It’s a matter of law: Certified reporters and insurance company contracts don’t mix.
Arizona Certified Reporters have certain duties set by law that they are not to disregard. These codified duties are sometimes overlooked by attorneys who have a general understanding of a certified reporter’s professional responsibility, but have not considered those responsibilities in light of current and ever changing insurance business practices that can cause a conflict for the reporter and put him or her at odds with your client’s rights.
Did you know…
Pursuant to ACJA 7-206(J)(1)(g)(1), Arizona Certified Reporters have a duty to monitor, oversee and review the preparation, production and distribution of the transcript until such time as it is certified and delivered to the custodial attorney. But…
Insurance contracts often require that an electronic copy be provided to third-party production and distribution centers without regard to the privacy and confidentiality your client expects.
According to ACJA 7-206(J)(1)(g)(2), the Arizona Certified Reporter is required to inspect all “charges, billings and invoices” that have been submitted to all parties. But…
Insurance contracts often require that third parties not present at the deposition directly bill the custodial attorney and all other parties in place of the local court reporter, effectively bypassing the local reporter’s obligation to inspect all charges.
According to ACJA 7-206(J)(1)(g)(3) and (4) , Arizona Certified Reporters must ensure that no special financial terms, special services or economic advantages are offered to any party at the expense of any other party. But…
Insurance contracts often require that the local court reporter provide an electronic file of the deposition to a national court reporting firm or other third party for purposes of creating deposition summaries or maintaining deposition repositories with no confidentiality measures taken. Often your local reporter doesn’t even know these services have been provided because they don’t see the invoice and aren’t a party to the confidential contract between the national firm that hired him or her and the insurance carrier.
According to ACJA 7-206(J)(1)(g), if the party opposing you is not a “court, agency or instrumentality of the United States or of the State of Arizona” the certified reporter is STRICTLY PROHIBITED FROM CONTRACTING.
AND according to 7-206(J)(1)(j), “The provisions of Section 7-206 may not be waived by disclosure, agreement, stipulation or otherwise.”
