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| Court Reporting Agencies - Deposition Reporters |
| 06.07.04 (8:26 am) [edit] |
Court Reporters, Medical Transcriptionists, and Stenographers
Nature of the Work | Working Conditions | Employment | Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement | Job Outlook | Earnings | Related Occupations | Sources of Additional Information
Significant Points
A high school diploma is sufficient for stenographers; employers prefer medical transcriptionists who have completed a vocational school or community college program; and court reporters usually need a 2- or 4-year postsecondary school degree.
Overall employment is projected to grow about as fast as the average, as rapid growth among medical transcriptionists is offset by the decline among stenographers.
Because of their relatively high salaries, keen competition should exist for court reporter positions; certified court reporters and medical transcriptionists should enjoy the best job prospects.
Nature of the Work [About this section] Index
Although court reporters, medical transcriptionists, and stenographers all transcribe spoken words, the specific responsibilities of each of these workers differ markedly. Court reporters and stenographers typically take verbatim reports of speeches, conversations, legal proceedings, meetings, and other events when written accounts of spoken words are necessary for correspondence, records, or legal proof. Medical transcriptionists, on the other hand, translate and edit recorded dictation by physicians and other healthcare providers regarding patient assessment and treatment.
Court reporters document all statements made in official proceedings using a stenotype machine, which allows them to press multiple keys at a time to record combinations of letters representing sounds, words, or phrases. These symbols are then recorded on computer disks or CD-ROM, which are then translated and displayed as text in a process called computer-aided transcription. Stenotype machines used for real-time captioning are linked directly to the computer. As the reporter keys in the symbols, they instantly appear as text on the screen. This is used for closed captioning for the hearing-impaired on television, or in courts, classrooms, or meetings. In all of these cases, accuracy is crucial because there is only one person creating an official transcript.
Although many court reporters record official proceedings in the courtroom, the majority of court reporters work outside the courtroom. Freelance reporters, for example, take depositions for attorneys in offices and document proceedings of meetings, conventions, and other private activities. Others capture the proceedings in government agencies of all levels, from the U.S. Congress to State and local governing bodies. Court reporters who specialize in captioning live television programming, commonly known as stenocaptioners, work for television networks or cable stations captioning news, emergency broadcasts, sporting events, and other programming.
Medical transcriptionists use headsets and transcribing machines to listen to recordings by physicians and other healthcare professionals. These workers transcribe a variety of medical reports about emergency room visits, diagnostic imaging studies, operations, chart reviews, and final summaries. To understand and accurately transcribe dictated reports into a format that is clear and comprehensible for the reader, the medical transcriptionist must understand the language of medicine, anatomy and physiology, diagnostic procedures, and treatment. They also must be able to translate medical jargon and abbreviations into their expanded forms. After reviewing and editing for grammar and clarity, the medical transcriptionist transcribes the dictated reports and returns them in either printed or electronic form to the dictator for review and signature, or correction. These reports eventually become a part of the patients permanent file. (Medical secretaries, who are discussed in the Handbook statement on secretaries, may also transcribe as part of their jobs.)
Stenographers take dictation and then transcribe their notes on a word processor or onto a computer diskette. They may take dictation using either shorthand or a stenotype machine, which prints shorthand symbols. General stenographers, including most beginners, take routine dictation and perform other office tasks such as typing, filing, answering telephones, and operating office machines. Experienced and highly skilled stenographers often supervise other stenographers, typists, and clerical workers and take more difficult dictation. For example, skilled stenographers may attend staff meetings and provide word-for-word records or summary reports of the proceedings to the participants. Some experienced stenographers take dictation in foreign languages; others work as public stenographers serving traveling business people and others. Technical stenographers must know the medical, legal, engineering, or scientific terminology used in a particular profession.
Working Conditions [About this section] Index
The majority of these workers are employed in comfortable settings. Court reporters, for example, work in the offices of attorneys, courtrooms, legislatures, and conventions. Medical transcriptionists are found in hospitals, doctors offices, or medical transcription services. Stenographers usually work in clean, well-lighted offices. An increasing number of court reporters and medical transcriptionists work from home-based offices as subcontractors for law firms, hospitals, and transcription services.
