FAQs

Webster’s New College Dictionary defines it best: a person whose job is to produce a verbatim record of the oral remarks and statements, esp. testimony, presented at a court trial, deposition, etc.

A court reporter uses a stenotype machine to “write” in shorthand each spoken word in a proceeding.  As the words are taken down in shorthand, a software program converts the words into English to produce a transcript.  Following the proceedings, the testimony is carefully edited and proofread before being released as an official transcript.

Generally not.  Court reporters that work in court are actually employees of the State. 

Mostly law firms.  The large majority of the work that we do involves the discovery process.  This is the information gathering part of a lawsuit.  Most of this is achieved through the taking of depositions which are scheduled by lawyers.  Court reporters are also hired to take down proceedings at hearings, meetings and conventions, among other things.

One of the many challenges of managing a court reporting agency is the ever-changing schedule.  Depositions cancel and/or reschedule all the time, often less than 24 hours before they are to take place.  The number of reporters needed on any given day changes constantly.  It is our job to make sure that we always have a reporter available when needed. 

Yes!  Thanks to technology, it doesn’t matter if the reporter lives five miles away or a thousand miles away.  Let us take care of your out-of-state needs so you can continue to access all of your files from the same online repository.

Court reporting services are typically billed by the page as opposed to by the hour.  One hour of questioning and testimony can produce very different page counts due to various factors.  Some people speak really slowly while others talk very fast.  There may be one or more breaks that take up time as well.  These factors can’t be determined ahead of time.  We do our best to provide accurate estimates but, until the job is over, we never know exactly what the invoice will be.

Transcription FAQs

Transcription is the translation of recorded audio into text.

Transcription is done after the proceedings are over, using some form of recorded media. Court reporting takes place at the same time as the proceedings. A transcriptionist is able to slow down, start, stop, rewind and fast forward through an audio file. A court reporter takes down what is said as it takes place.

Almost anything!  Question and answer interviews, hearings, meetings, conventions, trials, mock jury events, novels and textbooks to name a few.

Our rates are very competitive and vary based on many factors.  Turnaround time, technical terminology, format requirements, etc.  We are happy to provide estimates for any project, large or small.