Filevine details CSR-first deposition model in CA (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Good evening and welcome everyone to this special Filevine webinar titled The Future of Court Reporting with Filevine. My name is Eric Bermudez, VP of Partnerships at Filevine. I'll be your host this evening. Our speakers have put a lot of time and thoughtful effort into this evening's presentation and we are so thrilled that you have decided to join us. Thank you again for dedicating some time to join us. It's my pleasure to now introduce this evening speakers. We will hear from Ryan Anderson, CEO of Filevine, Lindsay Stoker, Court Reporter in Charge at Filevine, Dora Enriquez, Court Reporter in Charge at Filevine, Chase Dowden, Deputy General Counsel at Filevine, and David J. Alconich, Independent Counsel and a prominent law ethics lawyer at Buckalter. To our speakers, thank you for being here and we look forward to hearing your insights. We have an exciting and jam-packed agenda for you this evening. First, we will hear a brief history of Filevine. I'm sure many of you have questions about Filevine and we're thrilled to go through that this evening. Second, we'll discuss why certified shorthand reporters are crucial and critical. We'll then review ethics and compliance as well as Filevine's approach to supporting court reporters in the state of California. We'll then dive into the key differentiators between Filevine and big box agencies. Lastly, we'll discuss Filevine security followed by a question and answer session before concluding. We are confident that tonight's webinar is going to excite you for the future of court reporting in California with Filevine. I can't wait to get started and now I would like to turn the time over to Ryan Anderson.

[00:01:48] Speaker 2: Welcome. We are so thrilled to have this incredible group of people before us today. We are proud to partner with Dora and Lindsay, but more than anything, we are thrilled and excited at the prospect of hopefully partnering with many of you. We believe that court reporters form a critical component of the justice system in our great country. Without you, we would not have the great system that we have today and we can't wait for you to learn a little bit more about us. So I'm going to do that now. Filevine is a company that was founded in 2014. I was one of the founders. We launched in 2015 and since that time, we have grown quite consistently. We have about 6,000 customers today. Those aren't users, those are law firms. If you go by users, it's something like 100,000 users in the system. Our customers rely on Filevine every single day as an AI and case management system. Our users use the system about 100 times a day per user. We have about 700 employees, half of which are located and come into the office here in Salt Lake City, Utah, but we also have offices in Chicago as well as offices in New York City and around the world. We are a company that is dedicated to making sure that our customers can deliver justice for their clients. We care about this deeply and in as much, we have built a business that is squarely focused on the human professionals that make up our legal system. And of those professionals, we count certified stenographers as some of the very most important parts of that system. So I want to talk a little bit about that. As somebody who has litigated cases, I can tell you I personally am passionate about the role of CSRs in the litigation process. I know what it means to sit in a room that can be intense, that can be volatile, that can have a lot of passion from a witness who may be doing something crazy to two lawyers who maybe don't like each other, or maybe it's three or five or 10 lawyers, all of whom have different agendas and different things they want out of you. I have seen court reporters perform extremely admirably in very challenging situations. Frankly, I cannot imagine a world in which court reporters are not there to bring civility and formality to a room where the stakes often could not be higher. You all protect the integrity of the record. What could be more important than the factual integrity of the record that you produce? We care about that as much as you do because our customers rely on the facts. The facts of the case should determine the justice that gets meted out in the case. And without those facts being known and being exactly as they should be, precise and accurate 100% of the time, our system of justice would be corrupted. So we value you and your integrity and what you bring to the record every single time. I have seen court reporters with my own eyes perform so well under intense pressure, under intense scrutiny, and we hope you know just how much we honor and value you. You know, when a court reporter's in the room, I have seen you all pick up things that no AI tool might pick up, that automated systems miss. Knowing what you know about the law and so many of you who have been able to kind of dive deep in particular areas of industry and specific areas of law that are quite detailed and require a learned mind and a learned ear to get the record right, we care about that intensely. We know how important it is to the lawyers that you work with, to the witnesses whose record you're keeping, that you get these things right. We think there is nobody who can perfectly replace what you do. It requires a trained, certified professional in so many cases, and we are so proud to be partnering with you. And we hope you'll give us a chance and an opportunity to show you what we can do because we do think the model that we are bringing forward today is truly unique and different, and there's some very good reasons why the model that we're bringing is so unique and so differentiated and good for you.

[00:06:20] Speaker 1: Next slide.

[00:06:23] Speaker 2: With that, I'm going to introduce you to Chase Dowden. Chase Dowden is Deputy General Counsel here at Filevine. I've worked with Chase for a long time. He's incredibly good at his job. Just like you all, he is a professional that has worked very hard to get to his place in our industry. Chase is one of the lawyers at Filevine who leads up our efforts to make sure we are compliant. So I'll pass the mic to Chase. He has a few things to discuss with you all.

