Connecticut 2019 Regular Session

Connecticut Senate Bill SB00844 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
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3	3	LCO No. 4035 1 of 4
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5	5	General Assembly Raised Bill No. 844
6	6	January Session, 2019
7	7	LCO No. 4035
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10	10	Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
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12	12
13	13	Introduced by:
14	14	(JUD)
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19	19	AN ACT CONCERNING LE GAL TRANSCRIPT REQUIREME NTS AND
20	20	THE FEES CHARGED BY COURT REPORTERS.
21	21	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
22	22	Assembly convened:
23	23
24	24	Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) As used in this 1
25	25	section: 2
26	26	(1) "Court reporting" means the verbatim transcription of the 3
27	27	spoken word in a legal proceeding by stenographic or electronic 4
28	28	means; 5
29	29	(2) "Court reporter" means any individual or business entity, foreign 6
30	30	or domestic, engaged in the business of court reporting within this 7
31	31	state; 8
32	32	(3) "Official court reporter" means a stenographer hired by or 9
33	33	appointed by a state or federal authority to make a verbatim written or 10
34	34	electronic transcription of the spoken word during a court proceeding, 11
35	35	Workers' Compensation Commission proceeding or other official state 12
36	36	or federal administrative proceeding; 13 Raised Bill No. 844
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39	39
40	40	LCO No. 4035 2 of 4
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42	42	(4) "Final transcript" means the final transcribed version of the 14
43	43	spoken word at a legal proceeding created by a court reporter 15
44	44	irrespective of whether such transcribed version is the original or a 16
45	45	copy; and 17
46	46	(5) "Legal proceeding" includes, but is not limited to: (A) A 18
47	47	deposition, whether held within or outside of this state, for a 19
48	48	proceeding pending in this state and irrespective of whether such 20
49	49	deposition is conducted in person or by remote electronic means, (B) 21
50	50	an arbitration proceeding, (C) a mediation proceeding, and (D) any 22
51	51	similar proceeding incident to an inchoate or pending legal matter. 23
52	52	(b) Any final transcript produced by a court reporter, except an 24
53	53	official court reporter, for a legal proceeding within this state shall 25
54	54	meet the following "Transcript Format Guidelines" promulgated by the 26
55	55	National Court Reporters Association, as amended from time to time: 27
56	56	(1) Each page of a final transcript shall contain no fewer than 28
57	57	twenty-five typed lines on standard paper eight and one-half by eleven 29
58	58	inches in size; 30
59	59	(2) Each page of a final transcript shall have no fewer than nine or 31
60	60	ten characters per typed inch; 32
61	61	(3) The left-hand margin of the each page of a final transcript shall 33
62	62	be set at not more than one and three-quarter inches; 34
63	63	(4) The right-hand margin of each page of a final transcript shall be 35
64	64	set at not more than three-eighths of an inch; 36
65	65	(5) Each question and answer shall begin on a separate line; 37
66	66	(6) Each question and answer shall begin no more than five spaces 38
67	67	from the left-hand margin and the statement following a question or 39
68	68	answer shall begin no more than five spaces from the left-hand 40
69	69	margin; 41
70	70	(7) Any carryover question and answer line shall begin at the left-42 Raised Bill No. 844
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73	73
74	74	LCO No. 4035 3 of 4
75	75
76	76	hand margin; 43
77	77	(8) Any colloquy shall begin no more than fifteen spaces from the 44
78	78	left-hand margin and any carryover line of a colloquy shall begin at the 45
79	79	left-hand margin; 46
80	80	(9) Quoted material shall begin no more than fifteen spaces from the 47
81	81	left-hand margin and any carryover line of quoted material shall begin 48
82	82	no more than ten spaces from the left-hand margin; and 49
83	83	(10) Any parenthetical or exhibit marking shall begin no more than 50
84	84	fifteen spaces from the left-hand margin and any carryover line shall 51
85	85	begin no more than fifteen spaces from the left-hand margin. 52
86	86	(c) No court reporter, except an official court reporter producing a 53
87	87	transcript for a legal proceeding within this state, shall charge any 54
88	88	other party to the legal proceeding more for a final transcript than the 55
89	89	amount that is charged to the hiring party for the final transcript, 56
90	90	excluding ancillary attendance and other fees or additional services 57
91	91	requested and charged to the hiring party. Services that a party may 58
92	92	request of a court reporter at an increased fee include, but are not 59
93	93	limited to, expedited delivery of a transcript, daily copy of a transcript, 60
94	94	streaming text or video. If additional services are requested by any 61
95	95	party, these services shall be offered at the same or lower rate to all 62
96	96	parties to the legal proceeding, irrespective of which party hired the 63
97	97	court reporter. A court reporter, except an official court reporter, shall 64
98	98	charge the same rates for final transcripts and other services to all 65
99	99	parties to a legal proceeding irrespective of who hired the court 66
100	100	reporter. A court reporter, upon receiving a written request from a 67
101	101	party for an invoice for services rendered, shall provide such invoice to 68
102	102	the requesting party no later than thirty days after the date of receipt of 69
103	103	the request. 70
104	104	(d) Nothing in this section shall prevent a court reporter from 71
105	105	charging a nonhiring party a lower rate for a copy of a final transcript 72
106	106	or other service. 73 Raised Bill No. 844
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109	109
110	110	LCO No. 4035 4 of 4
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112	112	(e) Any violation of the provisions of this section by a court reporter 74
113	113	shall constitute an unfair trade practice under chapter 735a of the 75
114	114	general statutes. 76
115	115	(f) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to 77
116	116	an official court reporter appointed by the judges of the Superior Court 78
117	117	pursuant to chapter 874 of the general statutes. 79
118	118	This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
119	119	sections:
120	120
121	121	Section 1 October 1, 2019 New section
122	122
123	123	Statement of Purpose:
124	124	To standardize legal transcript requirements and the fees charged by
125	125	court reporters.
126	126	[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
127	127	except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
128	128	not underlined.]
129	129