Work in these occupations presents few hazards, although sitting in the same position for long periods can be tiring, and workers can suffer wrist, back, neck, or eye problems due to strain and risk repetitive motion injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, the pressure to be accurate and fast can also be stressful.
Many court reporters, medical transcriptionists, and stenographers work a standard 40-hour week, although about 1 in 4 works part time. A substantial number of court reporters and medical transcriptionists are self-employed, which may result in irregular working hours.
Employment [About this section] Index
Court reporters, medical transcriptionists, and stenographers held about 110,000 jobs in 1998. More than 1 in 4 were self-employed. Of those who worked for a wage or salary, about one-third worked for State and local governments, a reflection of the large number of court reporters working in courts, legislatures, and various agencies. About 1 in 4 worked for hospitals and physicians offices, reflecting the concentration of medical transcriptionists in health services. Other transcriptionists, stenographers, and court reporters worked for colleges and universities, secretarial and court reporting services, temporary help supply services, and law firms.
Training, Other Qualifications, & Advancement [About this section] Index
The training for each of the three occupations varies significantly. Court reporters usually complete a 2- or 4-year training program, offered by about 300 postsecondary vocational and technical schools and colleges. Currently, the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) has approved about 110 programs, all of which offer courses in computer-aided transcription and real-time reporting. NCRA-approved programs require students to capture 225 words per minute. Court reporters in the Federal Government usually must capture at least 205 words a minute.
Some States require court reporters to be Notary Publics, or to be a Certified Court Reporter (CCR); reporters must pass a State certification test administered by a board of examiners to earn this designation. The National Court Reporters Association confers the designation, Registered Professional Reporter (RPR), upon those who pass a two-part examination and participate in continuing education programs. Although voluntary, the RPR designation is recognized as a mark of distinction in this field.
For medical transcriptionist positions, understanding medical terminology is essential. Good English grammar and punctuation skills are required, as well as familiarity with personal computers and word processing software. Good listening skills are also necessary, because some doctors and health care professionals speak English as a second language.
Employers prefer to hire transcriptionists who have completed postsecondary training in medical transcription, offered by many vocational schools and community colleges. Completion of a 2-year associate degree programincluding coursework in anatomy, medical terminology, medicolegal issues, and English grammar and punctuationis highly recommended. Many of these programs include supervised on-the-job experience. The American Association for Medical Transcription awards the voluntary designation, Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT), to those who earn passing scores on written and practical examinations. As in many other fields, certification is recognized as a sign of competence in medical transcription.
Stenographic skills are taught in high schools, vocational schools, community colleges, and proprietary business schools. For stenographer jobs, employers prefer to hire high school graduates and seldom have a preference among the many different shorthand methods. Although requirements vary in private firms, applicants with the best speed and accuracy usually receive first consideration in hiring. To qualify for jobs in the Federal Government, stenographers must be able to take dictation at a minimum of 80 words per minute and type at least 40 words per minute. Workers must achieve higher rates to advance to more responsible positions.
Stenographers, especially those with strong interpersonal and communication skills may advance to secretarial positions with more responsibilities. In addition, some stenographers complete the necessary education to become court reporters or medical transcriptionists.
Job Outlook [About this section] Index
Overall employment of court reporters, medical transcriptionists, and stenographers is projected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2008. Employment growth among medical transcriptionists should be offset by the decline among stenographers, while the number of court reporters should remain fairly constant.
Demand for medical transcriptionists is expected to increase due to rapid growth in health care industries spurred by a growing and aging population. Advancements in voice recognition technology are not projected to reduce the need for medical transcriptionists because these workers will continue to be needed to review and edit drafts for accuracy. Moreover, growing numbers of medical transcriptionists will be needed to amend patients records, edit for grammar, and discover discrepancies in medical records. Job opportunities should be the best for those who earn an associate degree or certification from the American Association for Medical Transcription.
There should be little or no change in employment of court reporters. Despite increasing numbers of civil and criminal cases, budget constraints limit the ability of Federal, State, and local courts to expand. The growing number of conventions, conferences, depositions, seminars, and similar meetings in which proceedings are recorded should create limited demand for court reporters. Although many of these events are videotaped, a written transcript must still be created for legal purposes or if the proceedings are to be published. In addition, the trend to provide instantaneous written captions for the deaf and hearing-impaired should strengthen demand for stenocaptioners. Because of their relatively high salaries, keen competition should exist for court reporter positions; those with certification should enjoy the best job prospects.