[00:06:50] Speaker 3: Appreciate it, Ryan. Yeah, obviously, you know, in the legal department here at Filevine, complying with legal and ethical rules and regulations is an important focus for us. To support our compliance efforts, we've engaged outside counsel, and that's David J. O'Connish that you see there on your screen of Buckhalter PC. David is a shareholder at Buckhalter where he serves as the managing shareholder of their Portland office and also chairs the firm's professional responsibility group. David focuses his practice on legal ethics, risk management, and discipline defense. In addition to his practice, David is an adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark Law School where he teaches ethics and is a frequent speaker and author on professional responsibility issues. David's been named as one of the best lawyers in America for ethics and professional responsibility law from 2016 to 2025 and running and was selected as the ethics and professional responsibility law lawyer of the year in both 2021 and 2026 and featured in Oregon Super Lawyers Magazine from 2017 to 2025. So with that expertise in mind, I pass it over to David to talk a little bit about some of the efforts that he's been supporting for Filevine. Thank you, Chase, and good evening everyone.

[00:08:14] Speaker 4: As Chase said, my name is David and I'm an attorney. My practice focuses on legal ethics and professional responsibility. This basically means that I help lawyers, law firms, and legal tech companies just like Filevine make sure they're following the right rules. I spend a lot of time looking at how technology fits into the practice of law and making sure that new tools line up with the regulations that govern how lawyers and courts operate. My firm, Buckalter, and I are outside legal counsel for Filevine and we provide Filevine ethics opinions and recommendations regarding their various products. In particular, and as relevant here, Filevine asked us to take a close look at depositions by Filevine, the tool that you are hearing about today, to make sure it complies with California's laws and court rules for how depositions are handled. In fact, Filevine hasn't looked at just California. It has asked us to complete a thorough state-by-state survey looking at these very same issues. Our job has been to dig into the details, to understand how the product works in real world use, and to confirm whether it meets the legal and ethical requirements in each state. After reviewing the product and how it's designed to be used, we concluded that it does comply with California law, including the statute, civil rules, and professional regulations that apply to depositions. By using CSRs, Filevine is not doing anything unusual in California, nor is Filevine reinventing the wheel with its separate software depo copilot, which complements a lawyer's deposition strategy, not replace the CSR. The company has demonstrated a thoughtful approach to privacy, transparency, and fairness, principles that are essential in the context of formal high-stakes proceedings like depositions. I see a lot of technology in this space, and what stands out about Filevine's approach is that they've taken the time to get it right from a compliance and ethics perspective. They're not cutting corners, they are building something that modernizes the process while still respecting the rules lawyers and courts have to

[00:10:27] Speaker 3: follow. Chase? Yeah, I appreciate it, David, and it's just been really good working with these guys as they've kind of asked us questions and pushed us on things and helping, you know, us figure out the best way to get this done for you all and for our operations in California. And with those memos that we're working on with David and his team, you know, those are things that we're willing to share with folks that ask us for them so that they can kind of see our thinking and where we view our space here and how we're being compliant with the relevant rules and regulations, which is number one importance for us. With that, I'll pass it over to Lindsay to give us a quick look here at our awesome product. Thank you, Chase, and good evening. It's so great

[00:11:22] Speaker 5: to see and recognize so many of you. As Chase said, my name is Lindsay Stoker. I am Filevine's registered court reporter in charge in California, and my CSR number is 14373. I hold the National Court Reporters Association's registered diplomate reporter, registered merit reporter, certified real-time reporter, and certified real-time captioner examination. These credentials place me in the top 0.5% of court reporters nationally. Over the past two decades, I've had the privilege of building a career in court reporting and real-time captioning that's taken me across many facets of our profession, from captioning for every major tech vendor at their events, including one where my real-time was viewed by over 5 million participants, to covering secret federal grand jury proceedings, to covering some of the most high-profile civil cases in recent history, and even the Oscars. I've been fortunate to work in some incredible environments that showcase the skill and value of what we do, and I've also spent many years involved in service to the profession, volunteering on a number of NCRA committees, including being appointed to the Strong Committee, the Skills Test Committee, and the Certified Real-Time Captioning Committee, which I have the honor of chairing. I've spent countless times at state and national conventions, sitting on panels, teaching workshops, and writing numerous articles on ethics and excellence in court reporting and captioning. So I want the record to be abundantly clear that I have staked the last 20 years of my career in life defending and uplifting reporter excellence and integrity of the record itself and defending one truth. The record's integrity is sacred, reporter excellence is what protects it, and I was selected and hired to carry on that work at Filevine. And I understand that many of you in the audience are asking, why is someone so invested in Steno working with an AI company, and it's a fair question. And the answer is because I know the value of what we do, and I've joined a team that sees that value as well, and I'm here to be part of something that respects reporters and the record itself, and I'm not doing that alone. And at Filevine, I'm working alongside other seasoned professionals, namely Dora Enriquez, who you will meet momentarily, who was an official for many years, who is just as committed to protecting the integrity of the record and shaping how technology is used. When I was first contacted by the Filevine team, I did not find people just looking to disrupt the market and profession for disruption's sake. Throughout the discussion process, I had several conversations with thoughtful individuals asking the right questions, centering court reporters in ethical, responsible integration from the start, and that clarity was a turning point for me. I am so excited for what you will hear from Dora shortly about how we are placing reporters front and center in terms of respect for the record, leading market compensation, and faster payment turnaround times. Our approach sets a new standard. By investing in you, we are calling the bluff on large firms that are using AI to squeeze out reporters and shift profits upward. When a company can use AI responsibly and lead the market in quality, reporter compensation, and still thrive, it exposes a singular guiding principle. Investing in reporters is the most viable path to keeping our industry strong. And this guiding principle is built on another non-negotiable. A stenographic or voice reporter will serve as the official record in every deposition. That foundation doesn't change, and everything we do is fully aligned with state law. Under the California Code of Civil Procedure, Section 2025, the law requires that unless the parties agree otherwise or a court orders, the deponent's testimony must be taken stenographically by a person certified as a shorthand reporter. And at Filevine, every deposition we support honors these requirements. And under Business and Professions Code, Section 8051, Filevine remains in full compliance where we are bound to uphold all applicable laws, regulations, and standards of practice for licensed court reporting services in California. We take these responsibilities very seriously. At Filevine, we are here to reinforce the court reporting profession and ensure it's ready for the future. We have a real opportunity to shape what comes next together.

