May 2021 - CourtScribes, Inc. | Court Reporting & Litigation Support Archive - CourtScribes, Inc.

CourtScribes is the Best in Court Reporting

Posted on: May 31st, 2021 by Sfl Media No Comments

If you are in need of court reporting services, the team at CourtScribes is a team of highly professional court reporters that are leading the industry. Possessing top-of-the-line technology for a fraction of the price, CourtScribes based in South Florida, is the one and only company you need for court services of all kinds. Having an experienced court reporter is essential to every court case. This includes federal, state and local jurisdictions.

CourtScribes also uses digital recording. Digital recording is now the exclusive method for all Supreme Court cases. It seems like it will become more and more used in the future. With professional legal videography, ease of access databases, and transcripts that are made with effective and precise support services, CourtScribes provides a service that paralegals and attorneys alike can rely on. Whether it’s a trial, deposition, arbitration, mediation, or a hearing, visit CourtScribes.com or call 1-833-SCRIBES today to inquire about their services.

Services Offered by CourtScribes

Audio Recording – We possess audio recording equipment that is designed to record every voice clearly and precisely. Each sound channel is dedicated to another person, without any interfering channels. Each voice is captured in its own time allowing for playback at any time. Even in the event of outside noise, accents, or people speaking too low, there will be no issues with our court reporters’ abilities to capture every moment.

Videography – CourtScribes even provides live and on-demand video streaming. These videos are also stored in our database for needed use later on down the road. We use video-to-text synchronization for easy research into a past video. Our top-of-the-line technology will ensure that your case will be recorded with precision and accuracy.

Audio Transcripts – Each audio sample will be replayed, documented, and time-stamped for future review. That way there won’t be any issues if a previous statement needs to be retraced or disputed. And these transcripts are available through our 24/7 online database.

If you need court reporting services that handle digital recoding then CourtScribes.com which supports all states and programs that aid in the court reporting world 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.

Five Reasons Why You Should Consider Court Reporting

Posted on: May 24th, 2021 by Sfl Media No Comments

Court reporting is a tough job. Court reporting may not be for everyone. You will have to go to a school and acquire a whole new skill set. That being said, here are ten reasons for why one should consider a career in court reporting.

1 – Potential for High Income

A court reporter’s salary depends on their location. The income is also affected by certifications and services provided. A reporter who provides real-time translation services usually makes more than one who doesn’t. The national average is around $46,000 a year. But keep in mind that many reporters work part-time, so it drives down the national average. The sky is the limit if you’re willing to work hard and be a top-notch reporter. Some reporters make $225k to $300k per year consistently.

2 – High-Demand & Recession-Proof Career
From the moment you graduate from court reporting school and get licensed as a certified shorthand reporter, you will never experience a day without working that you didn’t want to work. A recession-proof job is one that remains in high demand even through bad economic times. Though no career is entirely recession-proof, court reporting is more constant than most others when times are hard.

Several elements create a high demand for court reporters. The first is that there is an increased demand in the legal field. Crime tends to rise dramatically when people feel desperate and experience serious financial problems, so the number of court cases increases. Civil disputes also reach a boiling point, resulting in more civil litigation when times are tough.

Secondly, there is an increase in demand in other industries that require real-time court reporters to provide transcriptions or captioning of conferences, seminars, video, and television. The growing number of fields that require stenographers includes television, sports, politics, business, medicine, and many more.

3 – Flexible Working Hours
If you are looking for a flexible job, court reporting may be the field for you. Some court reporters work just two or three days a week. Working part-time as a court reporter is common and easily attainable if you are looking for a nice balance between your professional and personal life. Freelance reporters are able to schedule a short one-hour depo or an all-day video deposition if necessary. If you need to take the day off, then you can simply tell the agency you’re not available for work that day.

4 – Residual Income Opportunities
One of the main reasons some choose the court reporting profession is for the residual income opportunity. Once we report a matter, we can continue to get paid for the work for months and years after it’s done. It’s common to earning royalties from intellectual property like books and patents. The record court reporters make is considered a “work product”. If anyone wants a copy of it, money can be earned again and again.

