$3,500. That's how much a court reporter recently charged for a deposition transcript in a case.
Not for taking the deposition. Not for attending the deposition. Just for the copy of the transcript.
The transcript was around 300 pages. Then there were the exhibits. More than 1,000 pages of exhibits that were already electronic and provided to the court reporter in electronic format. The charge? $1.25 per page.
Think about that.
These weren't boxes of documents that had to be gathered from some warehouse. Nothing had to be scanned. They were electronic files that were emailed over.
Unfortunately, this isn't just a court reporter issue.
Too many vendors in the personal injury world seem to view injury cases as an opportunity to extract as much money as possible from the process. Many are often backed by private equity and include various junk fees to just try to maximize profits. Unsurprisingly, this particular court reporting agency is owned by a private equity firm.
And who ultimately pays for it? The client. The person who was injured. The person whose life was turned upside down. The person the case is supposed to be about.
Every dollar unnecessarily siphoned out of a case is a dollar that doesn't go to the client.
The purpose of a personal injury case is to compensate the injured person. It is not to create an ecosystem where vendors maximize revenue at the expense of the people the system is supposed to serve.
Lawyers should be asking a simple question every time they incur an expense: "Does this help my client?"
Because at the end of the day, the client is why the case exists. Not the vendors.
Do you agree? Join this and other legal conversations with me on LinkedIn.
