County Court Reporters: How Much You Need To Pay
As a litigator, you may need to hire a certified court reporter for litigation, deposition, and other legal or judicial proceedings every now and then. If you need to hire a court reporter in Atlanta but you still don't know how much will it cost you, here are the basic fees that you need to pay when you hire a court reporter for a judicial deposition.
One of the many questions we often receive from defendants, plaintiffs, legal assistants, and litigators, most especially those who have not tried hiring county court reporters yet in the past, is "How much do they have to pay when they need a court reporter for a judicial deposition?"
What does deposition mean?
A deposition is a sworn out-of-court testimony given by a defendant, a witness, or a plaintiff in a lawsuit just before the case is brought to a court trial. The individual who is being deposed is the deponent. The deposition starts by asking the deponent to take an oath under the rule of law and swear that the information or statement that he or she will be giving is nothing but the truth.
During the deposition, the lawyer will be throwing some questions towards the deponent. Generally, the defendant's lawyer will take the deposition of the plaintiff, and the latter's lawyer will take the deposition of the defendant. In addition to the primary opposing parties, the witnesses or other people who have significant knowledge about the lawsuit may also be deposed by either of the two lawyers.
How much does it cost you to hire a court reporter in Atlanta?
The basic costs that you need to pay when hiring a court reporter in Atlanta typically include the hourly appearance fee of the court reporter, the per page fee of the transcript produced by the reporter after the deposition, and some additional expenses like the fee for attaching and copying exhibits.
Court Reporter's Appearance Fees
Generally, the appearance fees are charged on an hourly basis. You will be billed for the actual number of hours or the total amount of time the county court reporters spent at the deposition. If you will not request a transcript after the deposition, you will be billed for the non-write hourly appearance of the court reporter.
Transcript Page Fees
Most often, the most expensive part of hiring a court reporter is the transcription page fee. Transcripts are charged per page. This means that the more pages the transcript would take, the larger the amount you will have pay. Once you order a transcript, the reporter will prepare and produce a written record of the deponent's sworn testimony.
Transcripts can be ordered by either the opposing parties. The party who first ordered the transcription will have to pay a higher amount for the "original transcript" wh ile the other parties who want to receive a copy of the transcripts will be charged a lower rate for "copy transcript".
Other Fees
Apart from the transcript fees and the per hour appearance fees of the court reporters, the court reporting firm may also charge you with other fees including handling and shipping fees. These charges can vary according to the agency and its policy.
If you order for an ASCII version of the digital transcript, condensed transcripts, or keyword indexes, some court reporting firms will charge you with additional fees. There are also some firms that offer these services free of charge.
The court reporter may also retain and attach copies of the exhibits marked during the deposition to the written transcripts. This can cost you as low as 20 cents to a dollar per page depending on whether the copy is colored or black and white.
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