Official court reporters earn a salary plus transcript income. Some freelance reporters will earn a per diem for the time that they are at a location or just to show up. After an original transcript is produced court reporters can earn money for the transcript again at the time of appeal, which happens in the years following the matter reported.

5 – Longevity
Stenography stems from man’s desire and necessity to preserve happenings of yesterday and today for the future. Stenography is one of the oldest professions and will be around well into the future. Even with technological advancements, it will always need a human touch. Technology has come a long way in the last 20 years, but it still has a long way to go before it will be a threat to the profession of court reporting. The experimentation with replacing human court reporters with audio recording has failed time and again. It’s similar to replacing all language interpreters with translation software.

Court reporters are tasked with the protection of the record. Court reporters use extremely sophisticated technology to create a record using machine shorthand, and it is a process that takes an average of three years to master.

Stenography is a career that offers longevity. Many court reporters have enjoyed several decades-long careers in the profession and plan to work well into their retirement age. Longevity in court reporting is possible because of the variety of jobs.

A few of the things a human court reporter can do that digital recording can’t are: capture testimony at 99 percent or greater accuracy, handle multiple speakers at the same time, identify speakers, understand different accents and dialects, create an immediate draft transcript, create a same-day or next-day final transcript, mark exhibits, swear witnesses, and stop a proceeding for clarification due to an accent or soft-spoken witness, or ask for a repeat because a door slammed or other noise cut out the speaker.

Even if voice recognition technology evolves to a level of near perfection, it can still never replace the human court reporter because it lacks the ability to control and protect the record and do the human aspects of the job.

These five reasons outlined here by CourtScribes, show how court reporting is a great career choice. It is a decision you have to make, but if you think that these five reasons make sense and it is of any interest to you, then this is a career choice you would have to consider. It is not only rewarding financially, but it is rewarding because you are an intricate cog in the machine of the courts and justice.

Nine Questions Answered About Stenography

Posted on: May 17th, 2021 by Sfl Media No Comments

We have all seen the person in the courtroom typing away with reckless abandon, as people speak and give their testimony in any given courtroom proceeding. You may have wondered to yourself, how do they do that, where did they learn that, and even how much do they make for doing that? Well, that person is called a court stenographer. Sometimes they are also referred to as a court reporter.

Court stenographers, like the ones available from CourtScribes, or court reporters, are people trained to type and write in shorthand, which allows them to write as fast as people can speak.

1 – What Does Stenography Mean?

The word “stenography” comes from the Greek word “steno” which means narrow and “graphy” which means writing. Narrow writing is now commonly referred to as “shorthand”. A stenographer simply put is a shorthand writer.

Modern-day stenographers use machines called stenotypes, which allow them to type, in some cases, faster than 300 WPM, which is just about double the ‘speed of speech’.

2 – How is stenography used?

Stenographers can type in shorthand which allows them to type as quickly as people speak. This provides important and accurate documentation that is immediately available. This is mostly provided in courtroom settings, however, stenographers are used to assist the hard of hearing as well by providing the services that you see on movies and TV that allow for captions.

You can actually make the case that the stenographer is as important as the judge in a courtroom.

3 – Do stenographers type every word?

Yes, and they can type full words at once by simultaneously tapping multiple keys. So while they do type every word, it is done with shorthand.

4 – Is stenographer a good job?

Yes, it is a great career. There is a huge demand in courtrooms for stenographers. This is true for a couple of reasons. One, there is a dire shortage of those that are trained to do this job, so there is a lot of opportunity. Two, the job pays very well, as it is a hard to acquire skill. And three, there are many side jobs you can do, as well as outsourcing your services outside of the courtroom.

5 – Why is stenography important?

It is important as it is a requirement in many places to have written transcripts. This makes stenography something that is still needed. Court reporters are also tasked with writing down the defendant’s gestures and expressions, as well as their reactions to things. This is something that no machine can do. The stenographer is responsible for creating the “record” of what occurred in the courtroom. This record is extremely important as every member of the court uses this record in their case.

