Tips on Becoming a Court Reporter

So you want to be a court reporter?

Let's talk salary (or commission, training, and real-life working conditions)!

I have been a practicing court reporter for the past 12 years, and I'm writing this to hopefully answer a few questions you may have regarding this dynamic and challenging career. I will tell you from my experience what it's like, both the good and the bad, and hopefully, you will have a better insight into this potentially lucrative and exciting profession.

I will say right off the bat that the most important aspect of this business is considering the kind of education you will get to prepare you for this career. There are excellent court reporting schools and educational resources, and if you plan to make this a lifelong career, then you need a very solid educational training background from the beginning.

You hear a lot of people say, "Court reporters make a lot of money!" What a lot of money is could mean something different to different people. There are reporters who are smarter and earn more, and then there are ones who make even less working part-time.

How is that compensation broken down? I'm going to use an average page rate, and this can vary in different parts of the country. Agency commissions also vary, but here is a general guideline. Your commission rate will also vary but it's usually somewhere in the neighborhood of 65 to 80 percent of the billing. The first charge to the "taking" attorney is an appearance fee for your time. Let's say this is $75. The taking attorney is also charged for the production of the original transcript. This would be $4 per page. If the attorney on the other side orders a copy of the transcript, then his billing rate would be $2. In broad, general terms, you can estimate about 40 pages per hour of testimony, depending on the pace of the deposition. If you have a two-hour deposition, then you can estimate 80 pages. You are with an agency that pays you 75 percent of the billing. Therefore, you would get $56.25 for an appearance fee. The total billing for the transcript (both attorneys ordered a copy, so $6 total) would be $480. Your 75 percent fee for that would be $360. With the appearance fee and the transcript fee, you would make approximately $416.25. You need also to remember that you have time and expense involved with typing and proofing, scoping, paper and binding supplies, making exhibits, and delivery. The point is, that this is a time-intensive job, and if you're busy you will probably work harder than you ever have in your life.

There are two types of methods of court reporting. The first one is called the stenotype reporter. Stenotype reporters use what is called a stenotype machine to record the deposition or trial court record. Train as a stenotype reporter requires much dedication and discipline to master this art. In order to become proficient in this method, you will need to attend a top-notch, two- or four-year program in an accredited school located in the U.S. There are many good schools available that prepare you for this career. You have probably seen on TV the man or woman in the courtroom "typing" on the stenotype machine. Looking closely at these actors you can see that they are basically not trained reporters as their method is just that, typing. In our profession, we do not type on the machine, we "stroke the keys." This means that the appropriate keys are pressed at one time to form a word or phrase and not "typed." You will learn in school that there are many common phrases in the legal profession that you can stroke and will print out in your transcript as phrases. These keystrokes are called "briefs," and are quite a time-saver. Time and speed are critical to your success as a court reporter. In fact, you must be able to become proficient enough to master 225 words per minute on your machine. While training in court reporting school, you will be taught proper English, grammar, medical terminology and speed building on your stenotype machine. Speed building is the hardest thing to learn and takes many, many hours of concentrated practice to reach the appropriate speed goals.

The other method of court reporting is called the steno mask method. This is basically using a "silencer mask" in which you dictate verbatim into a recording machine everything that is said in the proceeding. This method can be learned a lot faster than that of a stenotype reporter and you can be out working in the field a lot quicker than four years. Some states and areas of the country do not recognize this method of court reporting, so be sure to check out your state and its requirements.

The advantages of becoming a stenotype reporter are that after the procedure you are reporting, you basically have a "rough draft" of the record on your disk that you can plug into your computer and simply "scope" or edit. This is a huge time and money saver for you. A steno mask reporter is required to have the transcript typed and then proofed. You can figure for every hour of testimony, it will take you about three hours to produce a transcript.

In our area, the turnaround time for a transcript is usually two weeks. Depending on your workload, the length of the transcript, and the complexity of the transcript, even two weeks can be a push. If you are working for a high-volume agency, you will be out reporting from two to four days a week, and somewhere in that two weeks, you're going to have to set aside time to either type, proof or scope this transcript. Late nights are common, along with working weekends. I have found that my most productive time is Sunday mornings when it's quiet, the phone is not ringing and I have undisturbed time to concentrate.

In our profession, accuracy is critical. When proofing a transcript and you're tired, it's very easy to overlook errors. For instance, one time I sent out a transcript saying, "The fax of the case," versus "The facts of the case." These kinds of errors are really unacceptable and I should have caught that. An error like that can change the whole context of the testimony and you're responsible. In the real world, you can also be subpoenaed into court over one word in a transcript. This has only happened to me one time. I received a subpoena in a case that was a year old, and the disputed word was the word "can." It went something like this:

Question: "Can you name all the subcontractors on the job?"
Answer: "I can."
Question: "Then would you please name them?"
Answer: "XYZ Painting, ABC Plumbing." (real names not used for this illustration)

The witness claimed that he actually said the word "can't," but then went on to name the contractors. The attorney thought he said "can," I thought he said "can," and my scoper thought he said "can." However, I did receive a subpoena two weeks before Christmas ordering me to court on January 3rd with all notes, tapes, and documents I possessed to defend the transcript. And no, this wasn't my best Christmas ever with that hanging over my head. Fortunately, they settled the case about an hour before it was to go on trial.

As to correcting errors in a transcript, the witness is also given the opportunity to review the transcript and check for any errors before you seal the original transcript for court. The witness is sent an errata sheet and signature page to sign, and that is returned to you to include in the original. A copy of the errata sheet and signature page is sent to each attorney involved for their transcript. The witness, though, is allowed to waive this right, and in my experience, most do.