.”

I believe in access to justice. I signed up for more information. And with time and evidence, my views may change.

But does anyone see what I’m seeing?

P.S.

I’m going to write about something on my mind. You’re not expected to read it.

The Max Azzarello thing happened outside my courthouse. Luckily for me, I wasn’t there, but I did see a brief video clip.

He’s been described as this gentle soul, intelligent guy that went downhill after his mother, who he had a close relationship with, died.

I wondered how many people might say the same about me, if I passed away. Admittedly, my relationship with my mother was not close, but we loved each other deeply. But how many of you would come out of the woodwork to call me a conspiracy theorist in my death? And despite not a peep while I’m alive and well to defend myself and my beliefs.

Of course, I’m never going to hurt myself. It’s not going to happen. Maybe that’ll be the deciding factor. And should anything suspicious occur, I hope my loved ones don’t accept a false narrative.

There’s also the fact that what I write about was real and what he wrote about was a distorted version of the truth. Yes, big money interests are using their wealth and power to influence markets, governments, and consumers. Yes, the government has serious problems because it’s woefully ill equipped to deal with lawbreaking businesses in the quantity and on the scale that they exist today.

But I can’t help but empathize. I know how it feels to scream into the void and hear nothing back.

If someone finds this corner of the internet and you’re in a dark place…

…I’ve been there too.

Hurting yourself isn’t the way. Certainly not self-immolation. The future will be brighter with you in it.

A better tomorrow needs builders. If your story ends here, how can the world change for the better?

I’ll tell you what most people told me.

You are not alone.

TransAtlantic & Stenograph Partner

Had the pleasure of viewing this interview between Stenograph and TransAtlantic about their new partnership. TransAtlantic’s David Ross, Secretary/Treasurer of the Speech-to-Text Institute, mentions during the interview that a machine will “never, ever, ever” replace the reporter. I found the interview to be seeded with more generalities about the shortage. It came across to me as trying to sell the idea of shortage.

Mr. Ross did have a lot of positives to say about stenographers, “And we’re very proud of them and honored to have them and I just wish there were more.” But the direction of the company seems clear, it’s going to be about digital court reporter integration. He even mentions the possibility of stenographers switching over to “try something new.” Towards the close of the interview he notes we should never be threatened by technology and keep an open mind. But those of us that dispute the severity of shortage are open minded. Most of us had to be convinced by math and science that there was a problem with the numbers and narrative being distributed to the public. Why has there been a push to get stenographers to go digital if digital is so easy to recruit and train for?

It’s tough for me. I personally see many companies coming and saying they have a shortage, but I see little in the way of communication. They’re largely not on our Facebook groups, not using PRO Link, not using recruiters on LinkedIn, and not asking our associations for help. This is why I am generally suspicious of the narrative being sold at every turn: “The shortage is insurmountable, you must change, or else.” It’s fear appeal propaganda. I do it too, but for truth.

This comes after US Legal Support’s partnership with Stenograph in October.

Addendum:

Stenograph and Project Steno partnered soon after.

Bulletin: Court Reporter Shortage or Fraud?

Law360: A Dire Court Reporter Shortage? Depends on Who You Ask.

Certain court reporting companies are exaggerating and exacerbating the stenographer shortage for the purpose of selling digital court reporting to lawyers/courts/consumers.

Veritext, US Legal Support, and Planet Depos have all publicly made statements about the unavailability or shortage of stenographers while putting most of their effort into expanding digital court reporting. Succinctly, utilizing their market share to obfuscate the availability of stenographers and artificially increase digital court reporter demand. It is unknown whether this is concerted or a form of tacit parallelism.

The resulting atmosphere is also misleading to those seeking a career in court reporting.

The nonprofit Protect Your Record Project was formed to educate consumers on the bait and switch tactics occurring in the court reporting industry.

In 2021, US Legal Rep Peter Giammanco wrote, “Does it really matter if done legally and ethically and both methods end with the same final transcript?” A consumer awareness campaign was subsequently launched. There are questions about whether digital recording is reliably the same as stenography. In one New York case, the court remarked that past holdings that recording was equivalent to stenography were belied by the record in that appeal.

Companies continue to profess shortage while placing the bulk of their effort into expanding the digital reporting market, effectively limiting consumer choice and ignoring consumer preference for stenography. The 2013-2014 Court Reporting Industry Outlook is used to add credibility to these claims, but that forecast is nearly a decade old and does not account for recruitment initiatives such as National Court Reporters A to Z, Project Steno, and Open Steno.

Attorneys, courts, and support staff can attempt to find stenographers or stenographer-run businesses through their state court reporting association or NCRA Pro Link.

The FTC has stated it will crack down on companies taking advantage of gig workers. It is unknown how this will affect court reporting, a field that is approximately 70% independent contractors according to available data. It is also unknown how rampant misclassification may be in the field.

Stenonymous (Christopher Day) is dedicated to informing the court reporting and legal community and has faced legal threat for accurate reporting in the past.

Does this look like they’re looking for stenographers?

Members of the community that wish to support advertising for this bulletin may send money through the donation box at Stenonymous.com.

NCRA: Pay Rates Often Lead to Replacing Stenographic Court Reporters with Digital Methods

In a press release yesterday, the National Court Reporters Association acknowledged that different markets are having different experiences when it comes to court reporter or stenographer shortage. NCRA President Jason Meadors is quoted as saying “Claims of a court reporter shortage are all too often a matter of geography and market. When courthouses pay and offer benefits competitively, they become fully staffed, and litigants are not faced with the choice of paying market rates to have the best system available or rely upon what the courthouse is willing to provide for keeping the record.”

The press release is concise and worth a read. It gets across some important ideas, such as stenography being modern, the gold standard, and acknowledges in its own way that economics plays a role in where court reporters are available. Very similar to the realizations I had when I saw that many reporters in New York City were working 30 years behind inflation while agencies were crying shortage.

This could not come at a better time. The courts in California just more or less declared that funding was not the issue, with some screenshots below. With our profession setting the stage to dispel the misinformation spread by the Speech-to-Text Institute, there’s a real chance at educating court administrators as to the controversy and issue (ultimately, if they want there to be court reporters, they have to stand behind us and help keep the demand steady. If they continue piecemeal replacement of us across the country, there will be fewer of us to hire. It’s an unfortunate elephant-in-the-room scenario. It’s a self-fulfilling prophesy.)

We’ve also passed a milestone here on Stenonymous. Many of the claims I’ve made and articles I’ve published are over a year old or rapidly approaching such, and the statute of limitations on defamation in my state is a year. The best defense of the corporate juggernauts against my claims of fraud was to ignore me. At the very least, I hope some of the things I did help many of you connect, educate, and advocate without fear. It really does appear to me that the corporate powers that be are milking the shortage for the purpose of selling digital reporting and the equipment associated. That’s not the easiest problem to deal with, but we are a strong profession, and we’re on the road to dealing with it.

I cannot claim to always agree with NCRA, but it remains a pillar of our profession and today I am very proud to be a member. Thank you to our president, Jason Meadors, for speaking up and speaking out.