Extract from Laura Lorek’s article “Brace for Transcript Errors? Court Reporting in the Digital Age”
In a case in Nevada, a court reporter misheard a routine legal phrase, and transcribed it as “a motion from hell.” In so doing, the ordinary term—”countermotion to compel”—became a dramatic error.
The Nevada incident, shared on LinkedIn by Las Vegas litigator Donna Wittig, was the court reporter’s error and not a digital or artificial-intelligence, or AI, mistake.
But observers say it underscores concerns about the future accuracy of transcripts, as courts increasingly begin to depend on digital recording and emerging technology like AI programs.
New technologies can often prove tricky in the courtroom, said Mark DuBois, a legal ethics expert and counsel with Geraghty & Bonnano in Connecticut.
“Our funny transcript cases started when we switched to court ‘monitors’ who transcribe tape recordings of trials, instead of the old steno-style, where the court reporters used shorthand, which is still used in depositions,” DuBois said.
