"Why You Need a Digital Signature Now"

BY SANDY BUNCH VANDERPOL, RMR, CRR

Some people believe that digital signatures are the wave of the future. I suggest that digital signatures are not the future. Digital signatures are an important part of the way we certify our transcripts now, and they will continue to be important into the future.  Do you still need to be convinced? Let’s consider, for a moment, what our profession is about at this most basic level. All court reporters, whether licensed by their state or not, are regarded by the legal community as the guardians of the record. We take on the daunting task and awesome responsibility of ensuring that the record is certified as true and accurate to the best of our ability. We are held to the highest standards by the justice system and are entrusted by it to ensure the integrity of the record. Our certification of the transcript as being true and accurate is at the heart of what we do. Our profession of stenographic reporting stands at the pinnacle of protecting the verbatim record. In most states, it is the stenographic reporter who is licensed, is fingerprinted, and acts as an officer of the court, and it is the stenographic reporter who is impartial to all sides in litigation. We take our duties seriously and act in a professional manner in doing so. As professionals in the digital age, we must continue to provide our certified transcripts to the litigants and the judicial system in a format that meets and exceeds the expectations of the judicial system. This format now includes a digital signature on your transcripts. Let’s explore in a cursory manner why digital signatures are an important element in the way we do our jobs from the perspectives of firm owners, deposition reporters, and official court reporters.

What’s Happening to Our Transcripts?

Many states and jurisdictions throughout the country are allowing and, in fact, requiring e-filing of pleadings, including deposition and court transcripts. The federal courts are mandating that the reporter’s transcript be uploaded to PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records). A few cities, on a pilot project basis, are permitting the public to go to a local library and to download from PACER the reporter’s transcript free of charge. Many states’ Administrative Office of the Courts have a strategic plan in place that mandates that reporters file their transcripts electronically. Some states already require this. 

What can we do to ensure the integrity of the digital record in situations like this? Digitally sign our transcripts. In addition, many transcript repositories throughout the country let counsel and others upload transcripts, and those transcripts can then be accessed by litigants across the country and the world. How can we compete with these transcript repositories? I suggest one small but important step is to digitally sign our transcripts. 

What Are Freelance Reporters Doing with Their Transcripts?

Today, most freelance reporters are working for more than one deposition agency. Deposition transcripts are being e-mailed to the firm for production by that firm. Many of these transcripts are not being signed and certified by the reporter. It’s not uncommon that the reporter will sign multiple certificate pages and leave them with the firm to attach to a deposition transcript. Some reporters sign a certificate page and mail it to the firm with the exhibits, not with a printed transcript. And, on occasion, staff members at the agency will sign on your behalf.  What can you, the deposition reporter, do to ensure the integrity of the record in situations like this? Digitally sign your transcripts.

What Are Deposition Agencies Doing with the Transcripts?

Most agencies require that the transcript be e-mailed to them in ASCII page image format. The agency will usually e-mail or print the transcript and send it to counsel. Occasionally, the agency will reformat your transcript. Most agencies scan the exhibits and back up the transcript to a backup medium of their choice. Some agencies now require that reporters digitally sign their transcripts; however, most agencies do not promote this practice. And some agencies and reporters are starting to promote to their clients a paperless environment - no hard copy transcript, just a digital transcript. These firms’ practices vary. Some require digital signatures by the reporter, some digitally sign for the reporter, or still others don’t use a digital signature at all.  What can the deposition agency do to ensure the integrity of the record? Promote to your reporters the importance of digitally signing their transcripts.

What Are Official Court Reporters Doing with their Transcripts?

As discussed earlier, federal court reporters, after 90 days, must upload their transcripts to PACER. The practice for state reporters varies throughout the country. But in many states, reporters own the transcript and are required to maintain them for a specified period of time. Official court reporters, like deposition reporters, often e-mail their transcripts to counsel and follow up with a hard copy. Some appellate jurisdictions are exploring the idea that reporters’ appeal transcripts be filed electronically, and some appellate jurisdictions may already be requiring this.  What can the official court reporter do to ensure the integrity of the record? Digitally sign your transcripts.

Why Do Attorneys and the Courts Value Digitally Signed Transcripts?

