Choosing a Court Reporter
Stenographic court reporters are the most technologically
advanced individuals in courtrooms and deposition suites across the country.
While the sales pitch offered by digital recording and transcription companies
tout their method as the “evolution” of court reporting, litigators and
litigants should not be misled by unsubstantiated and overstated promises on
price, quality and reliability. The fact is, electronic and digital audio
recording can produce an adequate record, but these recording systems do not
uniformly produce an accurate record. Transcripts from recordings can be riddled
with inaudible statements, speakers can be incorrectly identified, recordings
are easily lost or misplaced, and oftentimes, the equipment fails or the
operators forget to turn it on, leading to entire proceedings not being recorded.
Today’s stenographic reporters are digital in every aspect,
capturing the instant voice-to text record on several redundant hard drives and
in a secure cloud server, along with a backup audio record. Digital reporting,
or more accurately, digital recording, is merely transcription after the fact,
and audio recording is hardly new or high-tech. When a transcript is needed, a
single stenographic court reporter can provide, with more efficiency, what it takes
four or five digital transcriptionists to produce using a standard QWERTY keyboard.
The Unreliability of Recordings
Attorneys practicing in Jefferson County courts in 2010 painfully remember
when the digital audio recording equipment caused hundreds of hearings to be lost
because the system failed to record any sound. The failures in Jefferson County that
spanned at least a three-month period are not isolated occurrences. Headlines across
the nation speak to the countless failures and shortcomings of these systems.
Jurisdictions in New Mexico, New Jersey, Texas, among others, are returning to
stenographic reporting in their courtrooms due to failures in their expensive
audio recording systems.
Experience Matters: Hire a Certified Court Reporter
Now that the practice of digital recording is making its way
into deposition suites, attorneys and litigants should be forewarned that the
only requirement for digital recorders working in the freelance market is a
short few hours of training and filling out an application to obtain a notary
public designation. No formalized education is required, and thus, digital
recording personnel may have little to no experience in producing a written
transcript. Knowledge, experience, reliability, technology and ethics
distinguish stenographic reporters because of the extensive training needed to
learn and master their craft. Stenographic reporters are required to attend a
two- to four-year academic program that specializes in all aspects of capturing
live proceedings and memorializing them accurately in writing with an additional
focus on proper procedure and professional ethics. Additional on-the-job
training and real world experience is provided to reporters after
graduation.
Certified court reporters are also required to attend continuing education to update
their knowledge and keep up with ever-changing technology and are tested for speed,
accuracy and knowledge base through rigorous academic and performance testing.
A Court Reporter Controls the Proceedings. Court reporters interrupt for a reason: to ensure an accurate, usable record.
Q. Is it true that stenographic reporters cannot record--
A. No. The truth is--
Q. — multiple speakers--
A. — that when more than one--
Q: — simultaneously?
A. — person is talking at the same time, it makes for a terrible
record, no matter who prepares it?
If the example above is lost in translation, a practical bit of advice for creating
a record is that, if the highly-skilled stenographic reporter is having difficulty
preserving the record, attorneys, paralegals, the judge and the jury will have
difficulty absorbing it.
Did the witness say Kotex or cold checks? Thecal sac or
fecal sac? Your bank fraud or medical malpractice case in the hands of an
inexperienced digital reporter can be devastating. A thecal sac is a
membrane surrounding the nerves in the spine. A fecal sac is literally a sack
of…well, check out the definition of fecal.
Your cases matter to you and, most importantly, they matter to
your clients. Depositions and trials are not dress rehearsals, and digital
recording comes with many risks. Witnesses may be unavailable for trial,
deceased, or testimony may be changed if the original testimony is unavailable
due to poor quality of recordings or recording failures. Stenographic reporters
assure that the record is verifiable as it happens, not after the fact.
You get what you pay for. There is a saying that perfectly
parallels this issue: “Cheap, fast, or good. Pick two.” Accuracy, efficiency and
quality are the most important things to consider when deciding to use a
stenographic court reporter or an audio recording device for your deposition
work—not the empty promise of the savings of a few cents per page. Stenographic
court reporters provide an accurate and timely record, and ensure that the
integrity assured by the legal system is maintained. On the other hand, by
utilizing poorly trained individuals who rely on nothing more than audio
devices, it is not a matter of if, but of when there will be a problem with the
transcript.
advanced individuals in courtrooms and deposition suites across the country.
