Court Reporters

February 16, 2021 By Dawn Houghton

O’Brien & Bails Court Reporters Talk Benefits of a Court Reporting Career Flexibility, Freedom, and Fun

Have you ever wondered what stenographers like best about their career decision? What are the challenges the job brings? What is fun about your job? We sat down to hear what our court reporters all around the nation had to say about their chosen career path and we were blown away with the responses.

What do you like about your court reporting career?

I like the freedom of being self-employed and the flexible hours. Earning potential is based on my willingness to work and ability to finish transcripts in a timely manner, so I like to work hard!
Meeting fascinating people and going to interesting places and hearing intriguing stories.
The flexibility of working when I want and not know what the next day holds.
Meeting so many interesting people over the years, learning about so many different subject matters. Constantly challenging myself to become a better writer.
Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility.

What is one of the biggest challenges you face in your career?

Finding stretches and strengthening to counter the repetitive movements over so many years.
Keeping up with all the latest technology.
At the present time, a challenge I face in my career is being able to hear every single spoken word during remote depositions and distracting background noise from non-muted participants.
Anxiety – it never diminishes!

What was the funniest thing you experienced during a deposition (maintaining confidentiality)?

One of the defendants represented himself and was questioning a former employee. He was asking “Perry Mason” type questions until the witness finally yelled, “Yes, it’s true!! It’s all true!” One of the other defense attorneys fell off of his chair because he was laughing so hard. I had tears running down my face from laughter.
When I lived in LA I took the depo of a famous musician. It was a class action suit, so before she testified, another woman testified first. The famous musician sat at the end of the really long conference table to wait her turn. The musician fell asleep and started snoring, and nobody wanted to say anything.
The witness running away from the lawyer before we even started, and she was running after him to try to get him to testify.
There’s been a few times when the answer (meant to be comical) cracks up everyone in the room and both sides get the giggles.

Interested in learning more about court reporting? We would love to hear from you. Learn more about our court reporting services HERE or contact us at 800.878.8750.

February 27, 2015 By Dawn Houghton

4 Steps Every Court Reporter Can Take to Handle Stressful Deadlines

While a court reporting career can be greatly rewarding, there are times when the responsibilities of the job can be stressful. This stress can be compounded by the added stress of balancing work life and family life. Every court reporter needs to develop ways of handling stress when levels are high. By having a plan in place for handling stressful situations, you are able to more quickly release the panicky feelings of overwhelm.

Handling Overwhelm

Some of the most overwhelming situations as a court reporter involve deadlines. For instance, you’ve worked all day on a very intense deposition. At the end of the day, you are now exhausted but know that soon you will go home and relax for the evening. This picture changes suddenly when one of the attorneys tells you they need the transcript ASAP, tomorrow if possible. You are immediately overwhelmed wondering how can you get all of these pages edited, proofread, and delivered by tomorrow. Panic sets in. Since you are already exhausted, your feelings of overwhelm are heightened.

As a court reporter, this is a common stressful situation. The good news is that, over time, you can develop coping skills that will allow you to overcome the overwhelm and quickly move to a solution. Here are some steps you can take to conquer the challenge.

1. Stop and take a breath.

As soon as you are alerted to the situation, take stock of what is required. Talk to the attorneys to discover if there is any possibility of extending the deadline, even if it is only a few hours. As a court reporter, we always want to deliver a transcript to attorneys on the deadline they request so they can do their job to the best of their ability. However, sometimes, after asking a few questions, you will discover that they are able to work with you and extend the time in which they must have the transcript in their hands. Every extra hour you can negotiate means a little less stress on you in preparing the transcript.

2. Prioritize and plan.

Once you know exactly how much time you have, sit down and estimate how long it will take you for each step of the process, including editing, proofreading, and delivery. Then make a schedule that sets forth exactly how much time you will use for each stage. By making a time schedule, you will be able to continually measure whether you are on target to deliver on time and make adjustments as necessary.

3. Enlist help.

Before beginning preparation of the transcript, think about whether there are any parts you can delegate. It is wise to have at least one scopist you can rely on in situations such as these. Now is the time to call them to help you with editing and/or proofreading in order to meet your deadline.

Do you need to enlist the help of your family to take care of home issues so that you can focus completely on your task? If a spouse or older child can pick up some of the duties for which you would typically be responsible, now is the time to talk to them and ask for their assistance and cooperation.

4. Get started.

Once you have outlined your plan, it is time to get started. Get comfortable and begin. Track your progress and check your schedule frequently to make sure you are on track to meet your deadline. This will help you stay focused and on task.

Feeling overwhelmed is often a temporary feeling. If you give yourself a few minutes to stop and breathe, this allows you to steady those feelings of panic and self-defeating thoughts. Once you take steps to make a plan, those feelings will begin to subside. Each step in the plan that you accomplish will get you closer to your goal of meeting your deadline and managing your stress level.