6 – What are stenography skills?

The main skill is the ability to do shorthand and then transcribe your notes. 180 WPM is the ‘speed of speech’ which means that stenographers have to be able to write at a minimum speed of 180 WPM. Stenographers document and record everything that takes place in a courtroom, which makes them an integral part of court hearings across the world.

7 – How long does it take to become a stenographer?

It takes close to three years. You do have to put in the time as if it is a college-like education you are getting. This is a very difficult to master skill, and many dropout or just cannot accomplish the curriculum.

8 – Are stenographers well paid?

Stenographers are actually very well paid. Stenographers can make upwards of $80,000 a year based on hours and years in the industry.

This is due to the fact that it is an intricate skill, there are very few people that have the skill, and there is a shortage of those with the skill that are working in courtrooms.

9 – What is the future of stenography?

The future of stenography is clear. Technological advancements have been made and stenographers will have to adapt to them. While it is unlikely that at any time, now or in the future, that stenographers will not be needed, technology has infiltrated the area.

As technology has become more and more advanced, audio and video recordings are now being used in courtrooms around the world. To save money, courtrooms have invested in video and audio recorders. Many then theorized that the stenographer’s days were numbered. This simply is not true. There is room for both to work.

This is because video and audio recordings are not always successful. There can be interference, data gets corrupted, and sometimes people just forget to turn the devices on! Because of this potential threat, the stenography industry had to adapt to the times.

Computers became more popular, and as they did, court reporters began using these machines to compete with other forms of technology. Stenotype machines could now be plugged into portable computers, laptops, and be used to translate shorthand onto the computer screen in real-time. This was something video and audio recorders could not accurately do.

Many now use a technology called ‘steno masks’ which are microphones plugged into their computers that run voice-recognition software. The stenographer then, in real-time, cleans up the machine’s mistakes and errors; the perfect fusion of technology and stenography.

While technology is an incredibly important part of all of our lives, it cannot be entirely trusted just yet. Machines are not infallible and make mistakes. A stenographer must supervise and verify what these ‘steno masks’ record.

These nine points should have made one thing clear. Court reporters aka stenographers are very important, and they are not going anywhere any time soon. We here at CourtScribes provide all of the services mentioned in this article.

So if you need court reporting services that handle digital recording and remote depositions then CourtScribes.com, which supports all states and programs that aid in the court reporting world, are ready to serve you in your court reporting, videography services, interpreters, live-streaming, and video-to-text synchronization.

We are located in South Florida, but offer our services throughout the entire United States. Call us now when you need any courtroom steno or tech.

Court Reporter Goes Rogue in Wisconsin

Posted on: May 10th, 2021 by Sfl Media No Comments

Nobody was surprised when Hyundai Motors, the Korean automaker, planned to appeal after a Racine County, Wisconsin jury returned a $38.1 million verdict against the company.

But nobody expected nearly a year later, that the appeal would remain on hold because of a missing court reporter who was responsible for providing a transcript of the trial.

Court records show that after the trial, Brande Browne agreed to have transcripts sent to Hyundai’s lawyers by March of 2020. By June the transcript still hadn’t been produced. Browne, nor her boss at the Racine Court Reporter’s office, were answering emails from Hyundai’s attorneys at the law firm of Quarles & Brady.

This scenario is one thing for sure that you won’t have to worry about with Court Scribes.

What Did the Court Reporter Do?

Finally, in mid-June, Browne responded, saying that personal and professional events had set her back, but she was working as fast as she could to complete the transcript of the 18-day trial. On June 30th, she indicated in a formal document that she would have the transcript by July 31st.

The problem is, August came, but the transcript did not. Hyundai’s lawyers emailed Browne repeatedly but never heard back. The Court of Appeals then demanded Browne file the transcript, then extended the deadline twice, before fining her $1,075 in November.

In December, the trial judge issued a warrant for Browne’s arrest after she failed to appear in court to explain why she hadn’t produced the transcript. Police have been to her home, but she was never present at the home. Calls reporters to various numbers listed went unanswered or the numbers were no longer in service.