Our end-user clients can now confirm with certainty that there is no distinction between the certified paper transcript and the digitally signed transcript. With some available digital signature software programs, your digital signature is validated by a third-party validation process. Each transcript contains the image of your signature on your certificate page. Digital signatures validate several key elements, including the identity of the court reporter, the date and time of the signature, and the exact content of the transcript. 

Why Do Reporters Use and Appreciate Digital Signatures?

Reporters who, as a practice, use digital signatures in a paperless case (no production of a hard copy transcript) have found that their job is easier when they do not need to produce the hard copy transcript, that there is a savings in delivery costs, that the signature is more reliable and carries more weight than presigned certificate pages, and that the signature prevents their work product from being modified without detection. Transcripts can be signed for specific recipients. Reporters can protect their transcripts with passwords. They can also lock out the print and copy features, which will deter unauthorized distribution of the transcript and will provide another value of court reporters versus tape recorders and transcriptionists.

What’s Happening in Texas?

As of April 2006, the Texas Court Reporters Certification Board promulgated the following edict that recognizes the digital signature as a valid process for certifying the official transcript: “Effective immediately, public-key-based digital signatures are approved as an accepted method of electronic signature for court reporters to use on the first certification of a transcript.” Since the inception of this language, digital signatures in the Texas have been used widely by both official and deposition reporters in the certification of their transcripts. In addition, the following applies, “Effective April 28, 2006, Powers of Attorney and faxed signatures are not acceptable methods of signatures on the first certification of a transcript.” Throughout the profession, talk persists on why digital signatures are not necessary and how difficult this practice would be in the everyday business of reporting. Without going into a whole host of the reasons I’ve heard, a few of those statements are that there is no statute that mandates digital signatures; freelance reporters always make errors in their transcript that the agency has to change; if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it; lawyers don’t request a digital signature; and digital signatures are too expensive. There are many more excuses.  The simple answer, I believe, to each of these statements is that we are a profession that has high standards for the work we do. Simply put, it is a best business practice to incorporate the use of digital signatures into our job as an element of those high standards. In conclusion, our profession has been and continues to be a leader in the promotion of many forms of technological advancements that benefit the judicial system, including realtime reporting, text streaming, and much more. Many in our profession continue to lead in this digital environment by promoting digital signatures. Education of the litigator and courts of our technology is vital to understand the importance of digital signatures. You have been, are, and will be the best educators to our clients about the importance of securing the integrity of our record in this digital environment.    

Sandy Bunch VanderPol, RMR, CRR, is a freelancer in Lotus, Calif., and a member of NCRA’s Technology Evaluation Committee.

Learn More about Digital Signatures in Anaheim NCRA will present two seminars on digital signatures on Saturday, July 27, 2008, during its Annual Convention and Exposition in Anaheim, Calif.  NCRA’s Technology Evaluation Committee encourages all of you to attend these seminars and to bring the necessary equipment and personal identification to the “On-the-Spot Digital Signature Booth,” where you can obtain your digital signature certificate. What you’ll need to bring:Bring your computer (to access the Internet and download the digital signature certificate)Bring your CAT software key (for training on how to digitally sign your transcript - Catalyst users)Bring your driver’s license and $10 (for notarization of your signature)Bring your credit card (for payment of your digital signature certificate - approximately $19.95) One of the seminars is “Why Digitally Sign Your Transcripts?” In this seminar, you can learn from a panel of industry experts why digital signatures are important. Does the digital world require you, the professional, to digitally sign your transcripts? Is our industry responsible for the integrity of the record in this digital environment by digitally signing all transcripts? We are in the digital world now! Our clients demand our transcripts in digital format now! Join in on this panel discussion and learn to protect the integrity of the digital transcript. 

The second seminar is “Learn Hands-On How to Apply Your Digital Signature to Your Transcripts.” For this seminar, you should bring your computer so you can learn how to apply your digital signature to your transcript. Your colleagues will offer you step-by-step instructions using your CAT software or other functional digital signature software. You must have your digital signature certificate to ensure a successful outcome for this seminar. Please visit the Digital Signature Booth in the Internet Cafe on Saturday to obtain you digital signature.