The reporters at O’Brien & Bails are not only true professionals, but great people to work with. We would like to take some time to let you get to know our court reporters.
Here is what reporter Carl DePerro has to say about his years of experience in the field of court reporting.
I grew up in Detroit, and went through Detroit Public Schools when the schools were first rate. I had an older cousin growing up who went into the profession of court reporting and did very well. He always wanted me to go into the profession, and in 1975, after 18 months, my teacher at Macomb College, Mr. George Jackson, thought I was ready to work. And so I began working two days a week in Romeo District Court reporting arraignments. Being in front of a courtroom the size of a large bedroom with 50 suspected drinkers and drug offenders was one of those moments when you say to yourself “What am I doing here?”
Later, I worked for my cousin in his fairly large firm doing mostly depositions and court work. He had a pool of typists to whom we dictated our notes. Once transcribed, the transcript came back to me for proofreading, then back to the typist for corrections.
I wanted to move to Portland, Oregon for a better life with my new bride. In 1978, I obtained an official court reporting position in the town of Hillsboro. In Hillsboro, I was the official reporter AND the typing pool. I did it all myself. It was difficult. Try typing a four-day trial for the Court of Appeals in 30 days while more trials are coming down the pike each day.
Back to Detroit in the early ’90s, I worked for my cousin again.
The transcript load was very heavy. I often worked nights and weekends. But I was a family man, had small kids, and family came first. Even if I had to turn a job down, make the boss/cousin angry, so be it.
It’s all about priorities. You can make $100,000 a year, but if your kids don’t know who you are and you don’t know who they are or what they are doing, forget about it. Who is happy? My grown-up kids and I have the best relationship today. So much so that I and my wife have moved to Kalamazoo to be with our children and grandchildren. They actually wanted us here.
Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, Michigan, are great places to live and work. I am enamored with both places. I began working with O’Brien and Bails the first of this year and have had a great experience so far with all of our clients.
Over the years, much has changed in court reporting. The computer has been such a great tool for us to produce transcripts. The reporters at O’Brien and Bails and the staff are very interested in staying on top of all the changes going on in the field.
To find out more about the field of court reporting, you might be interested in our recent blog post “What Does a Court Reporter Do?”