Transcript Approvals

[FBWTLaw]

Jurisdiction

Texas

I'm a Pro se party before a Federal Court of Appeals; appealing a decision of a Federal Administrative Law Judge [ALJ]. The issue that I'm dealing with is that I obtained a hard copy and an electronic copy of the hearing transcript from the Court Reporter that have some differences between them, and the Certified copy of the transcript which has been submitted in the Appeals Court is very different from those transcripts. I didn't get a copy of the Certified transcript until the Case got to the Appeals Court, and this Certified Transcript makes; some of my transcript cites and my responses to others cites, meaningless. At each level of this Case, I've requested that the apparent existence of three versions of the transcript be resolved. A part of my appeal is a denied motion for Recusal of the ALJ, and I want to verify that the ALJ approves copies of the transcript before they are sent to the parties, before I make the argument that the ALJ has intentionally frustrated my prosecution of the case by intentionally operating from a transcript that shifted cites several pages. These shifts; when transposed from the transcripts that I had to the Certified transcript have effectively frustrated my prosecution. Please advise as whether the ALJ is responsible for approving the transcript and advising parties of any revisions.

 

[adjusterjack]

You need a lawyer.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

The Federal Appeals Court is no place for a new lawyer to practice. Much less. non-lawyer.

 

[Tax Counsel]

Your post lacks important information needed to understand what is really at issue here. Specifically what transcripts are involved? How do the transcripts factor into the decision the ALJ made? Or is it the transcript of the hearing you had with the ALJ that is at issue? What agency decision are you appealing (SSA, VA, OPM, some other agency)?

You'd need more than just the fact that the ALJ picked one particular transcript to prove that the judge intentionally meant to frustrate your case. When there is more than one transcript, the judge is going to have to pick one to use. That he judge didn't pick the one you'd like to be used does not logically mean that the judge must have intended to frustrate your case.

 

[army judge]

The Federal Appeals Court is no place for a new lawyer to practice. Much less. non-lawyer.

Very prescient on your part, my friend.

Admission to practice before a federal court is not evidence of experience in federal court trials, FRCP, or other federal court related matters. Due to the complexity of federal court cases and the legal and procedural differences from state court cases, one need be aware and capable of trying federal litigation or a federal criminal/civil court plaintiff/defendant should seek a lawyer with considerable federal court experience.

In fact, under the FRCP Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 46 Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure .

Attorneys: (a) Admission to the Bar.

(1) Eligibility. An attorney is eligible for admission to the bar of a court of appeals if that attorney is of good moral and professional character and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court of a state, another United States court of appeals, or a United States district court (including the district courts for Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands).

(2) Application. An applicant must file an application for admission, on a form approved by the court that contains the applicant's personal statement showing eligibility for membership. The applicant must subscribe to the following oath or affirmation:

"I, ________________________, do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I will conduct myself as an attorney and counselor of this court, uprightly and according to law; and that I will support the Constitution of the United States."

(3) Admission Procedures. On written or oral motion of a member of the court's bar, the court will act on the application. An applicant may be admitted by oral motion in open court. But, unless the court orders otherwise, an applicant need not appear before the court to be admitted. Upon admission, an applicant must pay the clerk the fee prescribed by local rule or court order.

Rule 46. Attorneys

 

[Tax Counsel]

In fact, under the FRCP Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 46 Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure

That rule is not, however, terribly difficult for most attorneys to meet. It does not require any particular amount of experience litigating in federal courts, for example. Essentially, an attorney who is already a member of a state bar or the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court or another federal Court of Appeals and who has not had any disciplinary action taken against him/her, and no disciplinary proceedings are currently pending, is going to be admitted. In short, it screens out those attorneys who already have known disciplinary issues. But unfortunately admission to the bar of the court doesn't guarantee that the attorney will actually be any good at doing federal court appeals.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Thanks for the citation and the explanations.

Quite frankly, I'm not quite sure I understand where our original poster is at this point. If there are inconsistencies with the transcripts and the judge used one of them, why not contact the clerk to see if you can obtain more information as to the reasoning behind this? Perhaps there is something missing in translation here or a misunderstanding as to mechanics. I'd certainly want to have all my ducks in a row before making any assertion that a judge did something incorrectly, especially one which includes an accusation that the judge's decision was an intentional wrong.

One more point - the harm suffered from using a different version must be made clear. Otherwise, you'll just be prolonging the inevitable same conclusion.