11 Questions a Court Reporter Should Ask Before Working for a Firm

How should a court reporter decide which court reporting firm to work for?

In today’s world, every industry has companies that are well-managed and mismanaged, as well as companies that operate with good ethics and those that do not. The legal and court reporting industry is no different.

When you decide to work for a company, it is important to know what to expect from the job. It is equally as important to realize that the stability of your job and your reputation could be at risk due to the business practices and ethics of the company.

In the hiring process, we typically think of the interviewee as the person who has to answer the most questions and justify why the firm should offer them the job. Of course, it is ultimately the court reporting firm who decides if they would like to offer a position to the court reporter.

However, from personal experience, I’ve learned that it is a good idea for a court reporter to take some time upfront to know more about the firm before they accept the job (whether they are going to be an employee of the firm or an independent who takes deposition work when it is available).

With over 30 years of personal experience in this industry, I am passionate about this topic.

I have personally been a court reporter since 1983. During the first 23 years, I was a court reporter and worked for 3 different court reporting firms. Since 2006, I have been the owner of O’Brien & Bails and have still been an active court reporter working with clients.

Not only have I been both a court reporter and a firm owner, but I’ve also observed how others approach their job and business. I have interacted with hundreds of court reporting firm owners and court reporters across our nation. I have networked with them and even done business with many of them. Since O’Brien & Bails provides nationwide court reporting scheduling services, I regularly outsource work to court reporting firms around the nation to cover our clients’ out-of-state depositions. Many of these firms have outsourced work to us.

This experience has given me the opportunity to observe the many differences in how court reporting firm owners run their business, along with the positive and negative impacts of those differences. Many firms have thrived and done well. Others have suffered and gone out of business.

Court reporting firms can have many differences. Some of the possible differences include:

• Services provided
• Methods to provide the services
• How the court reporters are paid
• What the court reporters’ responsibilities include
• Ethics or lack thereof
• Internal operations
• Marketing strategy

To make a good decision, it is important that a court reporter be fully aware of how the firm operates before choosing to work for that firm.

Here are 11 Questions a Court Reporter Should Ask Before Deciding to Work for a Court Reporting Firm:

1. How will I be paid? If it is a percentage, define whether the percentage is figured on the whole invoice or is a percentage of the appearance and page rates. It does make a difference in the rate the court reporter is paid on how this is structured.
2. Will you pay me on just the initial transcript order or on all back orders and/or future orders? Define whether the firm considers the transcript the court reporter’s work product and will be paying on all back orders and future orders of that transcript.
3. Do you reimburse your court reporters for mileage? If so, what is your policy? Many firms do not charge mileage on a standard basis but may pay mileage to the reporter if they ask the reporter to go an unusually long distance.
4. What extra charges may be included in the invoice total that is considered the office’s charges, such as exhibits, scheduling fees, postage and handling fees, etc.? Knowing this detail upfront will avoid any miscommunication in the future.
5. When will I be paid on my work? There are many different structures on this issue, such as being paid on a two-week delay, one-month delay, or being paid when the client pays the firm. Being aware of how you will be paid will avoid any discontent down the road.
6. What are your accounts receivables procedures? How long does it typically take for your firm to be paid by your clients? These questions should be asked if you are being paid when the client pays the firm. This will give you confidence whether the firm has the correct procedures in place to ensure you will get paid as promptly as possible.
7. How are jobs distributed between the reporters? There are many factors that go into assigning a particular reporter on a job. Knowing what to expect upfront can alleviate any concerns the reporter may have.
8. What is your stance on contracting? In the State of Michigan, if a court reporting firm has a blanket contract with an insurance company, law firm, corporation, or hospital, the individual court reporter certified in the State of Michigan is required to disclose, on the record, at each deposition, the existence of any contract that exists for any party to the case, and they are also required to disclose the page rate being charged to the contracting party.
9. What are your gift-giving policies? If the gift-giving is excessive, it may be against the NCRA Code of Professional Ethics and could be against the law in some states. This could put the individual reporter in a compromised position.
10. What is your marketing strategy? If the firm has a proactive and consistent marketing strategy that is enabling them to retain their clients and attract new business, they are more likely to have consistent work for their reporters.
11. Would you give me the names and phone numbers of 2-3 court reporters to ask them about their experience working for your firm? This may be the most important question of the 11. Of course, with the internet and your network, you could easily find reporters that work for the firm and ask if what you are being told lines up with what they have experienced. But it’s good to ask your interviewer to see how they will respond. If they do not want you to speak with some of their reporters, it could be a sign that they are not telling you the truth and may not run their business with high ethics.

We hope these questions will help you think of what to ask when you are considering working for a court reporting firm.

What do you think? Do you agree? Have anything to add about these 11 questions? What other questions do you think would be good?

For more on court reporting ethics from our perspective, download this free report: “Thoughts on Court Reporter Ethics: From a Court Reporting Firm Owner”.