legal deposition

August 18, 2013 By Dawn Houghton

Transition from Court Reporting Student to Working Court Reporter

Learning about reporting is far different than actually working as a reporter. Students often worry about whether or not they’ll be able to handle a court reporting career, but there are steps you can take to avoid being unprepared for the life of a working court reporter.

Practice Good Time Management

First, you need to practice good time management while in school. Time management is essential to any job, particularly court reporting, since transcribing, editing, and furnishing a final transcript is time-consuming. You need to be able to handle your personal life and your professional life so that you can finish everything within a timely manner. Agencies appreciate it when you hand in work sooner than their standard deadlines. Time management is a highly important skill in the profession of court reporting.

Work On Your Steno Dictionary

Second, you need to work on your dictionary. Working on your dictionary after class and at home will help you tremendously. Teachers and reporters alike stress the importance of having a great dictionary. You can begin to work on adding to your vocabulary and even defining misstrokes. Defining your misstrokes will cut down on time spent proofing and editing transcripts. Readback will be easier as well, which is something that all reporters appreciate. The time you spend on your dictionary now will mean less time you will spend on building your dictionary when you begin working.

Build Stamina

Third, you need to build your stamina for writing. This is crucial since some teachers only dictate for twenty minutes at most. While any practice is helpful, the reality is that you need to practice far longer than that. Depositions often last for hours, and if you don’t have the stamina to keep going, you run the risk of stress due to fatigue. Find a way to practice longer stretches of writing to prepare yourself for the real work world. Try writing the news on TV or your favorite shows. This will build endurance.

Participate in an Internship

Fourth, you need to intern. Interning is probably one of the most important things you can do to benefit your journey into court reporting. Interning gives you real experience that can’t be learned in class. Some of the reporters you meet while interning will give you wisdom on how to excel in the career and may even become your mentors. Interning will build your stamina, writing skills and working knowledge. It also helps prepare you with traveling to different locations, which is a large part of the profession. It is important to become familiar with following directions correctly so that you arrive to a job on time. Interning will also provide you with valuable connections with agencies and reporters. It’s important to be friendly with everybody you meet, especially agency employees (that includes receptionists). People will remember you and provide feedback to their employers. Many students have been hired at reputable agencies because of their connections made during internships.

Keep Connections With Peers

Lastly, keep in contact with your friends from school. Moving from student to reporter is a daunting journey, so it is important to keep in contact with people who are on the same journey as you are. A support group consisting of other reporters will help you cope or laugh about situations that your family and non-reporter friends won’t understand. Your friends may also help you find work or even give you insight into the company culture of agencies for which they work.

While every individual is unique and there is not one perfect formula, these points will help smooth the transition from student to reporter. So be sure to practice healthy time management, work on your dictionary, build your stamina, become an intern, and remain friends with your peers. These will all serve as precursors to becoming a successful reporter.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also be interested in our special guide “The Top 10 Skills of the Best Legal Assistants.”

July 25, 2013 By Dawn Houghton

What Does a Court Reporting Production Manager Do?

In a large court reporting firm with several court reporters, there are many transcripts each week that need to be printed and prepared for delivery. Often larger court reporting firms have a production manager who is responsible for these tasks. For O’Brien and Bails, that person is Carmaria Beeke.

As production manager, Carmaria’s job is central to the operations of O’Brien and Bails. With Carmaria’s careful attention to detail, our clients receive their transcripts on time and come to rely on excellent service. Carmaria will tell you each transcript has many variables and details that need proper attention.

Duties of a Production Manager

In our main office in Kalamazoo, each week there are transcripts submitted from many court reporters that need to be e-mailed, printed, properly packaged and sent. Each reporter fills out a worksheet shortly after taking a deposition. The worksheet specifies instructions for Carmaria when she is processing the transcript, such as which attorney has ordered the original transcript and which attorneys receive copies. Another important detail is how many exhibits need to be attached to a transcript. There are many details such as these for every single transcript that leaves our office.

Once the order worksheets have been collected, the reporter transcribes the proceedings and sends the digital transcript to Carmaria, who then e-mails, prints, binds, invoices and seals each transcript preparing for delivery. Transcripts are typically delivered within 10 calendar days of the taking of the deposition. This means Carmaria is always mindful of the deadline on each transcript she processes.

