FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
THURSDAY, JULY 27, 1995                            (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
             JUSTICE DEPARTMENT PROVIDES GUIDANCE TO 
             NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COURT REPORTERS 
                                 

Washington, D.C.--The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division
provided guidance today to the National Association of Court
Reporters ("NCRA") to assist it in developing changes to its Code
of Professional Ethics that are intended to help ensure that
court reporters comply with certain provisions of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure.
     Rule 28(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and laws
adopted by a number of states are designed to preserve the
impartiality of court reporters who are responsible for the
official court record.  During recent years, some large-scale
users of court reporting services have entered into long-term
relationships with court reporters, however,  under which they
receive services that were not known to or made available to
other parties to the litigation.  The NCRA proposed to add to its
Code of Professional Ethics provisions that would require
members, when they are making the official court record, to
disclose to all parties to a litigation the fact that they are 
 providing specific services to other parties to the litigation.
     The Department's position was stated in a business review
letter to counsel for the NCRA from Anne K. Bingaman, Assistant
Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division.  Bingaman
indicated  that the anticompetitive risks of the proposed Code of
Ethics would be reduced if guidelines articulated in the business
review letter were followed.  Bingaman stated that "to the extent
that the NCRA's proposed amendments to its Code of Ethics follows
these guidelines, and does not otherwise raise anticompetitive
concerns, the Department, based on the information and assurances
that you have provided to us, would have no current intention to
challenge the proposed conduct."
     Under the Department's business review procedure, an
organization may submit a proposed action to the Antitrust
Division and receive a statement as to whether the Division will
challenge the action as a violation of the antitrust laws.
     A file containing the business review request and the
Department's response will be made available in the Legal
Procedure Unit of the Antitrust Division, Room 3235, Department
of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530.  After a 30-day waiting
period, the documents supporting the business review request will
be added to the file.   

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