October 13, 2013 By Dawn Houghton

Court Reporting as a Career

Many court reporters working today will tell you that court reporting has been a very good field for them throughout the course of their career. If you’re thinking about becoming a court reporter, you may have questions about whether court reporting is a good career to pursue. We think it is, and want to tell you some of the reasons we think court reporting is a great profession.

Job Description

If you’ve ever seen a stenographer in court or on movies and television shows, you may have wondered what they really do. A court reporter is the person who sits in the courtroom or in a deposition who takes down every spoken word during the proceedings. They prepare official transcripts for use by attorneys, judges and litigants. These transcripts are used as the official record of the events that took place during the deposition, hearing or trial. Court reporters are responsible for certifying that the content of the transcript is accurate and true to the best of their ability.

Education

To become a court reporter, one must go through a college program that teaches the skill of steno writing at a very high level of speed and accuracy. It can take two to five years to reach the level of skill that is required to receive certification to work as a court reporter. Reporters have to demonstrate that they can write at a speed of 225 words per minute with 97 percent accuracy.

Required Skills

Court reporters need excellent communication, organizational and time management skills. Reporters need the ability to work in a high-pressure environment. They know how to work under a deadline. The documents prepared are the only official account of the court proceedings and are vital to the credibility of the judicial system. Court reporters take this responsibility very seriously.

Making the Record

Court reporters use a computer and stenotype machine to take down the spoken words they hear. The stenotype machine allows the reporter to use a form of shorthand by using sounds of words to record data. The computer uses software called computer-aided transcription to translate the information into English.

Technology Advancements

Over the years, technology has changed the way in which reporters do their job. Court reporters are using more advanced technology to provide instant transcription in rough draft form on computer screens while the proceeding is in session. This is called realtime translation. This technology is also used to allow the deaf and hard-of-hearing community access to what is happening in a live classroom, meeting or theater. This skill is also used to caption live television shows, such as newscasts. Court reporting technology now often involves videoconferencing, live internet streams and specialized print programs for transcript formatting, just to name a few.

Lifestyle

So is court reporting a good profession? To help answer this question, we want to give you some of the benefits of being a court reporter. Court reporters who love their job will list some or all of these benefits.

Scheduling flexibility
Salary
Rewarding work
Crucial role in the legal industry
Variety of jobs available

Scheduling Flexibility

Most court reporters work from home offices when producing legal transcripts. The reporting firm assigns the reporter on a deposition assignment. The deposition may last from one hour to eight hours. Once finished, the court reporter returns to his or her home office to create the verbatim transcript. The portions of the job performed at home create a flexibility of schedule that many reporters enjoy.

Salary

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics quotes the median income of a court reporter in the United States in 2010 as $47,700. Salary.com quotes the median figure as $52,000. These are median figures. Some reporters make more and some make less. The salary can be dependent on the geographic area you live in, the type of court reporting you do, and the amount of hours you want to work each week. As a freelance reporter, if you want to make more, you can make yourself available for more depositions and work more hours. If you want to work part time, you will bring home less income but will be able to make a good income for the part-time hours you work.

Rewarding Work

Court reporters are at the center of the activity in a courtroom and in discovery depositions. They hear witnesses testify about all sorts of topics. They listen to interesting court cases. Every day brings different subject matter to work on. For instance, one day you could hear the details of a personal injury case where a witness was injured in a car accident. The next day you may be involved in a criminal case with witnesses testifying about a robbery they witnessed. This type of variety is what many court reporters enjoy.

Throughout a long career, a court reporter has many ways to continue to be challenged and grow as a professional. In the beginning, the challenge is to pursue training and education in order to prepare for initial certification. Here are just a few challenges that can help a reporter learn and grow:

Pursuing higher skill certification
Learning realtime reporting
Becoming a broadcast captioner
Exploring CART work with the deaf and hard-of-hearing community
Continuing education
Participating in state and national associations

A court reporter can mold his or her career in many different directions. Having access to continuing challenges helps a reporter to develop as a professional, as well as grow his or her career.

Crucial Role in the Legal Industry

A court reporter is responsible for keeping the official record. As an officer of the court, a court reporter acts as a representative of the court even in a deposition setting outside of the courtroom. He or she is also the person charged with swearing witnesses and administering the oath.

Court reporters are shown much respect from the legal community, be it attorneys, paralegals, legal assistants or judges. Court reporters earn this respect by taking very seriously the responsibilities imparted to them. Many reporters enjoy this earned respect and find it a pleasant environment to work in.

Diverse Professional Paths

We talk about court reporting as one profession. Within this one profession, there are many capacities in which a court reporter can work. Some of these areas are:

Official court reporter
Freelance court reporter
State bureau court reporter
Mediation and arbitration reporter
Realtime reporter
CART provider for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community
Live television broadcast captioners

If you’re thinking of a career in court reporting, the best action to take is to talk to a court reporter and see what they have to say about the profession. It is even a good idea to talk to more than one reporter so that you gain a balanced view of what the work is really like.

If you found this article interesting, you might also like “The Top 10 Skills of the Best Legal Assistants.”

