Introduction to Court Reporting

As an introduction, let me explain a little bit about what Court Reporting is all about.

Computer Shorthand is a method of writing an alphabetic, phonetic-based shorthand on a steno machine.  The notes that are written appear on a paper tape, are stored on a disk for translation by a computer, or can be instantaneously transcribed by the reporter using the latest computer technology.

Computer shorthand is used by court reporters who take notes or at depositions, in colleges, Fortune 500 Companies, and many, many other areas of law, and then use CAT (Computer-Aided Transcription) equipment to prepare the transcripts, or they hire people called scopists to edit and prepare the transcripts for them.  There are also realtime reporters who are linked directly to a computer and their notes are translated instantaneously for all viewers, such as you might see on television known as Closed Captioning.

Advancements in Realtime reporting also enable the reporter to edit the text as well, the same as any word-processing operator would.  This technology is being used for the hearing impaired and to provide jobs for reporters in the colleges, and fields of medical, legal and general business.

The Expanding Role of Court Reporting

Controversial and highly publicized cases - - millionaire divorces, federal government corruption trials and lawsuits against everyone from heavy metal groups to public figures to embezzlers - - are bringing the justice system into America's living rooms.  At the center of it all with the attorneys, judges, witnesses and litigants are court reporters, who not only record history, but also contribute to it through technological breakthroughs.

Court reporters provide transcripts not only to the judge and counsel, but also to international media and now to the public via the Internet.  They serve as information managers - - taking down everything said in court, capturing pretrial witness depositions, providing computer technology that keeps all parties working at a swift pace and utilizing sophisticated analytical software that helps counsel understand the significance of each day's events.

However, court reporters are breaking out beyond their traditional roles . . . working at weddings, doctor offices, football games, classrooms, churches, television stations . . . these are all new domains for the professionals who formerly worked exclusively in the courtroom or deposition suite.  The ever-expanding technology and capabilities of court reporters enable them to work as captioning experts, scopists, cyber-conference moderators, legal/medical transcriptionists, rapid data entry operators or individuals or groups representing persons with hearing or vision loss.

Captioning

Deaf or hard-of-hearing persons can see what is said in court through realtime translation.  Realtime technology allows court reporters to instantly convert their stenographic notes into English text.  The text is then displayed on computer monitors or projection screens for viewing by larger groups.  This technology has been provided in courtrooms around the country to assist judges, attorneys, litigants and witnesses, and is the nucleus of the computerized courtrooms that have been permanently installed throughout the country.  Court reporters using similar systems provide captions of live television programs for hard-of-hearing viewers, working directly for specific television or cable stations, capturing news, emergency broadcasts, sports events and other programs.  Court reporters additionally caption corporate and political conventions as well as gubernatorial and presidential addresses so the words can appear on both large projections screens for the live audience and be broadcast onto television screens.

Introduction to Court Reporting continued. . 

Cyber-Conferencing

Court reporters can additionally capture meetings, press conferences, product introductions and technical training seminars and instantly transmit them to all parties involved via computers.  As participants speak into telephones or microphones, the words appear on everyone's computers, accompanied by any relevant documents or graphics.

Unlike speech recognition systems that have high error rates and are unable to comprehend multiple speakers - - this is the court reporters' forte - - court reporters can accurately write at speeds in excess of 200 words per minute and differentiate between multiple speakers.  In addition, the technology enables participants to receive text via Internet, an online service or their own intranet, all without any special hardware or even if utilizing a notebook computer with slow modem connections.

Scoping

Scopists work for court reporters and can be seen as the equivalent of law clerks who work for attorneys.  Generally, scopists are utilized by court reporters to edit and proofread transcripts while court reporters are working in court or taking a deposition.

The scopist takes a rough copy of the proceeding - - whether it is on disk, has been sent as an e-mail file or is simultaneously displayed on a computer connected to the court reporter's machine - - and reads the stenograph-to-English translation to check for and correct any "mistranslates", such as homonyms or other words, including proper names or technical terms that were not in the court reporters' computer dictionary.

Transcriptionists

Legal or medical transcriptionists work with material that is not taken as it is spoken, but rather dictated onto audio cassettes or dictation systems at speeds slower than 225 words per minute.  The transcriber plays back the material and transcribes it into text for medical or legal reports.  Persons with court reporter skills, a computerized stenograph system and speed faster than typists can enter the material more rapidly and with higher accuracy than non-steno transcribers.

Additional Roles

Many court reporters also work with deaf or hard-of-hearing students, captioning high school and college classes and then providing a transcript at the end of the session.  They also work with persons who are learning English as a second language.  Other persons with court reporter training work in medical clinics, taking down doctor-patient conversations.  Still others work in law firms reporting case intake matters as they come into the office.  Some persons with reporter training even work as rapid data entry specialists, executive secretaries or editors.

People from all walks of life depend on court reporters to capture the events of today for the benefit of tomorrow.  The role of court reporters continues to evolve - - from serving as information managers in complicated trials, to capturing depositions and business proceedings in digital format, to assisting millions of deaf and hard-of-hearing persons through advanced captioning technology.

Court reporters will continue to work within the legal community as it expands in the future, as well as develop their role as information processors and managers in the business and multi-media communities.

For Information Call:

The School of Court Reporting
Toll Free:  866-753-3664