CLT Professional Ethics & Standards 4

Question 1

A supervising attorney instructs a CLT to backdate a transcript to match a court filing deadline that was missed. The CLT must:

Accepted Answer

Refuse and, if necessary, report the instruction to the appropriate authority

Answer

Backdating a legal document is fraud; the CLT cannot follow an unethical or illegal instruction regardless of who issues it.

Question 2

Which ethical principle requires a CLT to disclose limitations that may affect transcript quality before starting an assignment?

Accepted Answer

Transparency / duty to disclose

Answer

Transparency requires disclosing factors like poor audio quality or unfamiliar subject matter before they affect deliverables.

Question 3

A CLT is asked to transcribe materials in a language they are not fluent in. The ethical obligation is to:

Accepted Answer

Decline the assignment and refer the client to a qualified professional

Answer

Accepting work outside one's linguistic competence risks inaccuracy that could harm the legal proceeding.

Question 4

The principle of 'scope of practice' in legal transcription means:

Accepted Answer

A CLT should not provide legal advice or interpretation of the content they transcribe

Answer

Scope of practice limits CLTs to producing accurate records, not advising on the legal meaning or strategy implied by the content.

Question 5

A court reporter asks a CLT to certify that a transcript is verbatim when the CLT knows certain portions were reconstructed from notes rather than audio. The CLT should:

Accepted Answer

Refuse to certify and insist the reconstruction be disclosed on the record

Answer

Certifying an inaccurate transcript as verbatim constitutes fraud and violates professional ethics.

(CLT) Certified Legal Transcriptionist Practice Test

(CLT) Certified Legal Transcriptionist Practice Test

CLT Professional Ethics & Standards 4