Technical Ability and People Skills

When she is not producing transcripts, Carmaria helps with other tasks such as setting up the technology to conduct streaming video depositions. These are depositions that are being conducted with parties who are in separate locations. Streaming video allows all parties to be present in real time and participate in the deposition using streaming video from the comfort of their office and eliminating travel, especially for out of state depositions.

Not only does Carmaria set up online depositions, she also works with clients to ensure they are able to access the technology. Working with clients and technology requires a mixture of technical ability and people skills. Streaming video technology is new to many attorneys and legal staff, and there is a learning curve to using it. Carmaria helps each client understand the process and how they will participate.

As a production manager, Carmaria is familiar with many types of litigation software used by clients, and is able to produce transcripts in formats that are compatible with the software an attorney is using. Again, a mixture of technical skills and people skills comes into play. Carmaria helps each client receive the proper file format they need in order to incorporate the transcript files into their particular litigation software.

Master of Production

Before working as production manager, Carmaria came to the field with little experience and knowledge of the court reporting industry. But after working with O’Brien and Bails for almost two years, she has learned how the industry works and all the combinations of services clients may need when scheduling depositions and ordering transcripts. She is now a master of the process and continues to tweak and perfect the production of transcripts to make it better and more efficient.

When asked what she likes most about her job, Carmaria says, “Working with all our clients and court reporters and building those relationships.” She knows the importance of good client relationships and enjoys the process of getting to know each person she comes in contact with in the course of doing her job.

Everyday Challenges

Of course, there are also challenges to being a production manager. Carmaria knows that meeting deadlines is of utmost importance. She says most challenging are the situations when she is sending a transcript that is needed the very next day in a different location from the attorney who ordered it. She works with legal staff to discern where the transcript needs to be and what time it needs to be there. She may be able to rely on FedEx or UPS to deliver the transcript. She may need to find a court reporting office in the destination city who can print the file and deliver it to the courthouse. Carmaria continues to troubleshoot until she knows she has a way to get the transcript into the hands of the attorneys who need them.

Going the Extra Mile

Carmaria takes real ownership of her production manager position. Recently she was working to get a transcript ready to take to the UPS drop box before the daily pickup time at 6:00 p.m. Says Carmaria, “When I was leaving our office, I couldn’t decide which UPS box to go to. I knew it had to be there by 6:00 p.m. for pickup and I was almost sure I would not make it. I was on the GPS on my phone trying to figure out which was the closest location when I saw our regular UPS driver on the street.”

Carmaria decided to flag down the UPS driver to hand him her package. But first she had to reach the driver on the busy one-way streets of Kalamazoo. With the UPS driver in sight, she decided to pull into a parking spot in front of the truck. After she pulled in, she noticed the driver was already back in his truck and was pulling back out into traffic. She saw that he went down the street and around the corner. She decided to follow him once again. As soon as he was in sight again, she was stuck at a red light. Once the light turned green, she drove up and around the truck once again, parked her vehicle, jumped out and ran to the driver. He gladly accepted the package. Her hard work paid off. She got the package to the driver and the transcript was delivered the next day on time. “We always have candy in our office and Al usually takes a handful when he drops off packages at our office. I asked him what kind of candy was his favorite and bought him a big bag of Snickers bars to give him the next time he stopped in our office.”

Characteristics of a Successful Production Manager

When asked what traits are needed to be a successful production manager, Carmaria says, “You have to be organized, pay attention to details, multi-task, and be able to work in varying levels of intensity.”

Carmaria will tell you she has very specific processes she uses in order to make sure every detail is handled. “You have to be flexible,” says Carmaria. “I might get a call and suddenly have to drop everything I am doing, and pick back up later to finish.”

In a large court reporting firm like O’Brien and Bails, there are many behind-the-scenes tasks that need to be taken care of each and every day. We are able to give our customers excellent service because we have great people. Carmaria takes care of production and makes sure everything is running on time. It’s a big job, and she makes it look easy.

Dawn Houghton, the owner of O’Brien & Bails, knows she is very lucky to have Carmaria Beeke on her team.

July 15, 2013 By Dawn Houghton

Fair Pricing of Legal Transcripts by Court Reporters

Is it okay for me to get a free copy of a transcript from opposing counsel?

From time to time we hear of an attorney who has asked opposing counsel for a copy of a deposition transcript so that they don’t need to order one from the court reporter. To some, this may seem a simple and practical way of receiving a free transcript. As court reporters, there are some things we would like you to know about our pricing and why that practice undermines our standards in pricing.

