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Archive for January, 2020

National Court Reporters Association Pushes Back Against Digital Reporting

Posted on: January 27th, 2020 by Dependable Website Management No Comments

It was only a matter of time, but a fight is brewing in the court reporting industry over the acceptance and accuracy of digital court reporters.  Now to be sure, nobody disagrees that there’s a critical shortage of court reporters in the United States. A recent report sponsored by the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) stressed that the dwindling supply of court reporters would lead to a nearly 5,500 shortfall in those positions by 2018.

It is now 2020, and that shortfall hasn’t improved, but NCRA president Roy “Max” Curry Jr. said digital reporters aren’t the solution.

The association noted the integrity and accuracy of a digital court reporter’s transcript “completely depends on the audio quality,” and that the audio files used are “outsourced” for transcription, which jeopardizes sensitive information. What’s more, the NCRA alleged there’s no standard or certification for digital reporters.

Despite the hesitancy toward digital court reporting, the NCRA isn’t against leveraging technology to deploy the limited amount of court reporters to more court and deposition proceedings.

What Did Curry Say

In fact, Curry said the NCRA supports leveraging video conferencing technology for court reporters to transcribe various proceedings remotely in one location. Curry said the NCRA agrees with remote transcribing with video conferencing because, unlike digital court reporting, it doesn’t solely rely on a court reporter transcribing prerecorded audio.

 

“It’s just too risky to go down the road of this [electronic recording] stuff in regard to record integrity,” Curry said. He added, “When digital media is altered it would take a digital expert to confirm it.”

However, many advocates for digital court reporters say the NCRA’s claims are faulty and misguided.

What Did Others Have to Say

Janet Harris, co-founder and president of the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers (AAERT) co-wrote a response letter to the NCRA’s flyer taking issue with the NCRA’s claims that digital court reporters lack certification and standards.

She pointed to AAERT’s electronic court reporter and electronic transcriber programs, and the association’s best practices guide, as examples of the certification and ongoing guidance it provides digital court reporters.

Digital legal record-keeping advocate Speech-to-Text Institute, which was also a co-writer of the NCRA response letter, also took issue with some of NCRA’s accusations.

 

“They have no basis to say that digital reporting with an actual digital reporter monitoring the system that ensures accuracy can deliver anything a stenographer can’t do, except for perhaps real-time translation to see texts of proceedings,” said Jim Cudahy, executive director of Speech-to-Text Institute and the former executive director of NCRA.

 

Harris also noted the AAERT’s best practices guide includes making multiple copies of audio and storing archives with the court, as a safeguard. She said the NCRA’s flyer might signify a fear of the technological unknown.

Finding a resolution to the growing court reporter shortage has grabbed the legal and tech industry’s attention as it is well known to be a serious issue.

For its part, Curry said the NCRA isn’t against court reporters leveraging advanced technology. In fact, he predicts as AI’s accuracy improves it will play a larger part in court reporters’ work for the better.

CourtScribes.com supports all states and programs that aid in the court reporting world, and we too 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.

Court Reporter Shortage Could Affect Trials in Texas

Posted on: January 20th, 2020 by Dependable Website Management No Comments

texas-flagAnother state, another shortage in court reporting being mentioned on this site. This time out of Texas. All across Texas, a shortage of court reporters has caused a Cherokee County judge, Chris Day, to pitch an idea to the Texas attorney general.

His idea is to have an electronic recorder in-lieu of an appointed court reporter if said court reporter is unavailable. This worries Smith County official court reporter, Kristy Crawford.

 

“If you have electronic reporting then you have an uncertified person pressing record on the tape recorder,” she said.

 

Currently Judge Day is three months without a court reporter and says that the goal of the recorder is not to replace a court reporter, but to have an alternative in case they’re unavailable.

Court reporters are sworn officers of the court and their role is to protect the integrity of the record. If any mistakes are made in an electronic recorder, 321st District Court Judge Robert Wilson says it’ll cost the county.

 

“You’ve already lost an important part of the record. The authenticity is questioned and what that creates fertile ground for an appeal. Which ends up costing a county lots of money or resources to retry a case,” he said.

 

According to the National Court Reporters Association, the average age of a court reporter is 53 years old. And many court reporters are now retiring and local schools are not offering classes to train their replacements. This is due to a lack of interest by younger society.

In the state a lot of people have retired and then there’s also the schooling situation. Schools have closed that provide court reporting programs, Cherokee County official Court Reporter Tena Argenbright said.

Some court reporters believe that going electronic is a step in the wrong direction.

“There’s been a problem with the audio recording. Either it wasn’t three or someone forgot to hit record after a recess…those things happen because there’s not someone with their license on the line charged with making that record,” Crawford said.

CourtScribes.com supports all states and programs that aid in the court reporting world, and we too 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.

 

Is Digital Court Reporting the Stenographer of the Future

Posted on: January 13th, 2020 by Dependable Website Management No Comments

Court reporters

Technological advancements in digital reporting and stenographer shortages are really beginning to impact the legal market in every region of the country.