The widespread use of dictation machines has greatly reduced the need for office stenographers. Audio recording equipment and the use of personal computers by managers and other professionals should continue to further decrease the demand for these workers.
Earnings [About this section] Index
Court reporters, medical transcriptionists, and stenographers had median annual earnings of $25,430 in 1998. The middle 50 percent earned between $21,060 and $31,470; the lowest paid 10 percent earned less than $17,060; and the highest paid 10 percent earned over $39,070. Median 1997 annual salaries in the industries employing the largest number of these workers were:
Local government, except education and hospitals $29,300
State government, except education and hospitals 29,000
Mailing, reproduction, and stenographic services 28,600
Hospitals 23,500
Offices and clinics of medical doctors 22,600
Court reporters usually earn higher salaries than stenographers or medical transcriptionists, and many supplement their income by doing additional freelance work. According to a National Court Reporters Association survey of its members, average annual earnings for court reporters were about $54,000 in 1999. According to the 1999 HayGroup survey about three-quarters of healthcare institutions paid their medical transcriptionists for time worked, with average salaries ranging from $20,000 to $30,000 annually. About a fifth of those respondents used a combination of payment methods (time worked plus incentive for production), with average salaries ranging from $28,000 to $36,000 annually. Regardless of specialty, earnings depend on education, experience, and geographic location.
Related Occupations [About this section] Index
A number of other workers type, record information, and process paperwork. Among these are administrative assistants, bookkeepers, receptionists, secretaries, and human resource clerks. Other workers who provide medical and legal support include paralegals, medical assistants, and medical record technicians.
Sources of Additional Information [About this section] Index
Disclaimer: Links to other Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.
For information about careers, training, and certification in court reporting, contact:
National Court Reporters Association, 8224 Old Courthouse Rd., Vienna, VA 22182. Internet: http://www.verbatimreporters....
For information on a career as a medical transcriptionist, contact:
American Association for Medical Transcription, P.O. Box 576187, Modesto, CA 95357. Internet: http://www.aamt.org/aamt
For information on a career as a federal court reporter, contact:
United States Court Reporters Association, 1904 Marvel Lane, Liberty, MO 64068. Internet: http://www.uscra.org
State employment service offices can provide information about job openings for court reporters, medical transcriptionists, and stenographers.
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| Realtime Court Reporting |
| 06.04.04 (10:20 pm) [edit] |
Understanding Realtime Court Reporting
By lrene RenniIIo
Real time. We hear it touted as the latest indispensable technological advancement in the litigation arena. But what does it really mean to you?
‘Realtime” means getting useful information to lawyers in the present moment or instantly. In court reporting, it is the instant translation of stenography into English by means of a computer. Realtime demands the highest level of professional skill from the court reporter.
Virtually all court reporting professionals today use Computer-Aided Transcription or “CAT.” They write to a computerized machine, utilizing industry-specific software for translating stenographic symbols into English.
The reporter’s key strokes are translated against the reporter’s personal dictionary, an elaborate definitional database of the reporter’s specific stenographic style. It follows that reporters with more developed writing skills and dictionaries produce the most accurate realtime transcripts.
But how do you decide when to use realtime and what you need to make it work flawlessly? Certainly, most litigators do not have the time (or the desire) to become computer gurus. An understanding of some key, helpful hints makes the difference:
In order to display the realtime transcript, realtime reporters write to their laptop computers at the time of the deposition or hearing. This enables the attorney to access the draft of the transcript from the reporter’s laptop to verify questions, instantly read back, confirm previous testimony, or obtain a rough disk of the deposition. If this is all you need, make sure you have a qualified reporter who always writes to a laptop.
While realtime allows the transcript to appear in the reporter’s laptop, interactive realtime goes one step further. Interactive realtime enables the attorney to instantly access the record in his or her own laptop. This is where the true challenge for the attorney begins. The reporter must have appropriate cabling and software knowledge in order to correctly “send” the realtime feed to the attorney’s laptop. This part of the equation lies exclusively within the reporter’s responsibility. For their part, the attorney must have at least a passing familiarity with Windows-based computer operations and specific transcript management soft ware to accept the text.