[00:16:24] Speaker 6: And with that, I'll turn it over to Dora. Thank you, Lindsay. Good evening, everyone. My name is Dora Enriquez, CSR number 12210, and I am proud to bring 25 years of experience as a court reporter to this conversation. I have personally seen how much our profession has changed and how vital it is to have the right tools to keep up with that change. I remember my days at South Coast College manually typing up my speed tests. And during my internship, I had the privilege of shadowing seasoned court reporters who shared stories of typing transcripts with carbon paper to make copies. Our court reporting evolution over time has been extraordinary. From carbon paper to now advanced CAT software, allowing, excuse me, along with welcoming voice writers and collaborating with modern technology that enable us to have remote depositions. That is exactly why I'm so passionate about what Filevine can do for you. You have heard a lot of information and you're probably thinking, why should CSRs work with Filevine? Three reasons. First, support. Filevine provides a rapid response operations team that's always ready to help and resolve any issue quickly. Second, collaboration. Lindsay and I bring nearly 50 years of combined CSR experience to the table. Every decision starts by asking, what would CSRs think? We put ourselves in your shoes because we've been there. Even if we weren't court reporters in charge, we would be confident in working with Filevine. They're placing stenographers front and center. Third, compensation. Speaking to all the CSRs joining us today, we know the struggle of pushing through college, passing the CSR exam, and investing thousands of dollars in equipment. We as CSRs have spent countless hours, money, and our hearts into our profession. And that's exactly where Filevine comes in, by empowering you to maximize the compensation you receive. Filevine is incredibly proud to present our proposed rates. We made this rate sheet in collaboration with other California CSRs to ensure it's competitive with market rates and appealing to you. Filevine's proposed rates are effective from now to the end of 2026. I'll briefly outline what I think are the most impressive rates. Okay, so let's dive in. So, the first section is deposition services. It is 10 business day turnaround. The O-1-1 is $5.50 a page. This rate is the highest I have personally seen for an O-1-1 in our industry from agencies. So, now the second section is under additional costs. So, the certified copy is $3 a page. This certified copy rate is another extremely high industry rate that is unprecedented. Filevine's proposed rates enable you to be paid in 72 business hours after transcript delivery. But of course, you're always welcome to submit your own rates for negotiation. So, this all leads to the next question. Who's excited to join us and start working with Filevine? Scan the QR code with your cell phone. If you're unable to scan the QR code, you'll see a link to the webpage in the chat box. You'll be able to download our rate sheet, fill out a short form if you're interested in working with us, and you will also be able to share your rates. So, now when you click on the landing page from the QR code, you'll see I'm ready to work. Excuse me, download rate sheet comes first, and then you will next see I'm ready to work with Filevine. So, I just want to reiterate that our goal at Filevine is simple. To work with you, not replace you. Whether you're a stenographer or a voice writer, you have a home here. So, let's build a long-lasting relationship by adapting, innovating, and evolving together. Let me now pass it back to Ryan to share how we are able to

