Episode 89 -Lessons from the Front Lines: An Appellate Court’s Ominous Comment to Litigants Fighting Over a Transcript’s Accuracy

In this episode, Jim Garrity discusses an April 18, 2022, opinion from a federal appellate court, about a dispute between the parties over the accuracy of the stenographic transcript of the plaintiff's deposition. Despite the arguments made at the trial level about errors in the transcript, neither the parties nor the trial judges apparently obtained the audio of the deposition and made it a part of the record. That prompted the appellate court to vacate the summary judgment ruling and send the case back to the trial judge, with instructions for the court and parties to listen to the audio and report back to the Eleventh Circuit. As you know, Garrity has long advocated that litigators independently audiotape their depositions. This case perfectly proves his point. Our Lessons from the Front Line episodes are based on brand-new deposition-related court rulings from around the country. Because the rulings discussed in these episodes are in fact newly-issued, listeners should bear in mind that the rulings are subject to appeal, challenge, modification or withdrawal. The case discussed in this episode is still pending.SHOW NOTES:Reed v. Pediatric Services of America, Inc., Case No. 21-10159 (11th Cir. April 18, 2022) (vacating summary judgment and remanding for trial court to evaluate, based on audio recording of deposition, the accuracy of the stenographic transcript)Reed v. Pediatric Services of America, Inc., Case No. 4:20-cv-00064-HLM-WEJ, CM/ECF Doc. 47 (N. D. Ga. October 15, 2020) (order rejecting pro se plaintiff's motion challenging accuracy of deposition transcript)Reed v. Pediatric Services of America, Inc., Case No. 4:20-cv-00064-HLM-WEJ, CM/ECF Doc. 71 (N. D. Ga. December 17, 2020) (order granting summary judgment)