Maine § 773. - Prohibited actions

§ 773.. Prohibited actions

A court reporter or court reporting services provider may not:   [PL 2013, c. 298, §1 (NEW).]

1.  Contract.  Enter into an oral or written contractual agreement with an attorney, party to an action, insurance company or 3rd-party administrator or any other person or entity that has a financial interest in the case, action or legal proceeding, other than a contract to provide court reporting, litigation and trial support services;

2.  Advantage.  Give an economic or other advantage to a party or a party's attorney, representative, agent, insurer or employee without offering the advantage to all parties or fail to offer comparable services, prices or financial terms to all parties, except that different credit terms may be offered based on payment experience and creditworthiness;

3.  Outcome-based payment.  Offer or provide court reporting services if payment for those services is made contingent on the outcome of the legal proceeding, base the compensation for the court reporting services on the outcome of the legal proceeding or otherwise give the court reporter or court reporting services provider a financial interest in the action;

4.  Restrict choice of court reporter.  Enter into an agreement for court reporting services that restricts an attorney from using the court reporter or court reporting services provider of the attorney's choosing;

5.  Allow manipulation.  Allow the format, content or body of a certified transcript as submitted by the court reporter to be manipulated in a manner that increases the cost of the transcript; or

6.  Interference with services.  Enter into a contract for court reporting services that allows an attorney, party to an action, insurance company or 3rd-party administrator or any other person or entity to interfere with a court reporter's right to deal directly with all parties to a proceeding, including any provision in a contract that restricts the right of the court reporter to contract with the other parties in a legal proceeding to provide transcripts to those parties.