The Derek Chauvin (George Floyd’s kneeling police officer) trial is taking place, and someone in the courtroom who doesn’t get any publicity has one of the more important jobs. That job is the court reporter. CourtScribes agrees. This may be the most important person in the courtroom.
A court reporter is responsible for accurately transcribing every word that’s said in open court. Christine Phipps, the president of the National Court Reporters Association, says the job comes with a lot of pressure.
“Somebody’s life hinges on that testimony,” Phipps said. “It’s the court reporter’s certified transcript that rules the day over anybody’s memory of what might have been said. That is going to be what’s argued on appeal.”
Court reporting isn’t done letter by letter. Court reporters use combinations of keys to type by phonetic sounds. Shorthand gets proofread and fleshed out later.
When a trial goes on for two weeks, it could probably get between 2,500 to 3,000 pages of transcript you need to proof.
If something is missed or needs to be repeated, the court reporter will interrupt the proceedings, but tries to do so as delicately as possible. The reporter will also confer with the judge if they feel someone in the courtroom should be instructed to slow down.
Getting correct and proper testimony is key in any trial, but even more so in a trial that the whole world is watching. We at CourtScribes know this is true. That is why this position may actually be the most important in any given courtroom.
If you need court reporting services that handle digital recording 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.
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