Rough Drafts – Does Quality Really Matter?

Planet Depos is fortunate to work with some highly sophisticated clients.  Many of them appreciate the fact that Planet Depos court reporters are equally sophisticated in their craft in that they can offer valuable services such as rough draft transcripts.  What we’ve discovered from our clients is that the rough draft transcript is, at times, just as valuable — if not more so — than the final transcript!

Whether the case is a high-profile medical malpractice case, an intensely technical intellectual property case, an ongoing arbitration, or simply a client who likes to be prepared for anything, your rough draft is used at many levels.

You may think, so what?  Why are we talking about this?  We’re talking about it because the client deserves your very best efforts on the rough draft.  A usable transcript.  A transcript with as few errors as possible. What is the most common complaint from clients regarding the rough draft?

“There are so many errors on the first few pages that I don’t want to go any further.  Why are the names of the parties and their counsel not correct in the rough?  How much extra am I paying for this?”

How good is that first impression of your skill and professionalism when the client can’t read the first few pages of the transcript?

Having been in your shoes as a reporter, I know what it’s like when your hands first hit the keys.  Your fingers are more than likely stiff, and it takes a while to get warmed up and in the groove.  There are those reporters who say, “Attorneys don’t care if the first few pages are unreadable – they’re looking for the ‘meat’ of the testimony.”

Then there are others who say, “My client is paying a premium for a rough draft – for every page – it’s imperative that I hit it out of the gate.”  The latter believes in warming up before the proceeding.  After all, how do you hit it out of the gate if your hands are cold and not nimble?  Maybe ask the participants to “go slow”?  Or maybe a disclaimer at the beginning, “Please excuse any unreadable sentences and/or pages of testimony while I get my hands warmed up.  Thank you for your patience.”

Here are a few tips for producing a readable, usable rough draft, compiled from complaints received from clients:

• Take the time to identify the participants.
• Read through the videographer’s read-on and make sure you’ve corrected the spellings in the case caption, of counsel, and of the parties.
• Ensure that you’ve globaled the key words used throughout the proceedings.

The result?  When the Q&A hits, you’ve already tackled some of the biggest hurdles of producing a quality, usable rough draft.

And if you’re lucky enough to be working with a scopist who is familiar with Work Units in Case CATalyst or using Connection Magic as part of Eclipse, they’re no doubt helping you to look like a rock star before you’ve taken your first break of the day!

Before you hit the send button to release that next rough draft to counsel, ask yourself:

• Is there any raw steno in my file?
• Have I identified all the participants?
• Can a support person at the law firm make sense of what they’re reading?
• Will a search for a key word or phrase yield the intended results?
• Is this rough draft maybe a bit too rough?

Do you have tips for producing quality rough drafts? We welcome them here!