September 29, 2013 By Dawn Houghton

Finding The Right Court Reporting Program For You

So you’ve decided you want to be a court reporter. Now comes the task of finding a program that fits you and the goals you are trying to accomplish. But where do you start? How do you find court reporting programs that are reputable and will allow you to successfully learn the skills required to become a court reporter?

Where can I find good court reporting programs?

The National Court Reporters Association works to provide guidelines and requirements for court reporting educational programs. Working with the U.S. Department of Education, NCRA’s purpose is to ensure that good quality programs are available to you, the potential student. They know that you need to have a way to find good programs and learn more about them so that you can choose one that’s right for you.

How does school program accreditation and certification work?

NCRA and the U.S. Department of Education have established a list of qualities a program must possess in order to receive accreditation. NCRA has established the Council on Approved Student Education (CASE), an organization which establishes the General Requirements and Minimum Standards (GRMS). This set of standards is the test each program is run through to receive their accreditation and become a school that is NCRA Certified.

As you begin to investigate programs, ask your educational institution whether they are NCRA certified. If they are, you can rest assured that this program is credible and offers a valid program.

Not only does NCRA help programs receive certification, they also have created a list of programs in the United States that are available for you to choose from. Click here to see all of the accredited and approved court reporting programs in the country. There are also a couple in Canada that are accredited and certified.

What types of programs are available?

As you review this list of programs, you will see letters and initials in the descriptions. These letters designate what type of program is being offered. Here are a list of the types of programs you can participate in:

(D) = Day program leading to graduation
(N) = Complete night program leading to graduation
(EC)= Evening courses – must transfer to day to complete program
(A) = Associate degree
(B) = Baccalaureate degree
(BC)= Broadcast captioning
(CT)= CART provider
(ON)= Online program

You can see, there are a variety of ways to receive your education. Are you able to attend classes during the day? There are day programs for you. Do you need to find classes that are available in the evening? There are complete night programs for you. Are you interested in the specialty of broadcast captioning? You can find programs specifically for this interest.

The NCRA list of programs is a good place to start. Once you find programs you are interested in, contact the program directly to gather further details and information.

If you found this article interesting, you might also like “Freelance Court Reporting Versus Official Court Reporting.”

September 5, 2013 By Dawn Houghton

Court Reporting – A Profession, Not Just a Job

What is the difference between a job and a profession? A job typically requires minimal experience and education. All that is needed is a minimum amount of skills to get the job done. A profession requires a high level of knowledge and skills. Individuals in professions are not easily replaceable since their education, extensive training, and skills make them unique assets. As a result, professions generally have higher levels of compensation.

High Skill Levels

Court reporters must graduate from an accredited court reporting program at the writing speed of 225 words per minute. Court reporting students learn a writing theory called “stenographic shorthand”, which they must know how to read and write on their stenographic machines. Stenographic machines enable reporters to write at a faster rate through condensing words to phonetic syllables. This method is much faster than typing on a QWERTY keyboard. The language of court reporting is complicated, and students must become proficient at this unique skill.

Reporters typically spend several hours writing the verbatim testimony of witnesses. However, work doesn’t end when they leave the office. Reporters then return to their home or office to edit, research and proof for several more hours. A good rule of thumb is if the writing of the testimony took an hour, it will take two to three hours to edit, research, proof and produce into a transcript that hour of testimony. Because a reporter’s job is centered around writing, transcribing, and editing, excellent verbal skills are required. It is imperative that reporters are well-read and educated so that transcripts are accurate and coherent. Reporters should always be in pursuit of enhancing their verbal and word recognition skills.

Professional Association Participation

Reporters typically belong to various court reporting associations such as the National Court Reporter’s Association (NCRA) or state-specific organizations such as the Michigan Association of Professional Court Reporters (MAPCR). These organizations provide great opportunities to network with other agencies and reporters. They also hold conferences where they meet and educate reporters on current trends, issues, or new technology. For example, the NCRA holds major conferences in different states each year. Reporters can attend special speaking engagements or even be the first individuals to experience new reporting technology.

The NCRA is also responsible for national court reporting certifications. Although being a member means you must pay an annual fee, being certified puts you at an advantage. It communicates to attorneys and agencies that you are a qualified and competent reporter because you have to pass written and practical tests with each certification that proves you are at the certified level. Being certified leads to better opportunities and levels of compensation.

A Diverse and Enriching Profession

People often misconceive that reporters are merely individuals who take down the record, go home, print out the transcript, and that’s the extent of their occupation. But there is far more to the profession than what they often realize. Not only does reporting involve extensive education and training, but a reporter’s education extends beyond school. A wise reporter never stops learning and enhancing their skills, often doing research and extra reading on various topics in order to broaden their scope of understanding of the world around them. Reporters often attend conventions, conferences, and become certified for the sake of building their career. For these many reasons, court reporting is a profession and not just a job. Court reporting is far more diverse and enriching than what a typical job can offer.

If you found this article interesting, you might also be interested in “The Top 10 Skills of the Best Legal Assistants.”