[00:21:15] Speaker 2: offer such competitive rates. Thank you so much, Lindsay and Dora. That was incredible, and thank you all for joining this webinar. I'm sure you are asking yourself, okay, how can it be that Filevine can pay immediately, within 72 hours, and at the same time pay higher rates than you're getting from big box agencies? Well, there is a reason for that. We are a software company. Our competitors are not. They are agencies that essentially mark up your services that you provide to lawyers and government agencies and businesses. It's a very different model. Filevine makes its money. We make our revenue based off of customers who purchase our software. Our goal is to build great products that our customers love and make them better at their jobs so that we can fulfill our mission of bending the arc of history towards justice. That's what we care about. So, because we build software and because we are completely driven by an end-to-end customer experience, we are not looking to make the money off the back of hard-working, highly professional, highly trained, expert court reporters. That's not our goal. Instead, our goal is to provide an experience that we believe is completely unique in the industry. There has never been a deposition company paired with a case management system. There has never been a deposition company that can provide an end-to-end experience where you can schedule, host, analyze, store depositions all in one place, all in the same place that you are managing your case. This is a completely new model and gives us a completely unique opportunity to pay you more and faster, and we are happy to do it because we simply hope that our customers have an incredible experience that they can't get anywhere else. We could not deliver this experience without the expertise and professionalism that certified stenographers in California give us. We really hope you will give us a chance to prove to you what great partners we can be. Let's go to the next slide. Just to give you a sense of what the difference is, we will pay you more than the big box agencies. I think, hopefully, in every case. We will pay you within 72 hours of transcript delivery. We will bonus you if you refer us customers for our software. Not necessarily for deposition services, but we will bonus you that as well. But Filevine has a number of products. We have a case management product. We have a document management product. We have a time and billing product. We have reporting products that allow law firms to manage their businesses. All those products, we will provide you a 10% referral fee if you give us the name of a customer who might be interested. You don't have to do that to work with us. That's totally fine. What we care about mostly is your expertise and your professionalism, but to the extent you all want to be involved in that, we would love to have you. We have a network of 6,000 law firms nationwide. We have customers in business. We have some of the largest businesses in the world on Filevine. Fortune 10 companies on Filevine. But we also have some of the largest law firms on Filevine. And we have tons of law firms on Filevine, around 6,000. Approximately 500 law firms sign up for our case management system every single quarter. Every 90 days, 500 firms are choosing us. There's a reason for that. You don't get to this point without doing right by your customers over a very long period of time. So we think that our history shows you that we're somebody you can work with for a long time, and you can trust us. Lastly, we are not looking to get in between you and your customers, not the least. In fact, it's the other way around. We want you to have great relationships with your customers. What we care about is that our customers have a phenomenal, unique, end-to-end experience that allows them to drive great results for their clients. That's what we care about. It's quite a bit different from a big box agency that is simply looking to make a margin off your work. That allows us to say things like, hey, we don't care if you talk to the law firms directly to order transcripts. That's perfectly fine by us. We don't mind that one bit. Because our goal, again, is to get customers using our software so they can produce this great experience. We think we can produce the best deposition and court reporting experience the world has ever seen. And we really hope you'll join us. Lastly, a word about our security. You all, given what you do, know how critical the record is and know how sensitive the information is that you deal with every single day. Filevine cares deeply about this. And for that reason, we are SOC 2 Type 2 audited every six months, folks. Every six months, a SOC 2 Type 2 security audit is made at Filevine. And guess what? You can actually request our SOC 2 Type 2 audit. You can actually see it for yourself what the auditors found and areas where we can improve. There are very few companies that have made this kind of investment into security. We are HIPAA compliant. We are PHI compliant. And we are authorized on the FedRAMP marketplace. I do not believe there is another case management system in the country that is on the FedRAMP marketplace that does what we do. The FedRAMP marketplace is where government agencies go to purchase their software. Some of the largest government agencies in the world must purchase their software from the FedRAMP marketplace because it requires a very large effort to get certified and ready for a government agency, a federal government agency, to use our software, to use anybody's software. That means that we have engaged in a multi-year effort to be a world-class leader in security. So just as you all care about your jobs, your career, the record, and the sensitive, highly confidential information that you handle professionally every single day, we too care about this very deeply. Our customers rely on us to maintain their information in a secure environment. And we do so proudly every single day.

[00:27:45] Speaker 1: Thank you, Ryan. And thank you to all of our other speakers. We are so excited. Hopefully, you can feel our excitement. And you are just as excited as we are to partner together and continue to serve our communities. With that being said, we would love to meet as many of you as possible in person. That's very important to us. And we personally invite each of you to attend our exclusive meet and greet at the elegant Mastro's Ocean Club Marketplace. on November 13th at 6 p.m. We've reserved a private room, a private patio for a wonderful and unforgettable evening where we can meet one another, continue to learn together and establish relationships, understand what one another does, and find ways that we can elevate the important work that we do. We invite you and we hope to see you there. There is limited capacity, so please RSVP early. Simply use the QR code, scroll down at the bottom, and you'll see a button to RSVP for this special event. And we're excited to see you there. Now is the time for Q&A. Many of you have submitted a lot of questions, and we're excited to answer as many of those as we can. Our team is ready to answer those questions. There's a Q&A feature at the bottom of your Zoom. Please use those to submit your questions. Our teams will review, and we will now answer as many as we can. And actually, I'm just reviewing the list. Thank you again for all of your participation. We have one to get things started. And the question is, who reviews transcripts before they're finalized? I think that's a great question for Lindsey Stoker. Lindsey, would you mind sharing

[00:29:31] Speaker 5: some thoughts on that? Perfect. Well, I mean, as we all know, in California, certified shorthand reporters are held to the highest, most rigorous standards to ensure that transcripts are of the best quality. And while our internal depositions operations team, they do a cursory review of transcripts just to make sure that everything looks good before they're sent to clients, that the exhibit index is there, and the cert page is there, and the appearances are there. Ultimately, Filevine doesn't certify the CSR transcripts. This is all done to code. And this is all, it's all ultimately up to the CSR who reviews and finalizes the transcript.

