The judicial system in America is relying on court reporters. They are the professionals that are maintaining integrity when it comes to judicial processes.
They are the guardians of official records in everything from courtroom proceedings to pre-trial depositions. State regulations may differ slightly, but in this article, you’ll find the general requirements for becoming a court reporter.
Court Reporter Licensing
Court reporters (frequently referred to as shorthand reporters or stenographers) are professionals that ensure that every spoken word and gesture is recorded in a court proceeding. They are responsible for producing accurate transcripts.
They are often labeled “guardians of the records” and they need to be reliable, responsible, and impartial. They need to have enjoyed the proper educated and their training and certification make that they will perform their job and duties responsibly.
The employment and earnings potential of these professionals is outstanding, so it may come as no surprise that many students pursue a career in the interesting field of stenography and court reporting. and stenography.
Before they can start their court reporter careers, though, they need to complete a pretty comprehensive court reporting study program and, in most states, they are required to meet strict regulations for certification and/or licensure. You don’t require a college degree, though. Just your court reporter course!
Job Description
The tasks of court reporters or shorthand reporters are to keep written records of all sorts of legal proceedings, whether in private, court, or government settings. The exact transcript (verbatim) in documentation in civil, criminal, or any other court proceedings usually involves stenography. and is requiring a dedicated professional who is highly skilled and optimally educated in court reporting stenography.
But there are more options for well-trained court reporters. They can additionally find great professional career options in the world of webcasting, real-time or closed captioning services, or CART (Communications Access Real-time Reporting).
All these opportunities require optimally developed professional stenographic skills, and Voice Writing (involving recording voice on a computer that translates the spoken words to written transcripts) is one more important professional field for court reporters.
Court reporters usually work in these settings
Court reporting (judicial) – This involves record taking of court proceedings, administrative hearings, and depositions. This can be done by a professional employed by the court or by a freelancer. The job may include both voice writing and stenograph court reporting.
Closed captioning (broadcast) – This job usually involves working with local or national news and talk shows, sports broadcast companies, and helping local or national television stations or movie studios with their transcripts.
CART (Communications Access Real-time Reporting) – This field requires the stenographer to provide specialized service to hard-of-hearing or deaf individuals in live situations. They may be working in lectures, civic events, college classrooms, speeches, religious services, cultural events, or seminars
Real-time captioning – In these cases, they’ll be working to provide real-time captioning for sports events, television broadcasts, weather channels, news or disasters/emergency situations, or some other live television event.
Webcasting – This involves real-time report services for a number of online events like press conferences, corporate sales meetings, training seminars, or product introductions.
Court Reporter Requirements
In general, court reporters need to have proficient knowledge of the practices, principles, techniques, and methods of court shorthand writing. They must understand legal and clerical recordkeeping procedures and practices. They must also have a profound understanding of legal, medical, or any other related terminology, grammar rules, and have a well-rounded notion of vocabulary, advanced spelling, and punctuation practices and rules of the English language
Court reporters need to be able to work with a stenograph machine at least 200 words per minute and they must also be able to read back verbatim, work independently, and perform all required legal clerical work that comes with the job with high accuracy and in a speedy manner.
Additionally, they need to be able to remain seated and keep their concentration for longer time frames, understand and follow written and oral directions, communicate both orally and in writing effectively, and be able to work in good relations with supervisors, coworkers, and the public in general. It goes without saying that they must have the ability to operate various transcription machines, audio equipment, printers, and computer terminals.