EXHIBIT HANDLING PROCEDURES and CHARGES
The charge for paginated exhibits, whether provided in hard copy, electronically, or a hybrid, is typically a flat rate per page. As of June 2023, the base rate for paginated exhibit services in the Kansas City area generally ranges between $.30/pg and $.65/pg. At Cornerstone Court Reporting, we automatically reduce the price of paginated exhibits with volume over 99 pages and with case/consecutive exhibits.
How Exhibits in Legal Proceedings are Handled by Cornerstone Court Reporting Company
In keeping with local practices and to ensure the integrity of the record, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties, exhibits marked for identification are provided to the court reporter or our office staff. Exhibits are copied and archived as part of the complete record maintained by our office. Unless specifically not ordered, an electronic copy of the exhibits is included with all transcript orders, and the original exhibits are returned to the taking party.
Upon request, electronic exhibits prepared prior to a proceeding can be distributed to all counsel before the proceeding or, upon request when scheduling, they can be displayed by the court reporter or videographer during the proceeding. Electronic exhibits processed by our office which are distributed to counsel and referenced during the proceeding will incur a charge for the service. As a courtesy to our valued clients, the costs to process exhibits not used during a proceeding are typically waived.
We offer full integration of all exhibits into the proceedings and the final transcripts. A variety of methods can be utilized to access media exhibits (AV files/spreadsheet files/computer folders/flash drives/CDs/DVDs) during and after proceedings, sometimes depending on the media itself. As an example, flash drives provided by an expert can easily be opened on a computer screen that can be shared and recorded by a videographer or Zoom recording. Other media may be shared by counsel or by a video technician and also be recorded picture-in-picture. PDF exhibits can be shared by placing a hyperlink in the chat window or by sharing a screen. So that media exhibits may be easily accessed following the proceeding, a PDF with hyperlink to access the media is prepared and included with our PDF bundle.
Services Related To Paginated Exhibits (hard copy and PDF)
- Exhibits are labeled – hard copies with stickers, PDF files with digital labels if not labeled – and named according to our standard protocol.
- All scanned or electronically provided PDF exhibits are processed to make them OCR-searchable.
- The orientation of each page of the processed exhibits is checked and modified as necessary.
- Digitally marked exhibits are flattened to make the electronic label part of the PDF.
- For pieces of equipment, machinery, or models that are to be retained by counsel, photography or videography can be used to attach a likeness of the exhibit to transcript orders.
- To ensure the integrity of the entire record – the transcript and the exhibits – all transcripts and exhibits are archived on our server and are also published to a secure online repository.
Services Related to Media Exhibits (audio/video/spreadsheet files, computer folders, flash drives, CDs/DVDs)
- Media exhibits are named according to our standard protocol.
- Media exhibits are archived on our server.
- A PDF with hyperlink to the media exhibit is created allowing us to bundle the PDF exhibit with the transcript, providing full access to the media file through the hyperlink.
- To ensure the integrity of the entire record – the transcript and the exhibits – all transcripts and exhibits are archived on our server and are also published to a secure online repository.
The charge for media exhibits is a flat rate below 1GB, increasing with media over 1GB. Unlike paginated exhibits, files contained within media exhibits are archived as provided. Processing electronic exhibits can change the file size, resolution, and metadata of files originally provided.