Senate Bill 2857

AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 9-13-122, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO APPLY TO ANY COURT REPORTER OR COURT REPORTING FIRM, CORPORATION, OR OTHER ENTITY; TO PROHIBIT THE TAKING OF DEPOSITIONS BY COURT REPORTERS WHO HAVE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST; TO SPECIFY THE PROHIBITED CONFLICTS OF INTEREST; TO ENSURE COMPARABLE TREATMENT OF ALL PARTIES; TO PROHIBIT ANY WAIVER OF THIS ACT; TO EXEMPT GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; TO PROVIDE PENALTIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 9-13-122, Mississippi Code of 1972:

9-13-122. (1) The Legislature finds that court reporters serve as officers of the court and both the appearance and existence of impartiality are no less important for officers who take depositions than for judicial officers and other persons whose responsibilities are integral to the administration of justice.

(2) (a) A deposition shall not be taken by a person who is:

(i) A party to the action.

(ii) A relative or employee of or attorney for a party to the proceeding.

(iii) Someone with a financial interest in the action or its outcome.

(iv) A relative, employee or attorney of someone with a financial interest in the action or its outcome.

(b) Before accepting an assignment, the court reporter is obligated to make reasonable efforts to ascertain whether any arrangement exists that is prohibited under this section.

(c) A court reporter taking a deposition, or the firm or any other person or entity with whom such court reporter has a principal and agency relationship or is otherwise associated, shall not enter into a contractual or financial agreement, arrangement or relationship for court reporting services, whether written or oral, with any attorney, party to an action, insurance company, third-party administrator, or any other person or entity having a financial interest in an action. Specific examples of arrangements that are prohibited include, but are not limited to, ones that:

(i) Establish rates and terms for court reporting services that extend beyond a single case, action or proceeding.

(ii) Include a court reporter on any list of preferred providers of court reporting services after exchanging information and reaching an agreement specifying the prices or other terms upon which future court reporting services will be provided, whether or not the services actually are ever ordered.

(iii) Allow the format of the transcript to be manipulated to affect pricing or increase the cost of the transcript.

(iv) Require the court reporter taking the deposition to relinquish control of an original deposition transcript and copies of the transcript before it is certified.

(v) Fail to offer comparable services, in both quality and price, to all parties, or otherwise require the court reporter to provide special financial terms or other services that are not offered at the same time and on the same terms to all other parties in the litigation.

(vi) Allow the court reporter to communicate directly with a party of interest, other than a pro se party, except to provide invoices.

(vii) Base the compensation of the court reporter on the outcome of the proceeding, make the compensation of the court reporter contingent on the outcome of the proceeding, or otherwise give the court reporter a financial interest in the action.

(viii) Give any economic or other advantage to any party, or a party's attorney, representative, agent or insurer without offering it to all parties; this includes failing to offer comparable services, including price or credit terms, to all parties or otherwise requiring the court reporter to provide financial terms or other services that are not offered at the same time and on the same terms to all other parties in the litigation.

(ix) Restrict the noticing attorney from using the court reporter of the attorney's choice.

(x) Provide additional advocacy and litigation support services that are not offered on equal terms to all parties to a proceeding, including, but not limited to, trial preparation assistance and deposition summaries.

(3) (a) At any time during or after a proceeding, an attorney or party to the proceeding has the right to an itemized statement of all rates and charges for all services that have been or will be provided by the court reporter to any party to the litigation. Information on prices, terms and conditions shall be provided on a timely basis that will allow all parties to have the opportunity to effectively negotiate for any changes necessary to ensure that comparable terms and conditions have been made available to all parties.

(b) Upon request, the Board of Certified Court Reporters shall be provided with an itemized invoice of all rates and charges for services that have been provided.

(c) In order to prevent unfair shifting of costs from one party to another party, the page rate charged for a copy of the deposition transcript shall not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the page rate charged for the original transcript of the deposition.

(4) The provisions of this section may not be waived by any means by any person.

(5) The prohibitions in this section do not apply to situations where fees or special services may be negotiated, if the fees or special services are the same for all parties and are negotiated on a case-by-case basis. The prohibitions of this section do not extend to governmental entities required by law to obtain court reporting services on a long-term basis through competitive bidding.

(6) (a) A violation of this section shall be enforceable by the court in which the underlying action is pending.

(b) Without limiting the inherent powers and discretion of the court:

(i) A deposition taken in violation of these prohibitions in violation of Rule 28(c) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure (disqualification for interest), is subject to all sanctions for such a violation under the Rules of Civil Procedure.

(iii) Any court reporter, firm, attorney, or party willfully violating this section may be subject to fine or sanction by the court, including a ruling that the deposition is void and ineligible for admission in a court of law or for use or submission in any arbitration or other legal or administrative proceedings.

(c) A court reporter who violates this section is subject to disciplinary proceedings before the Board of Certified Court Reporters.

(7) This section applies to any court-reporting firm, entity, corporation or individual court reporter doing business in this state. Businesses or firms providing court reporting services are subject to the same rules, regulations and statues that govern individual court reporters. This section applies to any deposition conducted in this state, whether parties appear in person or by remote electronic means.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.