Key To Six Figure Court Reporting

If you fascinated by the law, but don’t necessarily have the patience to go through years of law school, you might consider a career as a court reporter.  This is a position of great responsibility, since it involves accurate documentation of spoken words during legal proceedings and preparation of the transcripts of those statements.

Court reporters are primarily tasked to chronicle legal proceedings, meetings, conversations, and other events verbatim. They have the responsibility to ensure that complete, accurate and secure written accounts of spoken words are transcribed and filed in case these will be needed for correspondence, records, or legal proof.

Interestingly enough, less than 30% of court reporters in the U.S. work in courtrooms.  Most of them are hired by lawyers to record the depositions of witnesses before trials.  A number of them are employed by television and cable stations.  This only goes to show that there is more variety to the job than you might have thought.

In addition to being present at hearings and trials, court reporters are responsible for recording depositions, interrogatories, and various other legal proceedings.  In some cases, they are also tasked to assist judges and trial attorneys in different ways including research and organization of information needed in an official record, participation in discussions and planning regarding courtroom administration and procedures.

Court reporter’s career is not just restricted to legal and court proceedings.  With the social conscious awareness of providing adequate services to the disabled community, the need to provide closed-captioning and real-time translating services to the hearing-impaired has spread to other fields.  Notable of which are television and cable networks which require assistance in captioning news, emergency broadcasts, sporting events, and other programming that caters to the community with hearing disability.

A court reporter plays a very critical role not only in judicial proceedings, but also at every event where the spoken word must be preserved as a written transcript. As this is the case, the accuracy and speed needed for this meticulous job must be top-rated. As a court reporter, you must have excellent listening skills, detail-oriented attitude and possess excellent concentration skills.  You must also demonstrate a high degree of accuracy in your work on top of your proficiency in the English language particularly grammar, vocabulary and punctuation skills.
  
The ability to keenly observe what is happening around you (i.e. being able to identify the person talking; capability to describe peripheral activities while accurately transcribing someone’s speech) will be a great plus to your career as a court reporter.  Adeptness in the use of any stenographic equipment will even bolster your career.

Training for court reporting depends on the nature of court reporting you want to engage in. The shortest possible training will take less than a year; on the average, most type requires about 33 months training on the average. Training involves completing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree program which can run for two to four years. 

In the course of this training, you’ll learn legal terms, criminal procedures, and transcription techniques.  Most employers also require certification to ensure that their court reporters are highly proficient.  In some states, court reporters must also be authorized notary publics.  A court reporter can also earn the title “registered professional reporter” by passing a rigorous exam and undergoing continuing education programs offered by the National Court Reporters Association.   

Although most employers will not require this, to be a top-rate court reporter you must voluntarily undergo State licensure examinations administered by a board of examiners and enroll in the mandatory continuing education program the certification requires. 

Given the huge volume of job openings that continue to outnumber jobseekers, the opportunity for court reporters are favorable and in high demand. The compensation method vary with the type of reporting job, the experience of the individual as well as the certification achieved and the region where you will be employed.

Normally, court reporters earn salaries as well as receive a per-page fee for transcription work.  The median annual earning of a regular local government court reporter is around US$42,920.00 to US$80,300.00 so the assurance of six figure income is good --- especially once they factor in lucrative freelance assignments.