The fact is that standard pricing practices for transcripts have always taken into consideration that a legal transcript is something that is usually required by both sides of a lawsuit in order for each side to do their job properly. If attorneys began passing around free copies of transcripts, court reporters would only be partially paid for the work they perform. We would need to change our pricing in order to be fully compensated. We would need to charge the full amount of transcription to the side who is ordering the original. This would almost double the cost of a transcript for the ordering party.

There could be undesirable ramifications to changing our pricing structure. For example, if the cost of an original was high, and the cost of a copy was free, it might reduce the number of witnesses you are willing to depose in a lawsuit and potentially change the way in which you conduct your case.

If there are multiple parties, is it okay to make free copies of transcripts for the other parties?

Again, the fact that there are sometimes multiple parties has also been figured into the pricing structure we use. Yes, sometimes we are able to sell extra copies of a transcript in the case of multiple parties. But there are also many times when only the original is ordered, and no one is ordering the copy. In those cases, we are making considerably less than we should on a transcript and the work that went into producing it. So the extra orders we receive occasionally from multiple parties help make up for those times when only one side orders a transcript.

If parties were to regularly only order one copy and share it, we would be forced to change our pricing structure. It would be necessary for us to charge the ordering attorney more to make up for the copy that the other party didn’t purchase. We prefer not to do that because it wouldn’t be fair to the ordering party to put all the weight on their shoulders.

As court reporters, our job is to be fair and impartial and we take that responsibility seriously. We are very careful how we structure our pricing to ensure that all parties in a lawsuit are treated fairly and equitably.

To learn more about court reporting pricing and costs, download our guide, “How Much Should I Expect to Pay for Court Reporting Services.”

June 27, 2013 By Dawn Houghton

O’Brien and Bails Court Reporting Offers Online Transcript Ordering

At O’Brien and Bails, your Michigan court reporters, we are always looking for ways to bring more value to our clients. Anticipating your needs is one of our highest customer service priorities. We know there are times when you would like to order a deposition without calling our office. Whether it’s after hours or when it is not convenient to call, you may wish to have another way to order. We have been working on a project that will make it easier for you to order transcripts from us quickly and easily at any time of the day or night.

We are ready to unveil the O’Brien and Bails’ Online Transcript Order Form. When you’re ready to order a transcript, you can now do so online here at our website. Click the button entitled “Transcript Order Form”, and you will be taken to an ordering page. The following are some of the items you should know when ordering your transcript online. Not all are required, but it is helpful if you have as much information as you can when placing an order.

Attorney’s name
Email address
Phone number
Name of person submitting order
Date of deposition
Deponent’s name
Case caption
Date transcript is needed

Once you press the “Submit” button, we will receive your order. Our production staff will make sure your transcription is under way and delivered to you on time.

If this new way of ordering transcripts isn’t a fit for you, we are still very happy to speak with you on the phone and take your order for transcripts.

We appreciate you as a customer and want to offer you the ease and convenience of ordering your transcripts online.

If you would like to order your transcript online, you can do so here.

May 28, 2013 By Dawn Houghton

Are You Being Overcharged for Your Legal Deposition Transcript?

Have you ever had questions about the various charges that are included in a court reporting invoice? Or have you received an invoice with extra charges and been unsure what those charges were for?

We know sometimes there is confusion about how court reporters charge for services. We would like to help you understand charges from your court reporting service. If you are not able to understand the court reporters’ invoice, how will you know what you are paying for? Here are a variety of charges you might see on your invoice.

Charges you might see with your court reporting services:

Appearance Fees

The appearance fee is typically an hourly fee charged for the time the court reporter actually spends at the deposition. If neither party requests that the transcript be prepared after the deposition, then the fee will include only the hourly appearance to cover the court reporter’s time during the deposition.

Page Fees

The larger cost of hiring a court reporter is often the cost of the transcript. When one party orders the transcript, the court reporter will prepare a written record of the testimony and charge a fee per page of transcription.

There are differences in page pricing depending on whether you are ordering the original copy of the transcript or only a copy. Ask your reporter what their page rate is for the original transcript, and what is the rate for a copy. The charge for the copy should be less than the original transcript.

In Michigan, MCL 600.1491 states that a court reporter shall not charge more than two-thirds of the price of an original transcript for a copy of that transcript. In simple numbers, if the ordering counsel is being charged $3.30 per page for the original transcript, opposing counsel can only be charged two-thirds of that price, or $2.20 per page.

