On September 25, 2016, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1007 into law. Senate Bill 1007, codified in Section 1282.5 of the California Code of Civil Procedure, provides new protections for the little guy (including consumers and employees) in arbitration proceedings. Senate Bill 1007 gives any party to an arbitration proceeding "the right to have a certified shorthand reporter transcribe any deposition, proceeding, or hearing as the official record." Previously large companies and employers could unilaterally demand that any dispute or claim be heard by an arbitrator. The arbitration forum, and the judges that preside at them, can render rulings and judgments that often did not comport with the law. If there is no record… if there is no transcript….how can such a wrong be righted? California Code of Civil Procedure §1282.5 requires all arbitrators in the state of California to have a certified shorthand reporter transcribe any deposition, proceeding, or hearing so there is an official record if either party makes a request: (1) in a demand for arbitration, answer, or counterclaim or (2) at a pre-hearing scheduling conference at which the deposition, proceeding or hearing is being calendared. The law also provides that in a consumer arbitration, a certified shorthand reporter shall be provided upon request of an indigent consumer, as defined in California Code of Civil Procedure §1284.3, at the expense of the nonconsumer party.

Now the only question is if the average person, who is not indigent, can afford to pay for the certified shorthand reporter, which in my opinion is a must.