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You knit while you watch TV, listen to books on tape while you drive to work, and catch up on emails while you wait in your doctor’s office. You’re never “doing something,” you’re doing several things—you’re probably even making lists in your [...]

You’ve been told how important it is to stay calm in your deposition sessions, but it’s almost impossible for you to follow that advice. So much is riding on what you say, and you’ve never been in this situation before. How can you be sure not [...]

Many law firms hire freelance court reporters who do not have much experience, usually because their rates are significantly cheaper that those of well-seasoned reporters. If they are certified, novice court reporters can still do a fantastic [...]

Stenographers Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Interrupt Court Proceedings It’s happened dozens of times: you’re sitting in court, taking down the record, and the prosecuting attorney is leaning into his line of questioning when he dramatically drops his [...]

When it comes to audio dictation, the applications for a law firm are nearly limitless. Dictating your case notes and depositions for later transcription by a third party gives you the benefit of free time, all the while allowing you keep your [...]

It’s not your fault you’ve been a homebody lately. Work has been insanely busy lately, and you just haven’t had a minute to yourself—let alone a whole day to catch up with friends. But it’s time to ask yourself: how long has it been since you [...]

It’s almost unbelievable to think that you could lose everything because of one simple mistake. Your medical license, your job at George Washington hospital, the income that you and your family depend on—all of your livelihood depends on your [...]

You did it. You sat through two straight hours of deposition questioning, and you can finally get up and stretch your legs. After a bathroom break, you see your attorney in the hallway, and walk over to him to ask how it’s going—but he stops you [...]

When you’re making hiring decisions, all you really want is the best person for the job. You don’t really care about race or gender; you want someone who will consistently do good work. But there may be a reason all of your best candidates [...]

Lost Transcripts Among the Major Problems of Freelance Court Reporters After over a decade of taking depositions and appearing in front of a judge, you have mixed feelings when it comes to hiring freelance court reporters. Basically, it’s a hit [...]

Many federal courtrooms nationwide have been making the switch to simply recording digital audio of court proceedings rather than use the services of a live court reporter. While this may eliminate the cost of hiring competent reporters, the [...]

Everyone has taken that phone call from a client: the buzzing noise in the audio feed, the children yelling in the background, the sounds of wind and traffic whooshing past the window. You know that all people lead busy lives, and it can be hard [...]

No. While all court reporters must go through a training program, there are currently no certification requirements or professional licensing requirements needed to work as a freelance court reporter in D.C. As you can imagine, this means that [...]

As a plaintiff representative, you may have used video depositions in the past to record the nature and degree of your client’s suffering. While video testimony is an excellent tool for putting your client at ease and making him more sympathetic [...]

How to Get Nonverbal Actions Onto the Court Transcript With Minimal Interruption The attorney hands his witness a piece of paper. “Which car were you driving?” he asks. “This one,” the witness responds, pointing at the paper. “Thank you,” [...]

Many employers opt to use online meeting software when their whole team isn’t available to meet onsite. However, these calls can easily become routine and boring—especially if it’s always the same two or three people giving their [...]

Are You a Perfectionist? Your Health and Career as a Court Reporter May Suffer You don’t really take offense when people call you a workaholic. After all, you’re a court reporter in D.C.—entire cases rely on your taking your job seriously. But [...]

You’ve been preparing for your day in court for months now, and the day is finally here. You’ve been warned by your attorney to stay calm and respectful in court, and to repeat your testimony as accurately as you can. But you’re still nervous [...]

All attorneys remember that one client, that one prosecutor, that one records clerk who made their lives unbearable for weeks on end. While dealing with difficult people is one of your strengths, you cannot abide when people are unable to [...]

While most people would argue that outsourcing court reporting duties hurts the local economy, the truth is that the damage can produce effects far beyond the local level. Availability and competition for court reporting jobs in D.C. and [...]