This can be thought of as the point where a technology or method transitions into the mainstream market. In the case of court reporting, digital reporting is expanding from the courtroom into the deposition room.

Since depositions represent as much as two-thirds of the total court reporting market, this is a significant moment and number.

While digital reporting seems new to many in the legal market, it has been a standard part of courtroom infrastructure for years now. While it was introduced in the mid-90s, digital reporting is now operating in nearly all jurisdictions in the United States and much of the rest of the world.

Differences Between Digital Reporting and Standard Stenography

Stenography reporters, referred to as officials, operate in a very different manner from deposition reporters. While the foundational skills can be employed in both environments, the processes and daily activities are quite different. This is true for digital reporting as well. The technology is basically the same whether it is being used in the deposition room or the courtroom, but the business processes are very different.

Digital reporting in the courtroom incorporates multiple microphones recording into at least four separate channels of audio. The microphones are connected to a mixing device that is often integrated with the courtroom’s public address system. The recording solution is configured to capture multiple channels of audio to accommodate several speakers in a large, open space. The system can also be installed in the room permanently, allowing cables and hardware devices to be affixed to set locations and concealed.

In a deposition setting, the recording solution must be portable and easily configured. Both deposition and the courtroom reporting systems should be operated by qualified reporters who know their equipment and understand procedures.

The courtroom experience has proven that, when managed properly, digital reporting can provide highly accurate transcripts in a short time frame. Companies offering digital reporting of depositions must demonstrate the same success. As a buyer of deposition reporting services, you need to make sure that you are engaging professional firms that can provide quality service on a regular basis.

The courtroom offered a number of advantages for early technology providers. Court administrators were highly motivated by cost, which was a benefit digital recording delivered. Court administration still had to make sure that digital recording met the requirements of the judges and other courtroom participants, but they were happy to advocate for modified business processes to achieve the anticipated cost savings.

Because court administration usually had direct influence over the rule-making process that can often impede adoption, rule and statute changes could be pursued efficiently when needed. The deposition market presents a much less centralized decision-making process and thus some unique challenges.

Courts have only their own set of rules to manage and the laws of just one state regarding issues such as reporter licensing. But providers and customers in the deposition market must navigate rules of civil procedures, licensing requirements and state laws from all over the country. National associations and service providers are working now to change antiquated rules and laws, but the process will take some time and leave practitioners and customers confused and hesitant in the interim. While this change is occurring, the best practice is to make it clear in a deposition notice that an alternative method of capture is being used and stipulate the same on the record.

Since court administration has full control over the physical infrastructure in their facilities, digital recording systems could be installed in an elegant manner. Depositions require portability and flexibility. Providers must rely on individual digital reporters to configure different rooms. The configurations must be able to capture audio and video accurately and not be intrusive for the participants. Technical and operational solutions can be deployed today, but the management of the process on a day-to-day basis is very new to the firms just entering the market.

The court market has one other advantage: the judge. Not to say that all judges were fully supportive of digital recording over the years, but their presence in the room was critical. Court administrators were able to focus 100% of their hiring and training efforts on recording and note-taking, leaving the judge to control courtroom behavior. That simplified things a lot. In the deposition world, your court reporting firm takes on some of that load.

Professional deposition reporters, whether digital or steno, know how to manage a deposition. They understand that they are officers of the court and responsible for the record of a deposition. That means that good reporters know how to manage attorneys and witnesses when they need to. That is not a skill that comes easily to a lot of people. Without the support of a judge in the room, all deposition reporters must know how to look after themselves and others. This is just one more reason why you should always rely on a reputable provider that can ensure that all the complex logistics for the deposition will be taken care of.

CourtScribes.com supports all states and programs that aid in the court reporting world, and we too 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.

Training Classes Set in Illinois for Those Interested in Becoming Court Reporters

Posted on: January 6th, 2020 by Dependable Website Management No Comments

stenographerThe Illinois Official Court Reporters Association is scheduling introductory classes for people interested in the profession.

The classes so far are scheduled in the following cities: Springfield, LaSalle/Ottawa, Peoria, Strasburg and Effingham. The curriculum will be done in three separate, two-hour classes that will cover different content.

 

Why are Court Reporters Important

Court reporters use a specialized computer to take accurate notes during court proceedings, legal meetings and other matters. Over time, however, the number of court reporters in the state and all throughout the country, has decreased through retirements and a lack of visibility about the profession.

Starting salaries for state-employed court reporters can range from $40,000 to $50,000 with benefits and additional transcript income that can be earned on the side. Court reporters do not need to have a college degree, just the proficiency to use a steno machine to pass a licensing exam.

Today, court reporters use paperless real-time translation technology that displays a spoken word on a computer screen almost as soon as it is said.
A court reporter uses a steno machine (also called a writer), pressing a combination of 22 keys to take down what is being said at a speed of 225 words per minute. Each key represents a phonetic sound, which is translated by the computer program into English words.

CourtScribes.com supports all states and programs that aid in the court reporting world, and we too 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.