I have been giving some thought to the problems court reporters and court reporting agencies are having in our new economic environment. We are all in a very difficult environment. However, court reporters and court reporting firm owners should be working together to help each other retain and get clients. I hear every day from my reporters that they need more work. I hear from court reporting firm owners that they need more clients. Then we get calls daily about our reporters being late, transcripts being late. Our clients call, telling us about all the sales pitches they are getting all the time, and we are all aware of the rampant excessive gift-giving that has consumed our profession. At this point in our business cycle court reporting agency owners can’t afford to have late transcripts and reporters showing up late. I think a lot of reporters don’t realize how lateness in any form affects an attorney’s impression of a firm. The transcript can be picture perfect but if an attorney has to call on when am I getting it, I don’t think they are really impressed with the court reporting firm or the court reporter. The best way to retain clients is a combination of excellent service and product on both sides of the coin, both the reporter’s and the firm’s.