What Does a Court Reporter Do?



Posted: Thursday, November 20, 2008

by J. Charleston

In the criminal justice field, a career as a Court Reporter provides a wide range of job opportunities.  Court reporters record court proceedings, transcribe depositions and pretrial proceedings, business proceedings, provide closed-captioning, and real-time translation services to the deaf and hard-of hearing.

As a Judicial Court Reporter, they transcribe every spoken word and detail during court proceedings.  They prepare official transcripts for use by attorneys, judges, and litigants.  These transcripts are used as the official documentation of the events that took place during the hearing or trial.  The court reporter is responsible for certifying that what has been entered is accurate and true to the best of their ability, and is an account as to what took place before them. 

Judicial court reporters need excellent communication, organizational, and time management skills.  The ability to work in a high-pressure environment, and meet deadlines when necessary, is a requirement of the job.  You must be able to work quickly and accurately, as there is no room for errors.  The documents you prepare are the only account of the court proceedings and are vital to the credibility of the judicial system. 

Attorneys, corporations, and other entities hire freelance reporters when they have a need for accurate and complete records of things such as depositions, board of director meetings, stockholder minutes, or other legal proceedings.  These freelance reporters often work for agencies that act as clearinghouses, locating jobs for the reporters. 

Court reporters use a computer and a stenotype machine to do their job.  The stenotype allows the reporter to use a form of shorthand by using sounds of words to record the data.  The computer uses software called computer-aided transcription (CAD) to translate the information in English.  This data can then be edited, researched, transmitted, and stored until needed.

Court reporters are using more advanced technology to provide instant transcripts, on computer screens while the proceedings are in session.  This is called Communication Access Realtime Translation or CART, and is a great help for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in allowing them real time access to what is happening.

Another field of interest for the court reporter is Broadcast Captioners or Stenocaptioners.  Using the stenograph machine, they enter captions of live television programs for the deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.

With ever changing technology, court reporters need to keep up to date with their skills and knowledge.  This often requires additional training to maintain their certification. 

This challenging and dynamic career is versatile and offers you many varied job opportunities.

 


Court reporter careers can be highly profitable. Learn what it takes to get into a court reporter school from http://www.careertoolkits.com
 
This Article has been viewed 299 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.