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Archive for May, 2019

Will AI Fix the Court Reporter Shortage in the Future

Posted on: May 27th, 2019 by Dependable Website Management No Comments
technology

Artificial intelligence is making inroads in the legal profession.

There is a question that must be pondered. Will AI (Artificial Intelligence) fix the court reporter shortage in the near future? The innovation of AI applied to legal transcriptions should result in an updated version of the invaluable profession of court reporting. The second question is, is this a good thing?

Court reporters are the silent force that drives the court system efficiency, from local levels all the way to federal levels.

Their typing speed, which is unrivaled, meets the courts’ needs for transcripts on all proceedings. The average court reporter types 225 words a minute. That is three times as fast as a regular typist and five times the speed of an average one.

 

Finding those capable of reaching the needed skill level has been difficult. Due to a variety of reasons as we have highlighted before in previous stories, the court system is facing a shortage of court reporters. And this forces the courts to slow down as a result. A National Court Reporter Association (NCRA) report estimated that there is a current shortage of 5,000 court reporters in the United States. The industry is used to employing 32,000 court reporters. This means that 16% of the workforce has been wiped out without being replaced.

But machine learning and AI (artificial intelligence) can step in and fill that gap. AI and voice recognition are improving to the point that they can transcribe the courtroom dialogue in real time. AI transcription has the potential to rescue court systems from their chronic backlogs by filling in the gaps where there aren’t enough court reporters present. SOunds pretty amazing, right?

 

Why the Shortage

The court reporter shortage has been having a significant negative impact on the productivity of the court system. What causes are behind the shortage?

The effects of the shortage create issues in civil, criminal and family courts across the country. Without proper transcription that these court reporters bring, proceedings cannot move forward in a timely manner.

One silver lining for those who are able to meet the challenge in a smaller pool of trained stenographers means qualified reporters are able to demand higher salaries thanks to the scarcity of their skills. But this increases both courts’ costs and time spent on negotiations.

What is AI’s Potential

AI-driven technology has the potential to completely transform the court system’s court reporter struggles. Some states have already gotten started. Those states are Alaska, Indiana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Utah, and Vermont. They all use audio digital recording in all or most of their general court sessions, while many other states are close to catching up with those states. Here’s how it might affect several different elements of what courts already struggle with amid the court reporter shortage.

What is Ahead

While all of these benefits are exciting, it’s important to note that skilled professionals are indispensable as monitors of that technology. Just as court reporters went from handwritten transcription to stenotype machines, they now must learn to adapt to AI-enabled transcription and voice recognition software.

This advanced technology is driving the transition from court reporter to court “technologist”. Human judgment is impossible to replicate, so a skilled individual who is an expert at managing a wide array of court technologies and ensuring that they function properly is still sure to be in high demand going forward.

The adoption of these emerging technologies disproves the idea that courts are conservative when it comes to tech. While human court reporters will remain an integral part of the process, by teaming up with technology, humans can offer long-lasting benefits for the whole court system. Being open to transcription technology (which is coming like it or not) is a natural next step courts can take to improve their operations.

 

This is why you need the services of CourtScribes.com. They are ready to serve you in your court reporting, videography services, interpreters, live-streaming, and video-to-text synchronization.

Although the majority of cities that offer CourtScribes’ services are in Florida, the company home base, other cities all across these United States that CourtScribes offers services in, are the following: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Port St. Lucie, Fort Lauderdale, Cape Coral, Coral Springs, Clearwater, Palm Bay, Fort Myers, Weston, Sarasota, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Hialeah, Stuart, Hollywood, Naples, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Jupiter, Key West, Coral Gables, Maryland, Manhattan, Buffalo, Washington DC, Baltimore, Bowie, Virginia, Frederick, Albany, New York, Brooklyn,  Westchester, Gaithersberg, and Rockville.

Why Choose CourtScribes

Posted on: May 20th, 2019 by Dependable Website Management No Comments

If you have a need for court services, you might want to look into contacting CourtScribes. Why choose CourtScribes? Well, to start, they are the number one court reporting agency in Florida, and they deliver both a complete range of standard court reporting services as well as advanced, high-value services. This includes services that are not available from other court reporting companies.