The attorney must have transcript management software such as Livenote, Summation, E-Binder or CaseView to access interactive realtime. This software should be loaded on the attorney’s laptop well in advance of the deposition. Note that such soft ware is incredibly useful in non-realtime, to store, outline and annotate transcripts. Realtime only connotes that it can be used “live.”
The attorney should have at least completed the tutorial offered with the software.
Finally, it is a great idea to get your reporter or reporting firm to offer limited practice realtime sessions to give the attorney a level of comfort before utilizing the realtime software. Each realtime transcript management software has its individual quirks, and any experienced agency should be able to give you the benefit of its practical experience.
Now that you’ve gotten the practical aspects out of the way, why do you need to use interactive realtime?
1. Instant verification of the transcript. The best laid questioning of the litigating professional falls on deaf ears unless it is captured in the transcript of the court reporter.
2. Instant verification of the spoken word: Ever review a transcript and feel the testimony is not as strong as you remember? The written word is different than the spoken word. Realtime allows you to con firm how the testimony will read after the “heat” of the deposition is over.
3. Instant clarification of pending questions: Visual access to the questions eliminates counsel debates over the wording or meaning of pending questions.
4. Instant access to transcript: Immediate access to the unedited transcript allows for preparation for the next witness or scheduled hearings.
5. Instant cost savings: Draft transcripts are available at a slight surcharge versus the full expedition cost of same day certified transcript.
6. Instant ability to store, search and digest transcript: All interactive realtime software contains features which enable the attorney to earmark text or tag portions of text with key words or topic headings. The transcript can be searched, annotated and digested, at the time of the deposition or at a later time, via this software.
7. Instant access to trial transcript: Probably the greatest potential for realtime is for viewing trial testimony as it happens. It has demonstrated its usefulness since its introduction in the courtroom of the Honorable Kate O’Malley so as to make it an indispensable feature of the new federal courthouse.
For most of today’s litigators, transcript management software is an indispensable transcript management tool. It serves as a fluid mechanism to conveniently and efficiently store, search and digest transcript. When the case merits, for reasons outlined, its realtime features allow for an instant advantage for the computer literate legal profession. As we will be seeing more and more of realtime, the time has truly come for litigators to take the time to learn the technology.
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| Court Reporting Agencies - Deposition Reporters |
| 06.03.04 (9:51 pm) [edit] |
Thanks to Leg@l Langu@ge dot com for the following info:
Q. How can I become a U.S. based Court Reporter?
A. In order to become a Court Reporter, you must first pass the Court Reporting Exams. When deciding where you want to conduct your training, you should be aware that only about a third of the 300 schools and colleges that offer court reporting are accredited by the National Court Reporters Association, one of whose requirements is to teach computer-aided transcription. If you believe that you can pass the exams by studying on your own, then a degree from one of these institutions is helpful, but not required.
There may be some additional requirements you must meet. Some states require Court Reporters to pass additional state-specific certification tests, such as the Certified Court Reporter (CCR) test or the Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) two-part exam. In addition, court reporters must also be notary publics in a few states.
The federal government stipulates that court reporters transcribe at least 175 words per minute to qualify for employment. Typically, private firms require a minimum of 225 words per minute.
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Q. What is the advantage to becoming Registered Professional Reporter (RPR)?
A. The Registered Professional Reporter (RPR) program is the only nationally recognized certification program that establishes your competence as a reporter. It is generally regarded that the first phase in becoming a court reporter.
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Q. What is the RPR Exam?
A. NCRA administers the RPR Exam twice annually at over 100 sites across the U.S. and other selected locations--the first Saturday in May and the first Saturday in November.
To become an RPR, you must be able to produce a high-quality verbatim record. There are two parts to the examination –Written Knowledge Test and a Skills Test. The Written Knowledge Test is a 100-question, multiple-choice test that focuses on four areas--reporting (48%), transcript production (44%), operating practices (4%), and professional issues and continuing education (4%). You get 90 minutes to complete this section of the exam. A passing score is 70% or better.
