Legal Question in Legal Ethics in North Carolina

Re: Court Reporter Responsibilty

That's a novel issue. There was a similar (or the same) issue in a Gaston County case recently. In short, my "best guess" is that you would not have such a claim. First, there is the "public duty doctrine," which often protects public officials (and maybe employees) from liability to an individual, on the basis that their duties are to the population at large, and not to any individual persons. Second, the actual "contract" for the transcript was not with you, but was with the Defense attorney, and you probably would not be a "third party beneficiary" of the contract. There are also issues of your recoverable damages (lost time from work, mental anguish), which may not be recoverable. My best guess is that you would not have a claim, but it is a good question, and our courts recognize novel claims every day, so it could be worth a shot. Also, there are obviously practical concerns, such as finding an attorney to represent you, and dealing with this anguish on two fronts now (i.e. criminal proceeding against alleged murderer and civil action against court reporter). Best of luck to you; sorry this has happened.