The Deadline and the Missing Page
You are a freelance certified shorthand reporter who covered a two-day civil trial. The transcript is due under a court order in 10 days. On day 8, while assembling the transcript, you discover that page 214 of your rough notes is missing-apparently lost when your bag was moved. The page covered a portion of the plaintiff's direct examination, including an objection and a ruling. Your audio backup for that segment exists but has a 20-second gap where the recording device switched files. The attorneys are awaiting the transcript. You have not yet filed a certification. You must decide how to proceed and what to tell the parties.
1. What should you do about the missing page and the audio gap before filing the certified transcript?
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You should not file a certification until you have made a good-faith effort to reconstruct the record accurately. Steps include: reviewing the audio backup in full, checking any secondary notes or realtime files, contacting the parties to determine whether they have notes or a rough draft of the segment, and, if necessary, disclosing the gap. You must not invent or infer the missing content. If the gap cannot be resolved, the transcript should contain a clear notation identifying the portion that could not be transcribed and the reason, rather than fabricated text. The reasoning is that a certification attests to accuracy; certifying a transcript with guessed content would be false. Transparency with the parties and the court protects the record and the reporter's professional standing.
2. What should you tell the attorneys about the missing page and the deadline?
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You should promptly and honestly inform the attorneys that page 214 of the rough notes is missing and that the audio backup has a 20-second gap in that segment. You should explain what you have done to reconstruct it and what remains uncertain. You should also address the deadline: if you cannot complete an accurate transcript by day 10, you should seek an extension or file a motion for additional time rather than file an inaccurate certification. The reasoning is that concealment would compound the problem and could violate ethical duties of candor and accuracy. Early disclosure allows the parties to seek a stipulation, reconstruct the record, or obtain relief from the court. Professional responsibility requires transparency, not silence.
3. If the gap cannot be reconstructed, how should the certified transcript reflect it?
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The transcript should include a clear, neutral notation at the precise location-for example, a parenthetical stating that a portion of the record could not be transcribed due to a recording gap, with the approximate time or page reference. The notation should be factual and not speculate about content. The reporter should also preserve the audio backup and any reconstruction attempts in case of later challenge. The reasoning is that a certified transcript must be honest about its limits; a notation preserves the integrity of the record and puts the parties on notice. Fabricating or omitting the gap would be worse than disclosing it. Accuracy and candor govern.