The Skills Test challenges you with 15 minutes of dictation--five minutes each of literary matter at 180 wpm, jury charge at 200 wpm, and testimony/Q&A at 225 wpm. After the dictation, you get 3 and 1/2 hours to transcribe your notes. You must transcribe each section with 95% accuracy to pass.
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Q. What is the advantage to becoming a Registered Merit Reporter?
A. With your RMR, your peers and clients will recognize you as one of the top court reporters in the country. Your RMR gives you more opportunities for challenging and lucrative job assignments. Becoming a RMR is generally seen as a level of achievement worthy of a higher salary and more recognition.
You must be an RPR with membership dues paid in full to take the Skills Test. You must meet the following eligibility requirements to take the RMR Written Knowledge Test (WKT):
§ Be an RPR for three (3) consecutive years, OR
§ Be an RPR and an NCRA member for four (4) consecutive years, OR
§ Be an RPR and have been a practicing reporter for six (6)
consecutive years, OR
§ Be an RPR and hold a bachelor's degree.
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Q. What is the RMR Exam?
A. The RMR Exam consists of a 100-question Written Knowledge Test (WKT) that focuses on four areas of knowledge--reporting (47%), transcript production (41%), administration (6%), and professional issues and
continuing education (6%). You must score a minimum of 70% to pass the WKT.
To earn your RMR, you'll also have to pass three sections of a skills test that evaluates you in three areas--Literary at 200 wpm, Jury Charge at 240 wpm, and Testimony/Q&A at 260 wpm. After dictation, you have 75 minutes to transcribe your notes from each leg. You must have 95% accuracy on each leg to pass.
You do not have to pass all sections of the exam at one sitting. As long as you maintain your NCRA membership, you will retain credit for the sections passed. There is no time limit for earning the RMR.
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Q. What does the Registered Diplomat Reporter (RDR) certification signify?
A. The RDR is the highest level of certification available to court reporters. This certification program was developed to allow high-level, seasoned reporters to distinguish themselves as members of the profession's elite.
To qualify for the 100-question, multiple choice RDR Exam, you must be acurrent member of NCRA and meet ONE of the following requirements:
§ Have five consecutive years of experience as an RMR or,
§ Be an RMR and hold a four-year baccalaureate degree or,
§ Be an RMR with two or more NCRA specialty certifications -- CLVS, CRI, MCRI, CRRSM, CMRS, or CPE.
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Q. What is the RDR Exam?
A. The RDR Exam consists of a 100-question, multiple-choice Written Knowledge Test (WKT) that focuses on six areas--reporting (35%), transcript production (27%), management (11%), education (10%), marketing (8%), and
professional issues (9%). You must score 70% or better to pass the exam.
The exam is designed to test your knowledge and experience. There is a study guide available; however, NCRA recommends you also be familiar with new reporting technology, NCRA policies and guidelines, and articles published in the Journal of Court Reporting to prepare for the exam.
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Q. What is the Certified Reporting Instructor program?
A. The CRI certification program was designed to recognize that excellence in teaching is a composite of many traits, skills, and knowledge. The program addresses the needs of those instructors who have professional certification and professional experience in the court reporting field and the needs of those instructors who have extensive formal education in pedagogy.
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Q. What is a Master Certified Reporting Instructor (MCRI)?
A. A Master Certified Reporting Instructor (MCRI) is someone who has received the highest honor the court reporting education profession has to bestow. MCRI certification is a badge of merit, declaring that an instructor is highly accomplished, having met rigorous professional teaching standards by completing a multi-phase, performance-based assessment process.
Instructors are recognized for their knowledge of court reporting, understanding of learning processes, demonstrated classroom expertise, and contributions to the profession. Master Certified Reporting Instructors
serve as role models and spokespeople for court reporting education.
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Q. What is the significance of the Certified Legal Video Specialist (CLVS) certification?
A. The CLVS certifies that you are adept in the use of video in the legal environment, familiar with courtroom video and video deposition techniques as a legal video experts.
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Q. What is the Certified Manager of Reporting Services (CMRS) Program?
A. The Certified Manager of Reporting Services (CMRS) Program instructs you in the operations of a court reporting business and the supervision of reporters. It teaches you to meet budgets and prepare marketing plans, and it prepares you to cope with the ever changing environment of Court Reporting.
