I'm sure most of us remember this famous proverb: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." And most of us can probably relate to feeling "burned out" at work at some point.

But in a legal setting, we expect our court-appointed officials to continue to handle their job functions in a fair and accurate manner, regardless of whether or not they feel "burned out." This is especially true for a court reporter.

A recent article in the New York Post, unveils that the Office of Court Administration in Manhattan is currently handling 10 different trial appeals stating that the same court reporter that covered all 10 cases was not taking down accurate record of the trials, but instead writing gibberish and, in one case, simply kept writing "I hate my job, I hate my job…"

It was found that this reporter was suffering from alcoholism. The constant pressures of his job duties have been said to have influenced these happenings as well. He was later fired in March 2012.

The moral of this story? How well do you know your court reporter? Can you trust that they are providing you with an accurate record?

http://nypost.com/2014/04/03/alcoholic-court-stenographers-gibberish-imperils-guilty-verdicts/

Executive Reporting Service