West Virginia § 47-27-2 - 47-27-2. Prohibited conduct.

§ 47-27-2. 47-27-2. Prohibited conduct.

(a) A legal proceeding may not be reported by:

(1) An individual who engages in a prohibited action as provided in this section;

(2) A party to the action;

(3) A relative, employee or attorney of one of the parties;

(4) Someone with a financial interest in the action or its outcome; or

(5) A relative, employee or attorney of someone with a financial interest in the action or its outcome.

(b) Court reporters may not:

(1) Base the compensation for the court reporting services on the outcome of the proceeding or otherwise giving the court reporter or court reporting business, entity or firm a financial interest in the action. Court reporters or businesses, entities or firms providing or arranging for court reporting services may not offer or provide court reporting services where payment for those services will be made contingent on the outcome of the action.

(2) Enter into an agreement, whether formal or informal, for court reporting services which restricts the noticing attorney or party to a legal proceeding from selecting and using the court reporter of his or her own choosing or otherwise requires the noticing attorney or party to a legal proceeding to select or use a court reporter not of his or her own choosing. Before accepting an assignment for court reporting services, the court reporter is obligated to make reasonable efforts to ascertain whether any arrangement exists which is prohibited under this article .

(3) Allow the format, content or body of the transcript as certified by the court reporter to be manipulated in a manner that increases the cost of the transcript.

(4) Charge a fee for the electronic copy or paper copy of a transcript that is more than fifty-five percent of the cost of the original transcript, except by agreement of all parties to a legal proceeding. This prohibition does not apply to real-time court reporting services or accelerated transcript delivery requests made by the party requesting a copy of the transcript when the party requesting the original has not requested accelerated delivery.

(5) Require the attorney purchasing the original or a copy of the transcript to purchase extra services that were neither ordered nor desired from the court reporter as a condition for the sale of the transcript.