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Q. What are the advantages of becoming a Certified Realtime Reporter (CRR)?
A. Certified Realtime Reporters developed because of the advantages of the growing number of opportunities becoming available to realtime reporters. As one of the top national programs that certifies your ability in realtime, attaining the CRRSM designation commands instant respect and the immediate attention of potential employers, proving that you're on the cutting edge.
You must be a member in good standing of NCRA and a current RPR to register for the CRR.
The CRR Exam consists of three steps:
1. Setting up and operating your equipment
2. Accurately writing realtime for five minutes from professionally recorded straight matter ranging in speed from 180-200 words per minute.
3. Converting your file to an ASCII text file. You are only graded on your final submitted text file.
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Q. What are some of the technologies that are having a direct effect on the court reporting marketplace today?
A. In recent years, technology has begun to have a major effect on court reporting. To stay up-to-date, a court reporter must be familiar with Interactive Realtime Reporting, Videoconferencing, Internet Communications and Encrypted E-mail Services
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Q. What is Interactive Realtime Reporting?
Realtime Reporting is the instantaneous display of testimony on computer screens. Court reporters report and translate deposition testimony, simultaneously transmitting what's said to laptop computers, computer monitors or large projections screens situated throughout the deposition suite. Realtime transcripts can also be printed at the same time that the deposition is taking place.
Taking this advanced technology one step further, Interactive Realtime Reporting connects the attorneys to the reporter's computer, allowing them to receive realtime testimony on their own notebook computer and the ability to utilize interactive realtime software functions.
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Q. What advantages are available to court reporters on the Internet?
A. In order to stay competitive, court reporters, like nearly every other service provider today, must become familiar with the Internet. The Internet offers a number of advantages to court reporters:
Research. There is no more cost-efficient, expansive or rapid research tool than the Internet. Research is an integral part of court reporting, especially when dealing with expert witnesses and obscure words or facts. With the Internet there is direct access to thousands of dictionaries, encyclopedias and experts worldwide, plus the ability to communicate with your colleagues, any time, any day.
Communications. It is estimated that within the next few years, 98 percent of U.S. businesses and 82 percent of the adult (over 18) population will have one or more e-mail addresses. Everything from scheduling a deposition, confirmation, the deposition itself, remote participation by attorneys using realtime, transcript preparation and its accompanying research, delivery, billing, payment and collections will involve the Internet.
Advertising. Some websites, such as Legal Language Services, provides a highly visible, cost-effective, convenient platform from which reporting firms, large and small, can establish their professional presence on the Internet and advertise their services to the world.
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Q. What is Discovery ZX?
A. Discovery ZX a full-text search and retrieval annotation and report-generation software, enabling the client to search for key words and phrases across select transcripts or an entire database of up to 999 individual transcripts. The compilation of a database of expert and trial testimony is an invaluable tool that can be utilized by litigators.
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Q. What is LiveNote?
A. LiveNote transforms the inefficient and costly task of analyzing testimony into a proficient and economical resource. LiveNote incorporates a simple to use Windows (3.x, 95, 98, NT) interface, high performance features and a program that will accept all standard ASCII files including those received during a realtime reported proceeding and integration of video testimony linked and searchable to the testimony.
LiveNote is specifically designed to enable attorneys to view, mark, annotate, search text and generate reports while on-line to the reporter as well as off-line anytime, anyplace.
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Q. What is CaseView?
A. CaseView's CIC technology gives courtroom and deposition participants instant access to current and past testimony. As the reporter's steno notes are being translated to English on the CAT (Computer Aided Transcription) system, the text is instantly transmitted to one or more CaseView systems. CaseVeiw provides an on-line, unedited transcript to all users, including those connected via modem at off-site locations.
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Q. What is the function of a scopist?
A. A scopist receives a rough transcription of a proceeding, usually along with audiotapes and underlying documents, such as exhibits which were discussed during the proceeding. A scopist uses these resources, as well as their inherent understanding and experience, to produce a clean transcript for the reporter.