[00:30:21] Speaker 1: Thank you. Our next question, it's a good one. It's an important one. Is Filevine providing rough transcripts in real time through AI? And many of us have thoughts. Lindsey, Ryan, do you want to share some thoughts or Dora on this question?

[00:30:39] Speaker 2: I'm happy to go, but I would love for Lindsey and Dora to address it as well. I'll just say briefly, Filevine does have a number of AI tools that we can allow our customers to use when they do a deposition. Having said that, you all are welcome to, and I think should, sell rough drafts to customers. In many cases, those rough drafts might be better. In fact, may well be significantly better than what we were able to provide. Having said that, AI is a real tool. And in some cases, for some customers in some circumstances, might make sense for them. And in other circumstances, it might make sense for them to go directly to you. Nothing we do will prevent you from going directly to the customer, to your client, the lawyer, and selling a rough draft. We're happy to have you do that.

[00:31:30] Speaker 5: In my experience as well, I think that these AI tools will drive the demand for stenographic real-time and rough tools. And if I could give a short little example of that, when I was doing, some of you are familiar with CART and captioning. When I was doing CART at a university, early in my career, there was Typewell, and there was CART. And Typewell is meaning for meaning, and CART was word for word. And when I was early in my career, I thought I was going to be replaced by Typewell. And I found that ultimately, Typewell increased the demand for CART. Because when they found out that, oh, I could have CART for my upper division physiology class, I was busy all the time. And I found that we got along great. And so, we would never prevent any of our independent contractors from selling those tools as well.

[00:32:34] Speaker 6: Right. So, I just want to reiterate how we are different. Other agencies may not allow you to offer real-time and your rough draft. We are not taking those tools away from you. So, we just want to be crystal clear on that. Thank you. Thank you, Ryan, Lindsay, and Dora.

[00:32:54] Speaker 2: Yeah. I'll just mention one other thing, and there's sort of a reality to this. Today, there are AI products, some that might log into Zoom, but some that are just physical products that a lawyer can keep in their pocket or put on their desk. Ultimately, it's going to be challenging to say that AI can't be used in a deposition. I don't even know how you would police it candidly in a remote deposition. Having said that, we think that the rough transcripts that Nostandos provide are often excellent and to the very highest standard. We never want to prevent you from producing those transcripts for those lawyers who request them.

[00:33:34] Speaker 1: Thank you, Ryan. Next question. How many, if any, jobs has Filevine sent a California CSR since its registration on September 10th, 2025? Dora, you want to share that?

[00:33:51] Speaker 6: Yes. We have had zero depositions to date. That's why we're excited to recruit, and that's why you can scan the QR code, fill out, be part of our process. We're really, really excited to work with you. Again, we've had not one single deposition yet, but we will, and we're excited,

[00:34:18] Speaker 2: so come and join us. Yeah, we have done none. We wanted to get this right. That's why we hired David Alconich. That's why Chase has done his research. That's why we have coordinated closely with Lindsay and Dora. We intend to work very closely with the amazing court reporter community in California to do this the right way, so we have not done a single deposition. Although we do intend to start soon, our customers, our Filevine customers who pay for our technology, again, not our depositions, they are very eager to do depositions in California. They would love to start, so it is true that we will start soon, but we want to do it in the right way, the legal way that is completely 100% compliant with the law. Thank you. We maybe have

[00:35:04] Speaker 1: time for a couple more questions, and keep them coming. Thank you so much for submitting those questions. This one, let's go ahead and have Lindsay, if you wouldn't mind, answering the following question. Is the reporter's job to use the audio and perfect the transcript?

[00:35:21] Speaker 5: So, first of all, that's kind of an interesting question, because we would never tell an independent contractor how they, audio is a reporter tool, and we would never dictate to an independent contractor how they use reporter tools, how to complete their scope of work. I, every job, every Filevine job is stenographically taken down or by a voice reporter, and so if there are, you know, little places in the transcript that you need to check the audio, that's up to you. However you want to use your reporter tools at your disposal, we're not going to micromanage you on that. We respect your command, and however you see fit of taking care of the record sounds good to us. Thank you, Lindsay. Next question.

[00:36:28] Speaker 1: So, are you a referral source or are the attorneys your clients? Ryan, do you have a couple of

[00:36:33] Speaker 2: thoughts you want to share? Yeah, so the good part about working with us is we are not looking for your customers. We'll certainly take a referral, but that's not the point of this webinar, nor is this the point of the outreach. Filevine is in a really good position because our customers already use us every single day for case management. They want to do their depositions on our system as well, so we will be sending the customers to you. We are the source of the customers. You will work with them directly, but we will send them to you all. The exact mechanics of that are handled through our operations team. I don't know if Marissa wants to speak to the mechanics of how you get a referral from us, but you don't need to send us your customers. We're sending you ours. We want you to have a long and good source of revenue and clientele. I know so many of you are already busy and maybe don't need it, but we want to be a great source of clientele for you for a very long time, and we have a massive number of customers who are excited to do this with you all.