While the sales pitch offered by digital recording and transcription companies
tout their method as the “evolution” of court reporting, litigators and
litigants should not be misled by unsubstantiated and overstated promises on
price, quality and reliability. The fact is, electronic and digital audio
recording can produce an adequate record, but these recording systems do not
uniformly produce an accurate record. Transcripts from recordings can be riddled
with inaudible statements, speakers can be incorrectly identified, recordings
are easily lost or misplaced, and oftentimes, the equipment fails or the
operators forget to turn it on, leading to entire proceedings not being recorded.
Today’s stenographic reporters are digital in every aspect,
capturing the instant voice-to text record on several redundant hard drives and
in a secure cloud server, along with a backup audio record. Digital reporting,
or more accurately, digital recording, is merely transcription after the fact,
and audio recording is hardly new or high-tech. When a transcript is needed, a
single stenographic court reporter can provide, with more efficiency, what it takes
four or five digital transcriptionists to produce using a standard QWERTY keyboard.
The Unreliability of Recordings
Attorneys practicing in Jefferson County courts in 2010 painfully remember
when the digital audio recording equipment caused hundreds of hearings to be lost
because the system failed to record any sound. The failures in Jefferson County that
spanned at least a three-month period are not isolated occurrences. Headlines across
the nation speak to the countless failures and shortcomings of these systems.
Jurisdictions in New Mexico, New Jersey, Texas, among others, are returning to
stenographic reporting in their courtrooms due to failures in their expensive
audio recording systems.
Experience Matters: Hire a Certified Court Reporter
Now that the practice of digital recording is making its way
into deposition suites, attorneys and litigants should be forewarned that the
only requirement for digital recorders working in the freelance market is a
short few hours of training and filling out an application to obtain a notary
public designation. No formalized education is required, and thus, digital
recording personnel may have little to no experience in producing a written
transcript. Knowledge, experience, reliability, technology and ethics
distinguish stenographic reporters because of the extensive training needed to
learn and master their craft. Stenographic reporters are required to attend a
two- to four-year academic program that specializes in all aspects of capturing
live proceedings and memorializing them accurately in writing with an additional
focus on proper procedure and professional ethics. Additional on-the-job
training and real world experience is provided to reporters after
graduation.
Certified court reporters are also required to attend continuing education to update
their knowledge and keep up with ever-changing technology and are tested for speed,
accuracy and knowledge base through rigorous academic and performance testing.
A Court Reporter Controls the Proceedings. Court reporters interrupt for a reason: to ensure an accurate, usable record.
Q. Is it true that stenographic reporters cannot record--
A. No. The truth is--
Q. — multiple speakers--
A. — that when more than one--
Q: — simultaneously?
A. — person is talking at the same time, it makes for a terrible
record, no matter who prepares it?
If the example above is lost in translation, a practical bit of advice for creating
a record is that, if the highly-skilled stenographic reporter is having difficulty
preserving the record, attorneys, paralegals, the judge and the jury will have
difficulty absorbing it.
Did the witness say Kotex or cold checks? Thecal sac or
fecal sac? Your bank fraud or medical malpractice case in the hands of an
inexperienced digital reporter can be devastating. A thecal sac is a
membrane surrounding the nerves in the spine. A fecal sac is literally a sack
of…well, check out the definition of fecal.
Your cases matter to you and, most importantly, they matter to
your clients. Depositions and trials are not dress rehearsals, and digital
recording comes with many risks. Witnesses may be unavailable for trial,
deceased, or testimony may be changed if the original testimony is unavailable
due to poor quality of recordings or recording failures. Stenographic reporters
assure that the record is verifiable as it happens, not after the fact.
You get what you pay for. There is a saying that perfectly
parallels this issue: “Cheap, fast, or good. Pick two.” Accuracy, efficiency and
quality are the most important things to consider when deciding to use a
stenographic court reporter or an audio recording device for your deposition
work—not the empty promise of the savings of a few cents per page. Stenographic
court reporters provide an accurate and timely record, and ensure that the
integrity assured by the legal system is maintained. On the other hand, by
utilizing poorly trained individuals who rely on nothing more than audio
devices, it is not a matter of if, but of when there will be a problem with the
transcript.