This measure gauges attorneys’ views on the integrity of records of court proceedings. Attorneys who have brought cases on appeal are in a position to know whether records of the trial court proceedings are incomplete or difficult to understand. Because attorneys need records of proceedings to prepare briefs, they are concerned about the quality of electronic audio or video recording as well as the traditional written transcript. For this reason, positive opinions by attorneys indicate positive court performance. This measure relies on questionnaire data.

Planning/Preparation. A random sample of notices of appeal filed with the trial court should be selected. The appropriate appellate court should be contacted to determine the names and addresses of the appellant’s and appellee’s attorneys.

Data Collection. A questionnaire should be designed to solicit the views of attorneys concerning the quality of the record. An example is Form 3.6.6, Illustrative Questionnaire: Verbatim Records of Proceedings.

Data Analysis and Report Preparation. The information from the responses can be summarized in terms of the kinds of problems that arise, the seriousness of the problems, and the degree of effort required to resolve them. Do the problems concern missing information? Is the recorded information unintelligible? Do the problems suggest a momentary lapse in the performance of recording equipment or a court reporter, or do the problems suggest a persistent problem? Additionally, the location of problems can be identified. For example, do problems arise more in civil than in criminal appeals, or are jury trials in both types of cases the predominant source of problems?