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Court reporter shortage prompts LA Superior Court system to allow more electronic recording

September 6, 2024

Grappling with a critical shortage of court reporters, the chief judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court system issued an order Thursday, Sept. 5, allowing electronic recording in some proceedings, providing thousands of self-represented litigants with verbatim transcripts for future appeals.

Recording will be permitted during certain family law, probate and civil proceedings when court reporters are not available, Presiding Judge Samantha P. Jessner said during a news conference.

“This general order addresses the constitutional crisis in courtrooms across our large, diverse county,” Jessner added. “A crisis that has left vulnerable litigants in family law, probate and unlimited jurisdiction civil matters with no access to a verbatim record of their proceedings, essentially extinguishing their ability to seek meaningful appellate review.”

The “worsening and well-documented” court reporter shortage, combined with “arbitrary statutory restrictions” on electronic recording, impacts the court’s ability to provide all litigants fair and equal access to justice, Jessner said.

“Simply put, no record, no justice,” she said.

Union opposes move

The Los Angeles County Court Reporters Association strongly opposes efforts to expand the use of electronic recording beyond what is allowed by state law.

The union representing court reporters employed by the Los Angeles Superior Court system contends Jessner’s order puts litigants at risk of faulty recordings and incomplete or inaccurate transcripts, and does not guarantee their ability to appeal cases,

“We are dismayed that the Los Angeles Superior Court, after failing to invest in a strong court reporter workforce time and again, is now using the court-created crisis to threaten access to quality transcripts,” association President Cindy Tachell said Thursday in a statement. “The LA Superior Court needs to start working with us to effectively recruit and retain qualified court reporters instead of actively undermining this vital profession.”

California law mandates court reporters in all felony and juvenile proceedings and limits the use of electronic recordings as an accurate means of providing verbatim records to criminal misdemeanor, limited civil and infraction cases.

However, electronic recording is widely and successfully used elsewhere, including the California Courts of Appeal, which considers more than 500 cases per year, Jessner said.

“Almost 50 years ago the Legislature deemed electronic recording to be a reliable way to capture the verbatim record in these case types, and we have successfully used electronic recording for many years,” Jessner said. “As a result, we know a reliable and accurate transcript is produced from the recording.”

‘Pay, delay or walk away’

In instances where electronic recording is not permitted and where court-employed reporters are not mandated, self-represented litigants may have to pay several thousand dollars per day to hire private court reporters, Jessner said.

Another option is for litigants and opposing parties to ask for a continuance until a court-employed reporter can be assigned to the proceedings free of charge or forgo the use of a verbatim transcript on appeal.

“As a result of the (court reporter) shortage, this can take weeks or months,” Jessner said. “As you can imagine, delay is often not an option in these cases, especially in domestic violence, conservatorship and child custody cases. In short, litigants in these courtrooms must pay, delay or walk away.”

The Court Reporter Crisis Dashboard, unveiled in August to detail efforts to fill more than 125 court reporter vacancies, indicates that more than 525,000 family law, probate, and unlimited civil proceedings occurred in Los Angeles County without verbatim records from Jan. 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.

Millions for recruitment to no avail

Despite receiving nearly $10 million each year for recruitment and retainment, Los Angeles Superior Court lost 11 court reporters since it began offering financial incentives in early 2023. It has recorded a net loss of 117 court reporters over the past six years.

The state’s 44 trial courts spent $20.3 million on recruitment and retention efforts in 2022 and 2023 with “limited impact” in attracting new hires, states a California Legislative Analyst’s Office report released in March.

As of June, an additional 691 full-time court reporters were needed to meet the state’s minimum staffing requirements, the LAO estimated.

There were 4,752 California-licensed court reporters as of July 1, 2023. However, from 2013 to 2022, the total number of licensees declined by about 19% and the number of new license applications decreased by about 70%, according to the California Department of Consumer Affairs.

Challenges to ramping up

It is uniquely difficult to become a court reporter in California, according to a January 2022 California Trial Court Consortium report. The state requires three exams for licensure and does not make exceptions in its licensing requirements for certified court reporters who relocate from other states.

Aging court reporters also present another challenge. About 46% of active licenses were issued at least 30 years ago and about half of all court-employed reporters were eligible to retire as of Dec. 1, 2023, the LAO said.

The Los Angeles Superior Court system spent nearly $14 million in state funds from July 2022 to June 2024 to retain and recruit court reporters. Its extensive recruitment campaign includes advertising on billboards and bus stations across the county.

It also offers a variety of incentives, including a $50,000 signing bonus for new hires and a $25,000 finder’s fee for referrals from court employees.

The court also has developed a free internal training program for employees interested in becoming court reporters and has agreed to increase the salaries of existing court reporters by 10% over the next two years.

The LACCRA accused the court of misspending millions of dollars from the state for retention and recruitment.

“This is a highly skilled profession that takes proper training,” the union said. “Instead of meaningfully recruiting new candidates, the court spent money on a perfunctory advertising campaign on buses and billboards that did little to generate qualified applicants.”

Orange County Register

News Details

Court reporter shortage prompts LA Superior Court system to allow more electronic recording

Union opposes move

‘Pay, delay or walk away’

Millions for recruitment to no avail

Challenges to ramping up

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