A scopist may help maintain a reporter's dictionary by making "global" entries in the software. A reporter may make a typo, or write something several different ways, or may take new terminology, and none of this will exist in their dictionary. As a scopist edits a transcript, they either replace bad strokes with the correct record, or they "define" these strokes on the computer by making a "global," or global search and replace. This tells the computer to add this stroke or combination of strokes to the dictionary, as well as maintaining the clarity throughout the transcript. This drastically speeds up the reporter's work and the scopist's work. A good scopist should be fairly fluent with machine shorthand in order to accomplish their task.
Note that while a scopist should produce the cleanest possible transcript, they are not responsible for the final product. For example, if there are names that cannot be looked up, the scopist marks it in the transcript and the reporter must make a final determination.
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Q. Why do court reporters use scopists?
A. First of all, working with a scopist allows the reporter to take more work and have a faster turnaround time. More importantly, by building a relationship with a scopist, a reporter can enjoy some other advantages.
By working together, a scopist and reporter can quickly and continually build on a dictionary for CAT/realtime. Also, with a scopist, there are two sets of eyes searching for spelling errors, typos and other mistakes.
Also, by using a scopist, a reporter can avoid repetitive use injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
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Q. What steps must be taken when swearing in the witness and the Interpreter?
A. You must first swear in the interpreter, and then swear in the witness through the interpreter.
At the beginning of the transcript, you’ll need to indicate the witness’s name as usual, but also the fact that the succeeding pages were translated through an interpreter “duly sworn to translate English to _____ and ______ to English,” or words to that effect.
Just make sure the record adequately reflects the fact that 1) an interpreter was used, 2) the interpreter was placed under oath, and 3) the witness was placed under oath. Your Appearance Page should also reflect the interpreter’s name in an “Also Present” section.
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Q. How is the interpreted word transcribed?
A. Your transcript will look “normal,” that is, with Q’s and A’s and colloquy between speakers, etc. The only exception to this is if the interpreter speaks “for himself.” When the interpreter is making a statement for himself, “The Interpreter” is used as an indication, rather than Q or A.
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Q. How should the transcript look if the interpreter does not use the first person?
A. A trained interpreter, such as those employed by Legal Language Services, will know to use the first person when interpreting a witness’s testimony; that is, s/he is interpreting and repeating back the words exactly as they are conveyed to him/her. When receiving an answer, s/he should answer in the first person as if he were the witness speaking the words. If the interpreter doesn’t do this and uses the third person instead, you need to transcribe that as words from the interpreter.
To make matters worse, sometimes the witness will have enough English to understand some of what is said and jump in with the English answer without waiting for the interpreter. You will need to be ready to write what the witness says, whether it’s spoken through the interpreter or with his own mouth. The transcript will be the same.
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| Court Reporters / Stenographers Nationwide!! |
| 06.03.04 (3:59 pm) [edit] |
Schedule Court Reporters and Stenographers Nationwide...
Thank you for visiting our court reporting blog site. If you would like information on court reporting or stenography in general, just follow the links above and to the right.
If you need to schedule a court reporter for a deposition, arbitration, public meeting or hearing then call us at 800-830-8885 or schedule online by going to http://www.depobook.org.
Depobook Court Reporting Services is premiere full-service court reporting agency offering nationwide coverage of your deposition needs. Our vast network of court reporters and stenographers are available to assist you wherever your litigation may take you.
Thanks again for visiting us!
The Staff @ Depobook.com
Court reporters and Stenographers are available in the following cities:
Albuquerque, N.M.
Atlanta, Ga.
Austin, Tex.
Baltimore, Md.
Boston, Mass.
Charlotte, N.C.
Chicago, Ill.
Cleveland, Ohio
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Columbus, Ohio
Dallas, Tex.
Denver, Colo.
Detroit, Mich.
El Paso, Tex.
Fort Worth, Tex.
Fresno, Calif.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Houston, Tex.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Jacksonville, Fla.
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Las Vegas, Nev.
Long Beach, Calif.
Los Angeles, Calif.
Memphis, Tenn.
Mesa, Ariz.
Miami, Fla.
Milwaukee, Wis.
Minneapolis, Minn.
Nashville-Davidson, Tenn.
New Orleans, La.
New York, N.Y.
Oakland, Calif.
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Omaha, Neb.
Philadelphia, Pa.
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