Description: Court Reporters are in charge of transcribing various speeches and dialogues using a transcription or stenography machine. Such events where a court reporter might be present are speeches, legal proceedings, meetings, and other conversations where the dialogue must be copied verbatim and printed into booklet form. The things that are said in these proceedings need to be recorded for the purposes of keeping accounts, creating legal proof, and filing records. A court reporter is critical to all legal proceedings and legal meetings.
A secure legal record is created from what the court reporter transcribes, and that’s why perfection and accuracy are of the utmost importance. The information contained in a transcript is considered a legal record and used to verify information and take testimony either in or out of a court of law. The vast majority of court reporters record information with stenographic technology. The stenotype machine is like a typewriter with multiple keys that abbreviate the standard alphabet for faster typing. Multiple keys are pressed at a time to record whole sounds and phrases.
The recorded code is then translated into readable text using the CAT transcription. Real-time court reporting hooks the steno machine to a computer that automatically translates the code into text. This is the case with captioning for television and the like.
To be a successful court reporter, you must be very good with your manual dexterity and verbal skills. Having a background in typing, playing a keyboard or other kinds of manual tasks may help you to learn the steno machine. It takes a great deal of time and patience to learn to become a successful and accurate court reporter.
Statistics: Court Reporting is in high demand, and employment is set to grow about 25% in the next 8 years. The need for accurate transcripts in court proceedings and live captioning on television will continue to be in high demand.
Training: Depending upon the kind of reporting one wants to pursue, there are various different training programs that will take from 1 to 2 years. It generally takes a student 33 months to train as a real time stenographer, as the typing skill must be practiced proficiently until mastery. There are a number of vocational schools and community colleges that teach this skill, certified by the National Court Reporters Association. To be certified, you must be able to capture 225 words per minute.
Salary: Court reporters on average earned about $45,610 per year in 2006. This number ranges from $33,160 to $61,530 in the majority of cases. Again, this will depend upon whether you work for a government agency or private firm, as well as whether you freelance or work for a company.
