Court Reporters and Confidentiality

Court reporters hear a lot of things -- they are the fly on the wall, the shadow in the corner, the silent partner to justice and are very often forgotten or not even thought about.  Court reporters have as much responsibility to maintain confidential information as anyone else. How can you trust that what happens in the deposition room stays in the deposition room?

There are three paths to maintaining confidentiality:

• ·       The government path:  Enter into a business associate agreement with your court reporter. Under HIPAA, court reporters are a business associate or subcontractor: “A person or entity that creates, receives, maintains or transmits [PHI] for a function or activity regulated by [HIPAA]” on behalf of a contracted entity or business associate.

• ·       The redacted path: Request information to be redacted from the transcript. There are eighteen identifiers under HIPAA that could be redacted. Among others, this can include addresses, email addresses, birth date, license plate numbers as well as medical admission and discharge dates.

• ·       The trust path: Some court reporters have security clearances that permit access to reporting confidential proceedings such as federal and state grand juries. Court reporters who are members of the National Court Reporters Association agree to abide by the code of ethics which requires members to: “Preserve the confidentiality and ensure the security of
  
  information, oral or written, entrusted to the Member by any of the parties in a proceeding.” And maybe the most important trust factor is the long-term relationship you establish with your court reporter.  When you work with someone over the long term, you know who is in the room with you and your clients and have firsthand knowledge of their commitment to preserving the confidential information entrusted to them.

Have a signed agreement, redact information if appropriate and know and trust your court reporter. Three paths to follow to ensure what happens in the deposition room, stays in the deposition room.