How To Select A Court Reporter

 

When scheduling a deposition, hearing, conference, or any other meeting wherein capturing and preserving the spoken word is paramount, finding a qualified court reporter is arguably the most important decision to be made. It might seem like a daunting task, but it will be well worth the time invested.

Methods

Machine Writers
Many may be surprised to learn that there is more than one kind of court reporter. What generally comes to mind is a stenographic court reporter who takes down, in machine shorthand, every word of the proceeding.

People sometimes think this is an antiquated profession, but truly, machine shorthand reporters are at the forefront of technology. No longer does the machine writer “type” a transcript up from their shorthand notes. The modern machine reporter has an electronic stenograph machine connected to a laptop computer, and their software instantly translates their shorthand into English. A qualified machine reporter not only takes down every word that is spoken, but also has shorthand strokes for all punctuation and speaker designations, which are input contemporaneously with the proceedings. The best machine reporters also have strokes that give formatting commands to their computer, such as when to start a new paragraph, when to insert a parenthetical statement, etc.

Certifications of Machine Reporters

Almost all machine court reporters are required to be tested and receive yearly continuing education, allowing the hiring party to have confidence in their chosen reporter.

Many states across the country certify court reporters, and their designation is either CSR (Certified Shorthand Reporter) or CCR (Certified Court Reporter.) State testing is usually overseen by a board of court reporters, and each state has different requirements that must be met. Testing starts at writing a minimum of 200 words per minute.

The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) provides national-level certification for court reporters. Their lowest certification is the RPR, standing for Registered Professional Reporter. This test’s fastest speed is administered at 225 words per minute, and must be passed with 95 percent accuracy. There is also a written knowledge test, ensuring that reporters are knowledgeable about their field.

The NCRA’s next speed certification is the RMR, or Registered Merit Reporter. A reporter must maintain RPR status for three years, or meet certain other requirements before they can even apply for this test. The highest speed tested at this level is 260 words per minute, also requiring 95 percent accuracy in order to pass.

After maintaining certification with the NCRA for six years, reporters can obtain a Registered Diplomate Reporter (RDR) certification, which is the highest level of certification available to court reporters. Reporters are not tested on their machine speed for the RDR, but rather their knowledge of the industry. They must pass a 105-question, multiple-choice exam.

Many court reporters consider the CRR, or Certified Realtime Reporter test, to be the hardest. This is because there is no transcription or editing time allowed after this test. Reporters must attain 96% accuracy as they are writing. This includes punctuation, formatting, and everything needed for the transcript to be in final form. The goal of today’s court reporter should always be one of an accurate realtime writer. It is essential to the profession that clients be able to receive an instantaneous transcription. While it may not be in final form, it should be very close.

Voice Writers (Mask)

A stenograph machine is not the only way of capturing the spoken word. There is also what is called a voice writer. Voice writers wear a mask over their mouths, and they repeat, into the mask, what they hear. Realtime voice writers have software on their laptop computers that immediately translates the spoken word into English.

Certifications of Voice Writers

The national professional association for voice or mask writers is the National Verbatim Reporters Association (NVRA) , and they offer the following certifications: CVR or Certified Verbatim Reporter; CM, or Certificate of Merit; and RVR, or Real-time Verbatim Reporter.

The CVR certification is granted to those attending a workshop and successfully passing testing. Three five-minute dictations are given at 200, 225, and 250 words per minute, and 95 percent accuracy is required to pass successfully. Applicants are also given a written test to ensure knowledge of the profession.

Once an applicant passes the CVR, they are allowed to sit for the CM. This test consists of three five-minute tests dictated at 225, 250, and 300 words per minute. There is a 97 percent accuracy rate required in order to become certified.

In order to obtain the RVR certification, participants must pass one five-minute testimony dictation at 180 words per minute, or one five-minute literary dictation at 180 words per minute. In order to receive a passing score, testers must achieve 96 percent accuracy.

Members of the NVRA must obtain continuing education in order to maintain their certifications.

Fields

Official/Freelance
Most court reporters in the legal system are broken into two categories. There is the official court reporter and the freelance court reporter. Officials are usually government employees that are assigned to a certain court, district, or judge. They often receive the benefits of a state or federal job, which makes being an official an appealing choice. Some official court reporters are allowed to accept freelance jobs when they are not in the courtroom. This is often a practice of smaller jurisdictions with a lighter case load.

Freelance court reporters are most often self-employed, and they are either independent or affiliated with a reporting firm. Freelancers enjoy more freedom with their schedule, but most often, they have no employment benefits. Freelancing often involves quite a bit of travel time. Freelancers work in many different venues including depositions, council meetings, arbitrations, board meetings and grand juries, just to name a few. Some courts throughout the country also utilize freelance court reporters rather than hiring a full-time official.