[00:37:38] Speaker 1: Thank you. Let's do one final question this evening. How will jobs be assigned? Will you have a portal or contact the individual reporters or send email blasts? How will the work be distributed? Dora, Marissa, Lindsay,

[00:37:58] Speaker 7: do one of you want to take a stab at this? Hi, everyone. I am happy to take a stab at this. I haven't been introduced, but my name is Marissa. I'm the Director of Strategy and Operations here at Filevine and oversee all of the scheduling and operations of our depositions. How will jobs be assigned? Right now, it is very email-based. We will email you. We'll get your contact information to get you scheduled on depositions that you want and make sure that you know everything that's available to you. However, we are working really closely with our engineering team to get a really solid platform up for you to make this even easier for you. Like it's been said over and over, the convenience for you as a reporter is really top of mind for us, and we want to make sure that's as easy as possible. Dora, Lindsay, if you want to add anything else there.

[00:38:44] Speaker 6: Yes, I just want to state clear and for the record, we are not mass certifying depositions. The court reporter who takes a deposition, the stenographer, is the one who certifies the deposition, just so that there's not any misunderstandings at all. Thank you so much.

[00:39:05] Speaker 2: Thank you so much.

[00:39:11] Speaker 1: Wonderful. Well, we appreciate- I can wrap it up just real quickly. Ryan, go ahead.

[00:39:17] Speaker 2: Yeah. All we can ask is that you test this out. You don't have to use us. We're not asking for a lifetime commitment to Filevine. You all own your own businesses. We just hope that you'll be willing to try us out, see how it goes. We think we have a great operations team. We think we build the world's best case management software. We think we've built the world's best deposition software, and you all are the world's best court reporters. We want to work with all of you. We think you'll have an amazing experience. If you don't, that's on us. We've got to fix it, but we think you're going to have an amazing experience working with Filevine, and we sure hope we can earn your business.

[00:39:56] Speaker 1: Thank you, Ryan. With that, we know there are so many questions that we've received, and we want to answer all of those. Please, we would love to continue hearing your questions, obviously. We have opened up an email where you can email us, and our teams would be happy to jump in. It goes to many on the Filevine team, and we will jump in and answer your questions. That email address is reporters at filevine.com. Lastly, Marissa, were there any others? I know there's a lot we didn't get to. Were there one or two final questions that we should jump in and answer?

[00:40:30] Speaker 7: This one that I like a lot here is, if they're still doing court reporting stenographically, how is our company different? I think we've touched on it a little bit, but I really want to hit it home.

[00:40:42] Speaker 2: Do you want to take it, Marissa, or would you like me to? I think you would be great to take it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll just say it one more time. The way we make our money is just fundamentally different from how, and to say it really bluntly, we just don't make money like agencies do. Agencies make money by marking up the depositions that you all report. That's a perfectly fine business model. It's just not our business model. What we do is we sell software to lawyers that they pay for, usually on a monthly basis, on a subscription basis. That's how we make our money. What's important to us is that our lawyers have a great deposition experience, which means that they can prepare for their deposition inside our case management system, which they do today. Schedule a deposition inside our case management system, which we can do today in our software. Host the deposition, which you all will help us with. And then once the hosting is done, they can review, analyze, and store the deposition for later trial work or whatever the case may be, all in the same system. That's what makes us different. We think that is completely unique in the industry, and that's why we make our money in a much different way than any other agency.

[00:41:53] Speaker 1: Thank you, Ryan. One that has come up, Marissa, maybe you can share some additional thought on how depositions get to reporters. But the question is, how does Filevine get reporters to depositions? Do you want to review that process once again and make sure that's clear for the reporters attending? Yeah, absolutely. So when a deposition is scheduled on our platform,

[00:42:13] Speaker 7: an email with a Zoom link will go out. I think there was another question asking about how are our depositions hosted. They're all hosted through Zoom, so an easy platform that you're probably used to when you're doing remote depositions. So we send you a Zoom link, we send you all of the scheduling information from there. And just to touch on one more time, we're also looking for, again, making a platform that's easy for you all to schedule, that's really easy for you to go in and get jobs. So we're also working on that on the back end as well to make this whole scheduling process so much easier than just email. Thank you.

[00:42:50] Speaker 1: Marissa, team, there's a lot of questions on here. We're still sifting through the most valuable ones that we can answer for you all this evening. Marissa, any others burning questions that you want to take the time to answer? Yeah, sure. So one came in here for Lindsay and Dora both. The question is, so Lindsay,

[00:43:08] Speaker 7: you're the co-founder and the co-founder of Filevine. How do you get to know each other? You're the court reporter in charge, correct? And then I'm also wondering if you can elaborate, both of you, on a little bit of what does that mean? Are we just using your license? What does that mean? What does court reporter in charge mean at Filevine?

