There are three ways to advance your cause and DRA uses all three: it advocates for you in the Legislature, it advocates for you in court, it advocates for you in the forum of public opinion.

National Legislative Advocacy

DRA worked with the National Court Reporters Association to organize and coordinate successful efforts across the country to preserve the impartiality of the freelance deposition reporting profession. As a result, court rules or laws preserving the impartiality of freelance deposition professionals were passed in fourteen states including Hawaii, Texas, Minnesota, Utah, West Virginia, New Mexico, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, Kentucky, Michigan, Arkansas, Indiana, and North Carolina.

DRA in 2010 spearheaded the drafting and lobbying for NCRA’s new strict ethics policy in their Code of Professional Ethics No. 8 entirely banning kickbacks for business.

DRA created the 2010 Voter’s Guide in an effort to provide NCRA members nationwide with all available information about candidates to assist them in making the best possible choices for the following year’s NCRA officers and board members.

In 2011, within 48 hours of it coming to DRA’s attention that NCRA Immediate Past President SueLynn Morgan had taken a job with a company which provides and promotes digital audio recording over stenographic reporters in the courts, DRA lodged the first formal written complaint to NCRA, requesting it to take immediate action to ameliorate the situation. DRA garnered the signatures of over 400 members in support of our assessment of the urgency of the situation and our proposed plan of action.

California Legislative Advocacy

DRA’s California legislative accomplishments include:

AB 2842 in 2002 clarified that the deposition officer may not go off the record without the stipulation of all parties present unless any party attending the deposition, including the deponent, wishes to seek a protective order due to the manner in which the examination is being conducted.

The bill also exempted a reporter's audio files from the legal requirements imposed upon other audio or video records made at a deposition by differentiating that the reporter's audio file is a record made by the deposition officer to assist in transcribing the testimony, as opposed to a record made by or at the direction of a party. In conjunction with this effort, DRA defeated a bill that would have required reporters to retain their audio files consistent with the legal requirements of retaining stenographic notes, thereby subjecting those files to the possibility of being subpoenaed.

AB 2842 added the language that "any offer made by a deposition officer to provide realtime or rough drafts to any party shall be made to all parties in attendance and that the cost for such services or products shall be equal to all parties." This is the first language in the California CCP to address equal pricing for services, preventing the providing of rough drafts or interactive realtime either for free or at a reduced rate to one side in the litigation.

In 2004 DRA supported COCRA in its opposition to a proposed compromise to expand ER in some courtrooms in exchange for live reporters in others, because we recognized that that would be harmful to the profession as a whole. Our philosophy is not that ER is inevitable and that we should therefore try to control it, but rather, that ER will never be acceptable and should be fought every step of the way.

AB 333 in 2005 clarified that if a deposition is taken stenographically, it shall be done by a California CSR, which, although custom and practice, was not actually stated in the CCP.

AB 1293 in 2006 included language proposed by DRA that reporters being paid from the Transcript Reimbursement Fund may be compensated for nonappearances and for customary per diems or hourly fees, neither of which was provided for previously.

DRA successfully opposed legislation that would have required encryption, password protection and electronic signature on e-mailed transcripts.

Through its “Project Collect” in 2006 DRA worked with CCRA to pass AB 1211, a bill that holds attorneys directly liable for the payment of reporters' services, unless written notice is given at the time the services are requested that another entity is responsible. DRA took the lead on drafting the actual bill language.

DRA through its “Project Respect” in 2006 led the fight to prevent then-Governor Schwarzenegger from abolishing the California Court Reporters Board.

California Litigation

DRA in 2008 participated as amicus curiae – all the way to the California Supreme Court – seeking to overturn a case that allows judges to set transcript copy fees. (DRA trained members in how to arrange their business affairs, in order to protect themselves, in the aftermath of the case.)

DRA’s legal theories and complaints in 2010 to the Court Reporters Board of California resulted in the CSR Board for the first time asserting jurisdiction over and fining a non CSR-owned firm (US Legal). DRA is currently participating in the lawsuit on the side of the Board, has filed an Amicus Curie brief and will be attending the trial on behalf of our members.

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Professional Advocacy

Since the founding members created DRA, California reporters have participated in DRA’s 15 annual conventions and many more one-day seminars, all designed to educate, advocate and maintain the hightest level of professionalism among all certified shorthand reporters.

In 1997 DRA developed the Certified Realtime Professional exam and began administering it at its annual convention, fall seminar and occasionally throughout the year. This test consists of five minutes of live Question and Answer dictation at 200 words per minute and, as such, is a true test of one's realtime skills. Currently more than five county courtrooms and federal courts recognize the value of this certification and provide a pay differential of up to 20 percent to their official reporters who hold this designation. This exam has since been renamed to CCRR, California Certified Realtime Reporter.

When West Valley College leadership threatened to discontinue its court reporting program, DRA lead the fight to preserve it, mobilizing reporters and elected officials, in a grass roots effort that resulted in the college administration reversing itself and preserving the program.

Public Affairs Advocacy

DRA’s video protesting former Governor Schwarzenegger’s effort to replace our fellow official reporters with machines went viral, with more than 15,000 YouTube hits, galvanizing reporters nationally.

DRA in collaboration with CCRA retained a prestigious law firm to outline the dangerous tax consequences of law firm employees taking kickbacks in exchange for selecting one reporting firm over another, based on incentives offered in exchange for future business.

DRA took this message, crafted an entertaining educational video about it, and brought it to the floor of the 2011 State Bar convention.

DRA along with CCRA drafted an op-ed on the subject that appeared in the Fresno Bar Association magazine and the San Luis Obispo Bar Association magazine in 2011, entitled “Dollars For Depos.”

DRA secured the lead article in “The Legal Secretary” magazine which appeared in August of 2011, entitled “Law Firms Beware Of Gifts From Court Reporting Firms.”

DRA joined NCRA at the 2011 Court Technology Conference (CTC) in Long Beach, California, and strongly advocated for the role of the stenographic court reporter to the audience at the largest court technology conference in the world. In attendance were over 1,000 judges, court administrators, and court IT professionals representing courts of all sizes from all across the United States and the world.

DRA’s Facebook page (which operates as a forum for freelancers to post questions) gets over 600 hits every day and DRA has nearly 1,500 Facebook friends. DRA’s newsletter, Facebook page, and website are just THE places to keep up on the latest developments in your profession.

Professional development. Community. Vigorous advocacy. Conventions that are fun, great for networking, and educational.

If you haven’t already joined, what are you waiting for?