In addition to the certified transcript, CourtScribes provides live & on-demand video streaming of trial proceedings for enhanced trial team support. CourtScribes covers trials, depositions, arbitrations, mediations and hearings.

 

Free Professional Legal Videography

Videography can be expensive. Typically, even more expensive than the actual court reporting. No matter how complex your case, you can expect a perfect video recording of your proceeding at no additional cost.

 

Expect Perfection with CourtScribes

CourtScribes understands how crucial it is to create a verbatim record. We pride ourselves in creating a completely accurate, verbatim transcript no matter how difficult the environment. With our unique and powerful, industry-leading technology, you can expect nothing less than total perfection.

 

Our Private Online Repository

With CourtScribes’ Private Online Repository, you are able to access all of your transcripts, exhibits and videos no matter where you are. Whether it be by phone, tablet, or PC, you can access all of your transcripts, exhibits, and on-demand videos sorted by each individual case. How about that for convenience? We want to make things as easy and connected as possible.

 

CourtScribes.com is ready to serve you right now in your court reporting, videography services, interpreters, live-streaming, and video-to-text synchronization.

 

Although the majority of cities that offer CourtScribes’ services are in Florida, the company home base, other cities all across these United States that CourtScribes offers services in, are the following: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Port St. Lucie, Fort Lauderdale, Cape Coral, Coral Springs, Clearwater, Palm Bay, Fort Myers, Weston, Sarasota, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Hialeah, Stuart, Hollywood, Naples, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Jupiter, Key West, Coral Gables, Maryland, Manhattan, Buffalo, Washington DC, Baltimore, Bowie, Virginia, Frederick, Albany, New York, Brooklyn,  Westchester, Gaithersberg, and Rockville.

 

Illinois Court Reporter Lobbies Lawmakers

Posted on: May 13th, 2019 by Dependable Website Management No Comments
kim_cottrell_photo

Illinois court reporter Kim Cottrell with Senator Tammy Duckworth.

Great news for the court reporting world is coming out of Illinois. A certified shorthand reporter with the Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit was in Washington last week advocating for the court reporting profession at the National Court Reporter Association’s 2019 Leadership and Legislative Boot Camp.

 

Kim Cottrell, who has worked in the Eighth Circuit for two years, met with staffers from U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood and Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin. It was a fruitful meeting.

 

“My experience at Boot Camp was life changing,” Cottrell said. “It gave me the confidence to continue to advocate for court reporting in any arena; particularly, its superiority over electronic recording in our state courts.”

 

What Did She Do

While meeting with congressional staffers, Cottrell, a member of the Illinois Court Reporters Association Board of Director, urged the lawmakers to support the reauthorization of the Training for Realtime Writers grants under the Higher Education Act enacted in 2009.

 

The legislation created a grant program to train realtime writers to provide both captioned information and communication access for 30 million Americans who are deaf and hard of hearing. Programs established with past grants also aided working reporters in learning and polishing realtime skills.

The National Court Reporters Association represents stenographic court reporters, captioners, and legal videographers. And boy are we thankful for them and their representation.

 

What Did the Boot Camp Provide

The Boot Camp provided sessions on politics and grassroots lobbying, effective press communications and what to expect when visiting lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Other session provided mock hearings and tips for promoting the profession to consumer groups, as well as how to testify before legislators.

This is something that can only help the court reporting industry which can use any help it can get. We have shown in previous posts here at CourtScribes.com that there is a dire shortage of reporters out there.

CourtScribes.com is ready to serve you in your court reporting, videography services, interpreters, live-streaming, and video-to-text synchronization.

 

Although the majority of cities that offer CourtScribes’ services are in Florida, the company home base, other cities all across these United States that CourtScribes offers services in, are the following: Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Port St. Lucie, Fort Lauderdale, Cape Coral, Coral Springs, Clearwater, Palm Bay, Fort Myers, Weston, Sarasota, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Hialeah, Stuart, Hollywood, Naples, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Jupiter, Key West, Coral Gables, Maryland, Manhattan, Buffalo, Washington DC, Baltimore, Bowie, Virginia, Frederick, Albany, New York, Brooklyn,  Westchester, Gaithersberg, and Rockville.

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