Copy Fees

Most court reporters will retain any exhibits marked during the deposition and make copies to attach to all transcripts. Copy charges can range from twenty five cents a page for black and white copies to a dollar per page or more for color copies or oversized copies.

Shipping and Handling

This is a charge that includes the cost of postage to send the transcript to you. It may also include a small fee to cover the time it takes to ready the transcript for mailing and supplies for mailing. Some reporters charge for handling and some do not. It is wise to ask how much you will pay for shipping and handling as it could vary widely between reporting firms. In larger cases where there are many exhibits, there may be an additional binding fee to cover the cost of the extra supplies needed.

Electronic Transcripts, Ascii Transcripts and Condensed Transcripts

Creating these various formats of transcript is easier than ever before. Many reporters do not charge extra if you request electronic transcripts, ascii transcripts or condensed transcripts. However, some firms may be charging for these services. Ask your court reporter what is the practice at their firm so you can compare with others.

There are some electronic formats the reporter has to pay a vendor to produce on each transcript. Usually the reporter will pass along this extra cost on those formats to the party that requested the special format.

Conference Rooms

If you need a location to take your deposition, most reporting firms will have a conference room for you to use. Some firms have several conference rooms available in several different cities around the country and many do not charge extra for this convenience. Ask your court reporter if there is a charge for use of their conference room at the time of scheduling.

Many court reporting firms also are able to secure conference room locations in cities where they do not have an office. The reporting firm should let their client know if there will be any extra cost for a conference room in that situation. We have found the cost varies depending on the location. It is a good idea to ask your court reporter what the charge will be for the room so you can decide whether you want to use that location or not.

Remote Internet Depositions and Videoteleconferencing

Sometimes it’s necessary to depose a witness in a remote location, or maybe attorneys do not want to spend a day of travel to and from a distant location to depose a witness to their case, so videoteleconferencing or remote viewing can be handled by the court reporting firm.

In that instance, there will be a charge for the videoteleconferencing room at both locations, or in a remote viewing internet deposition, a charge by the court reporting firm to set up, test, and monitor the remote internet deposition. This is a separate charge from the fees of the court reporter taking down the deposition and providing the transcript.

Cancellation Fees

There are certain circumstances where a cancellation fee is appropriate. If a deposition cancels within 24 hours of the scheduled time, then it is appropriate to receive a charge for cancellation. This is because the reporter has been scheduled on your deposition and therefore does not have the opportunity to be scheduled on a different deposition.

However, if you cancel your deposition before that 24-hour period, most reporting firms will not charge a fee. Often, they have not yet assigned a reporter and have time to adjust the scheduling as necessary. Ask your reporter what their cancellation policy and cancellation fee is when you schedule the deposition so you don’t have any surprises.

Transcript Index

If you order a transcript and ask for an index, you will receive a listing of words spoken in the transcript. This index can be used to find specific areas of the testimony you want to read. Some court reporting firms will charge for the index, some firms do not. Some firms will charge a flat fee for the index and some will charge a per page rate for the index pages. This may be different in different regions of the country. In Michigan, most court reporters do not charge a fee for an index of the transcript. It is good to ask upfront whether your court reporting firm will be charging for this service.

Deposition Summary

If you order a transcript, you should only be provided a deposition summary if you have requested one. This is not a necessary part of the official record and is something you can choose to order or not order, at your discretion. Sometimes a summary is automatically provided by a court reporting firm and can add hundreds of dollars to the cost of your invoice. Ask your court reporting firm whether or not this is their customary practice.

Mileage

The time or miles traveled to and from depositions may also be a charge that appears on your invoice. Some court reporting firms charge for travel, other firms do not charge a mileage fee.

Standards and Ethics

At O’Brien and Bails, we care about the high standard of ethics under which our industry has traditionally operated. We want you to be charged fairly for transcripts. We know you want to keep costs down for your clients and pay for only the services that are necessary.

It is a good idea when you schedule a deposition to ask for a breakdown of what your transcript invoice will consist of so you can be familiar with the services for which you are paying. By comparing invoices from time to time, you can ensure that you and your client are not paying unnecessary charges and fees for court reporting services.

To learn more about court reporting pricing and costs, download our guide, “How Much Should I Expect to Pay for Court Reporting Services.”