[00:43:26] Speaker 5: Well, being a court reporter in charge at Filevine means that we oversee all of the operations. We oversee compliance. We know the Code of Civil Procedure as it applies to our licenses. And we know all of the procedural steps that Filevine is taking on a day-to-day basis to make sure that they are following the Code of Civil Procedure, which they are, from only using stenographic or voice reporters to making sure that they are qualified to swearing in the witnesses and certifying the transcripts and everything that David Alconich did to make sure that all of our tools also are in compliance with CCP 2025. This is our job to make sure that so I can say to the board, yes, we are in compliance. And we are doing everything day-to-day with the reporter

[00:44:37] Speaker 6: front and center in mind. And I just wanted to add on to that, that Lindsay and I are very, we are in a good position because we get to be in the room where it happens and we get to make decisions and we get to think, okay, well, you know, just like I said in my speech earlier, what would CSRs think? We start from the very beginning when a notice of deposition is drafted to after the deposition, like, okay, it's delivered. Let's pay out our CSRs. So from the point A to point B, we are going through every step to make sure that everything is compliant and that everything makes it easy for CSRs. Because if there's something that we see that we're like, you know, maybe not the easiest, okay, let's fix it. Let's work on a project. So I'd like that, really, really like that our voices are heard. We are not just a license. We are full-time. It is, we have, we are in it every single day and Lindsay and I are privileged and we are

[00:45:40] Speaker 1: excited to be here. Thank you, Dora. One great question. We've been discussing a lot about remote. We have one question here. Is Filevine planning to have in-person depositions in the future?

[00:45:53] Speaker 5: Lindsay, want to share some thoughts on that? Yes, we are absolutely thrilled to service clients both remotely and in-person. Again, we have not serviced a single deposition yet. We're making sure that we are fully compliant and ready to go first, but we are prepared to handle both remotely and in-person.

[00:46:29] Speaker 1: Great, thank you. Another question. What happens when the job is over? Who bills, who produces and sends the transcript? Dora, do you want to share a few comments on that question?

[00:46:46] Speaker 6: Yes, so when you are ready to deliver your transcript, you're saying, oh, I love it, perfect. Okay, so you're going to make up your invoice and you're going to send your invoice over along with the transcript. If, again, just a reminder, if you are using Filevine's proposed rates, you will be paid within 72 business hours. So, that's an incentive to use our proposed rates. And we then take over for the production. You do not have to print out your transcripts.

[00:47:15] Speaker 7: We are responsible for that. Great. Also, I've seen a couple of other questions coming in around the logistics of Lindsay and Dora as our court reporter in charge. So, just to address those, to make sure it's really clear, Lindsay's license is the license that is on our court reporter firm application in California. However, like we've said, we are really, really invested in making sure we're doing this process right, which is why we hired both Lindsay and Dora, both stenographers, both California CSRs. We've also gotten a couple of questions about, are these full-time employees? Yes, Lindsay and Dora are full-time employees, as is required by the court reporter board in California.

[00:47:59] Speaker 5: And the California Labor Commission. So, everything's above board.

[00:48:05] Speaker 1: Here's one that I think, Dora, I would love your thoughts on this one. One person asked, are you open to accepting reporter rates, or is it just what you presented as the Filevine

[00:48:16] Speaker 6: proposed rates? Yes. So, on this screen, you're going to see the QR code, and when you're filling out the form, there's a place where you can submit your rates. So, yeah, either have Filevine's proposed rates, or we will negotiate rates with you. So, don't feel like you are tied to our

[00:48:40] Speaker 2: proposed rates. Yeah, and I'll just take the question about the rates. If you're not taking our rates, you would still be paid within 72 hours. Obviously, you know, the customer who's using the services has to agree to those rates, but you would be paid within 72 hours of transcript

[00:49:00] Speaker 1: delivery. Thank you. Marissa, any others that we should, we have a few more minutes with this group?

[00:49:14] Speaker 7: I am taking a look. Thank you all for your patience. There's so many good questions. I think we've answered before, we are planning to have in-person depots in the future, and we've answered what happens when the job is over, we're billing. Do you handle the exhibits? That's one question. Lindsay, do you want to take

[00:49:40] Speaker 5: that one, or I can as well? Yeah, I mean, we are structured just like, I mean, besides besides key differences that we're a software agency, everything else we are, as far as the way we interact with you, we are structured like a court reporting agency. So, we will handle the exhibits for you. As far as payment and payment and everything else, you will interact with us like any court reporter agency. But as far as payment, our very competitive payment terms, payment turnaround times, that is, of course, very different. Great. Thank you, Lindsay. Oh, but yes, I mean, of course, somebody brought something up. Yes, you are required to put your own exhibit. And this is, I mean, sorry, I thought this might go without saying, yes, you are required to mark your exhibits. And these purview of being a court reporter and being an independent contractor. This is one of our duties as a reporter is we have to mark exhibits. It needs to have your CSR number on it. Yes. So, yep, we do have to mark exhibits, but, you know, you submit them to us and then we handle it from there. Yes, but I did. I saw that follow-up and just wanted to address that. I mean, with custom rates, it can be

[00:51:17] Speaker 2: challenging just with our backend to get 72 hours. Leave it to the CEO to say something not quite right. I am so sorry. But I can tell you our aim is to pay you immediately. So, where you deviate from the rates, I think it's probably individually negotiated, but our aim is to get you paid right