Captioning
One type of realtime court reporter is what is called a captioner. Most people are unaware that when they turn on the closed captioning function of their television sets, that they are seeing the work of a captioner, or a court reporter using computer-aided translation to provide instantaneous text for the benefit of the hearing impaired.

Ethics
Court reporters are often officers of the court, but should always be unbiased guardians of the record. Especially in matters of litigation, all parties must be able to depend on the court reporter’s neutrality. That is why it is so important to hire a court reporter that adheres to codes of ethics. Any court reporters that participate in any of the following unethical practices should be avoided, and should also be reported to their licensing authority.

Contracting
It is often illegal, and always unethical, for court reporters to engage in “contracting” with any party. This neutrality allows parties to feel confident that the record is being preserved accurately and without prejudice.

Many law firms, insurance companies, etc., often want a court reporter or a court reporting firm to do all of their work for a special rate. But ethics demand that reporters refrain from accepting such an arrangement. Reporters may not offer any advantage to one party over another, regardless of who has retained their services.

Clent Gifting
It is often illegal, and always unethical, for court reporters to engage in “contracting” with any party. This neutrality allows parties to feel confident that the record is being preserved accurately and without prejudice.

Costs
Court reporting costs can vary, so hiring parties should be educated before entering into an agreement for services. Often, official, court transcripts are price fixed by statute, allowing the reporter to charge so much for a page of transcription. There are also often requirements stating the number of lines to a page (usually 25) and dictating the margins.

The freelance field is less regulated, although reporters want to keep their prices competitive, so the industry somewhat regulates itself. The freelance page rate is often higher than a court page rate because official court reporters have a salary from the governmental entity they work for to supplement their income.

Regardless of whether a party is working with a freelancer or an official, there are some fees, such as mailing and delivery costs, that a hiring party can expect to pay.

While a few court reporters charge their page rate and nothing else, most have extra charges. The old saying “you get what you pay for,” is applicable when selecting a court reporter. You don’t want to place the recording of an important event into the hands of a reporter who has not kept up with technology and who has not spent time and money receiving higher certifications and education. Therefore, one should be prepared to pay a higher rate for better quality work such as realtime, dirty ASCIIs, rush production, etc.

Here is a list of a few possible charges to be aware of:

• Appearance fees, waiting time, mileage, drive time, folder, paper & office charges, fee for use of conference rooms, videotape, ASCII, word index, condensed transcripts, teleconferencing, charges for technical or difficult subject matter, rough drafts.

Advance Preparation
To avoid problems later, as many issues as possible should be worked out between the client and the reporter before the date of service. As discussed in the section above, hiring parties should establish what services will be required, and what the reporter will charge for those services.

Court reporters can service their clients much better if they have been prepped on what their assignment will entail. When seeking a reporter’s services, the more information you give them, the better. Certainly, if a client wants anything other than the standard transcript and standard delivery, that should be established at the outset. For example: if the client requests a realtime hookup at the commencement of the deposition, the reporter may be unable to provide that service, as it requires additional equipment they might not have packed. Likewise, if the reporter doesn’t know in advance that overnight delivery is going to be required, scheduling conflicts may prevent that service.

Summary/Checklist
The following checklist would be helpful to print out and use every time you need to retain a court reporter’s services:

1. When scheduling, find out what court reporter will be assigned to handle the job. Confirm the court reporter’s certifications, experience, and ability to practice and administer oaths in the jurisdiction in which they will be working.
2. Also when scheduling, let any additional services you require be known. Even if all you want is an ASCII disk, this will ensure that you are hiring a reporter who can meet all of your needs.
3. Ask the page rate and the cost of any additional fees you will be required to pay. Some, but not all, reporters/firms keep a price list available to clients.
4. Give the reporter/firm any information you can about the job. If you have an estimated length, that is always helpful for scheduling.
5. Provide any documents that you have, or even create a word list, of any strange or technical terms you think the reporter might be unfamiliar with. If it’s a court case, email or fax a pleading or other document with the style or heading of the case and appearances. A list of speakers and spellings of names and businesses will be greatly appreciated, and will make your transcript more accurate.

Remember, a court reporter is a highly skilled professional. They work long hours and battle stressful deadlines. And even with enduring carpal tunnel, aching backs and strained necks, they still believe in and love what they do, and strive every moment to keep their work accurate and professional. The next time you see YOUR court reporter, tell him/her that you appreciate the necessary service they provide!