Making a Difference - One Wednesday at a Time

submitted by Hillary Sackett, Hutchings Heroes Team Captain

Hutchings Court Reporters staff love to go Casual for a Cause.  Every Wednesday, team members are invited to wear jeans to the office and make a small donation to charity.  Through this method alone over the past two years, our group has contributed thousands of dollars to programs and services of the Alzheimer's Association, the Haiti Earthquate Relief fund and local area food banks.  Our current focus for the 2011 holidays -- the Los Angeles food bank.  Look for "change jars" in our offices if you care to make a donation.

It's a small commitment that has BIG results!  Perhaps your firm would be interested in setting up something similar...

Introduction to Litigation -- Seminar for Legal Support Staff

Submitted by Sarah Wilson, J.D. - Client Services  Hutchings Court Reporters

Mid-September, Hutchings Court Reporters paired with Davidson Legal Staffing for the 8th consecutive year to host and co-present a 3-day litigation seminar at Hutchings' Los Angeles office.

Instructor Karyn Beyer covered a variety of civil litigation topics including discovery procedures, Federal and California State Court structure, e-filing in California, motion practice and the complexities of calendaring. Jeff Koller of Hutchings conducted a segment highlighting transcript technology options to make litigation easier.

A broad spectrum of legal support staff from Southern California were in attendance. The seminar is available twice a year in both San Francisco and Los Angeles.  For more information, contact Diana Baker at Davidson Legal Staffing.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame - Sept. 10, 2011

Thanks to the Management Team at Hutchings Court Reporters, our staff had a great time at the 2nd Annual Game and Tailgate Party.  The Angels played the NY Yankees at the fabulous Angel Stadium.  The Wysowski's handled the tailgate grill in stellar fashion!

Court Reporter Sues Criminal Lawyer for Defamation Over Altered-Transcript Claim

submitted by Martha Hutchings

A Pennsylvania lawyer has so far been unsuccessful in his efforts to obtain an audiotape and other original materials that he contends would help prove his claim that transcripts of his client's Washington County murder trial were altered. So attorney Noah Geary is now pursuing an appeal of adverse superior court rulings with the state's highest court.

Meanwhile, he is facing a defamation case filed by the stenographer who, he alleged, made changes at the direction of the judge who presided over the murder trial, according to the Observer-Reporter.

Geary has previously contended that court reporter Toni DiNardo herself told him that President Judge Debbie O'Dell Seneca ordered her to alter the transcript of a sentencing hearing for his client, Gerald Szakal, as an earlier Observer-Reporter editorial details.

She says in her defamation suit that she has suffered damage to her professional reputation and emotional distress because of Geary's false and malicious claims, which she alleges he made without appropriate investigation. DiNardo lives in Pittsburgh and has filed suit in Allegheny County.

Geary contends objections and motions for a mistrial he made during Szakal's murder trial were either omitted or moved to a different point in the proceeding in the transcript, according to the Valley Independent.