A lengthy and complex legal battle in which the Louisiana board overseeing shorthand reporters was accused of engaging in anti-competitive practices against court-reporting firms came to an end last month, with both sides claiming victory.
The initial federal litigation was filed in the Eastern District of Louisiana in 2016 by the court-reporting company Veritext. The firm argued that the state Board of Examiners of Certified Shorthand Reporters (CSR) had violated the Commerce Clause and other guarantees in the U.S. Constitution by attempting to restrict price and service-level competition among court reporters and firms such as Veritext.
“The Louisiana CSR board is well pleased with the resolution and outcome of this litigation,” Judge Kimya Holmes, who chairs the board, said in a statement emailed to the Louisiana Record.
Holmes noted that the federal courts had rejected Veritext’s initial argument that a provision of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure was unconstitutional.
“The CSR Board won two clear-cut and important legal victories, establishing beyond further challenge that Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 1434 is constitutional and that the CSR board enjoys full statutory authority to enforce Article 1434,” Holmes said.
But Veritext said in a statement that the legal actions – and the resulting settlement – represented a positive outcome for the company. As a result of the settlement agreement concluded Nov. 21, the CSR board members who were defendants in the case had to step down from their positions and agree not to serve on the board or CSR committees for at least five years.
The settlement also requires the board to put in place an antitrust compliance policy for five years and to end all of its investigations related to alleged violations of Article 1434. And the board is specifically prohibited from engaging in proceedings against court reporters or court-reporting firms for the purpose of discouraging price competition.
As a result of the settlement, court reporters will not have to fear being penalized by the board or being investigated simply for accepting work from Veritext, the company said in a statement.