Talent shortages are being felt nationwide, making creative solutions like those of CourtScribes’ Miami court reporters essential.
Shortages of court reporters are hitting home from Pennsylvania to Texas and Missouri—evidence that the type of creative solutions practiced by CourtScribes’ Miami court reporters are more necessary than ever.
In Texas, the number of qualified court reporters has declined 20 percent since 2005, says David Slayton of the Texas Office of Court Administration.
“We expect to see that trend continue or perhaps get even worse, and so the question becomes, what do we do? How do we back-fill those positions?” he says. “Individuals who need justice, whether that’s a criminal defendant sitting in jail, a victim who needs resolution, a protective order needs to be issued, a civil case where there’s a no contract case. No matter what it is, it becomes a real problem when there isn’t someone there to take that record.”
Other parts of the country face similar dilemmas.
In Johnson County, Kansas, near Kansas City, court reporter shortages can cause real hardships, says Johnson County District Court Judge Thomas Sutherland.
“It can be a real problem for us, particularly with criminal cases where there are speedy trial issues or even civil litigation where the parties are obviously anxious to get their cases resolved,” Sutherland says.
Ducker Worldwide predicts there will still be a strong market for courtroom stenography in the years to come. But the research firm adds that the work is changing. From Ducker’s report:
“New technologies have been developed to assist the court reporter in producing an accurate record with better equipment and better software. At the same time, competing technologies such as digital recording and even voice recognition are making headway. Increased emphasis on improving digital recording procedures and voice recognition software accuracy will occur.”
With CourtScribes and its Miami court reporters, technology is used to increase efficiency and accuracy and drive down costs, helping alleviate any shortages.