[00:51:35] Speaker 1: away. Yeah. Thank you, Ryan. Marissa, I know you're typing a response. Would it be worthwhile to answer live? Do you have IT people that handle emergencies? I'm so glad you brought that up, Eric. I really

[00:51:47] Speaker 7: wanted to answer that question because our support team is something that I am incredibly proud about. I actually think our support operations manager, our deposition operations director is actually listening today as an attendee, Liz Kaufman. She is amazing. We have a large team of support who is there to support you during an event. We have a very specific number that you can call when there is an issue, and they are the most responsive support team I think I have ever worked with. So, when there are any sort of emergencies that may happen, hopefully they don't, but, you know, today we had an AWS outage. If you were affected by that, it happens, and we have a support team that is there to jump in whenever you need it. And anytime there is IT emergencies or something is happening in a job that you're not sure how to handle, they're there for you.

[00:52:38] Speaker 1: Thank you. And we did thank you for your comment. 75 cents per page for an expert is very low. Realizing this is on top of the 550. Dora, do you want to take a moment and walk through

[00:52:51] Speaker 6: the reasoning behind those rates? Yes. So, the 550 is our 011. So, just to clarify, is that it's 75 cents on top of that. So, it is $6.25 per page. It is not 75 cents for an expert. So, just to clarify that. Great. Thank you, Dora.

[00:53:24] Speaker 1: And this one, to wrap up, I'll ask this one of the whole Filevine team. Where does Filevine see the industry in five years, and what role will CSRs have? I think that's an interesting one, and we're excited to answer. Lindsay, Dora, Ryan, do you want to share?

[00:53:41] Speaker 2: Yeah, let me take it as CEO. I think it's good for me to take it. I would be shocked if CSRs aren't playing a critical role in the litigation process 10 years from now, frankly. Again, we think it is, for those of you who don't know us and don't know me, you can get to know me a little bit by listening to our keynote presentation at our most recent conference, which will be out in public, and we'll make that available to you when it's ready. But I can tell you what I discussed with everyone who attended that event. Approximately just under 2,000 people attended, and it was all about how lawyers and legal professionals are absolutely critical, even in the age of AI. There's a million reasons why, but at the end of the day, the human is the one responsible, the human is the one accountable to get it right, and the human, more than any other person, more than any other entity, whether it's technology or not, is what we want to deal with when we're dealing with a legal issue. It is human intention that software and AI should make better. AI should not be for the sake of making machines better, but instead AI should make us better professionals. So we think that having a court reporter in a room, having a court reporter on a Zoom call, live, an actual human professional like you all, we think that is going to be something that is the case for a very long time, and we can't wait

[00:55:04] Speaker 5: to support you in it. I just want to add to that. We are at a crossroads in our industry, and there's a lot of chatter about firms that are using AI to squeeze out the human element, and we are first to use AI to center the human element, and that's where we will also be in five years from now. And I hope that other agencies will follow our lead, and also in market compensation, in treating reporters, and in everything else we're doing. That's what I hope for.

[00:55:48] Speaker 1: Thank you, Lindsay. And it looks like we've answered iterations of a lot of questions, so sorry, we may be repeating ourselves a little bit, but there's a ton of questions that we're sifting through real time. The final question, so does our transcript go into Filevine software for your client? Ryan, do you want to start? Yeah, I'm happy to address that.

[00:56:11] Speaker 2: So one of the reasons we are, when we made the investment to go into core reporting, one of the things we were looking at is how often do our clients store transcripts inside of Filevine today? And the answer is by the millions. Millions of deposition transcripts are stored in Filevine today. I wouldn't be surprised if thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, get uploaded daily today. That's happening today. And I think that's one of the reasons that's happening today. Filevine is a document management system, and you can already store transcripts within it. So when we started talking to customers and asking them about storing their deposition transcripts inside of Filevine, it became quite clear to us that they would actually just love to have an end-to-end experience where they could schedule and host the deposition as well. So that's one of the reasons we made this move as a company. So very much, yes, once you produce the transcript to us after it's been certified by you, the certified stenographer, then it will go into Filevine and be available for the lawyers who order the

[00:57:15] Speaker 1: transcript to do what they want to do with it. Thank you, Ryan. That concludes today's webinar. Thank you so much to all of our speakers, and thank you for all the attendees that have dedicated an hour on this Monday evening. And thank you for the quote that we just had, the anonymous attendee. Going into this, I thought you were producing AI transcripts and asking reporters to certify them. I'm so glad to hear it's still the way we've been doing it, but with better pay. That's all we seek to do, is foster partnerships to better serve our shared clients and this important legal system. As we conclude, a few couple of notes. This recording is going to be emailed to all registrants and attendees shortly. If you do have additional questions, we know there's going to be a lot of questions still. Please send those to our email address, reporters at filevine.com. Again, that's reporters with an S at filevine.com. Visit the QR code. Please RSVP to our amazing meet and greet event. We hope to see all of you in person. We can have some fun, get to know each other, one another, and learn together about this important work that we do. That's November 13th at 6 p.m. in Newport Beach. Thank you for joining us, everyone. Have a wonderful Monday evening.