What is the Case Against Hyundai About?

In 2015, Edward Vanderventer, 67, of Racine, Wisconsin, was stopped, waiting to turn in his 2013 Hyundai Elantra at an intersection when he was rear-ended by a 17-year-old driver.

He sued Hyundai and the driver, alleging that while the other driver caused the accident, Vanderventer’s serious back injuries, which left him a paraplegic, were caused by a defective seat that collapsed into his spine, although three passengers in his car were not seriously injured.

The jury found that a large portion of Vanderventer’s injuries was attributable to the seat design. Hyundai lost a judgment for $32.7 million of the total judgment.

The Appeal From Hyundai

On appeal, Hyundai plans to raise issues about how the trial was conducted. But they can’t without a reliable, accurate record of the proceedings due to the absence of the court reporter.

A court reporter, or stenographer, like the ones at Court Scribes, doesn’t just type what’s being said in court. They write the rapid speech into a type of code they must later translate into a readable transcript. They have extreme importance to the case.

Vanderventer’s attorney said the court reporter Browne was dependable throughout the trial. He said if she or her machine are never found, those drafts of daily transcripts might allow both sides, and the judge, to assemble an agreed-on final transcript for the appeal.

If you need proper court reporting services that handle digital recording and remote depositions then CourtScribes.com which supports all states and programs that aid in the court reporting world are ready to serve you in your court reporting, videography services, interpreters, live-streaming, and video-to-text synchronization.

Ten Tips to a Successful Remote Deposition

Posted on: May 3rd, 2021 by Sfl Media No Comments

With COVID-19 completely altering the entire system of the courts, CourtScribes would like to offer some great tips in mastering the art of the remote deposition. The remote deposition has become one of the most important parts of the process now that things have dramatically changed and may stay this way for the near future.

CourtScribes has ten successful tips to take 2021’s virtual depositions to the next level. Let us dive into these valuable suggestions!

Get to the Call Early. This will help in avoiding delays and gives time to iron out any technical issues, should there be any.
Set the Stage Properly. Eliminate distractions around you. Make sure there is proper backlighting, and position yourself to the center of the screen.
Test All of Your Equipment. Test your internet connection, your microphones, your headphones, and audio quality.
Update Your Zoom software Regularly – Make sure to check for updates and install them.
Dress Well. Wearing dark, solid colors works best on camera. Everyone should be clean and professional.
Close All Unrelated Programs. When doing a remote deposition, only the deposition should be on your device. Close all browsers and programs running in the background. This will help to avoid inadvertently displaying confidential or compromising material or other sensitive materials to other participants. It also keeps focus on the deposition.
Speak Slowly, Loudly, and Clearly. In any deposition, speaking clearly and slowly is helpful to the court reporter taking down the record. This is true for the interpreter, if one is present, as well.
Avoid Multiple Participants in the Same Room. Each participant in the deposition should have their own separate location and device so that there are no problems with audio feedback. This will also provide a clear headshot for each participant.
Request the Video. The mobile videoconference recording will always be made available, but this recording is unedited, and syncing is also not available.
Be Patient. Technology, like everything else, is not perfect. Glitches, though uncommon and quickly resolved by skilled technicians, can and do sometimes happen. Just be patient and you will overcome any of these issues.

This list should be very helpful. Whether remote depos are a struggle or smooth sailing, this list is should be helpful as you continue to schedule remote depositions with CourtScribes. So, if you need court reporting services that handle digital recording and remote depositions then CourtScribes.com which supports all states and programs that aid in the court reporting world are ready to serve you in your court reporting, videography services, interpreters, live-streaming, and video-to-text synchronization.

Archive for May, 2021

CourtScribes is the Best in Court Reporting

Services Offered by CourtScribes

Five Reasons Why You Should Consider Court Reporting

Nine Questions Answered About Stenography

Court Reporter Goes Rogue in Wisconsin

What Did the Court Reporter Do?

What is the Case Against Hyundai About?

The Appeal From Hyundai

Ten Tips to a Successful Remote Deposition

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