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Court Stenographer in NY Admits Stealing $187,000 By Adding Zeros to Invoices

Posted on: October 19th, 2020 by Sfl Media No Comments

We here at CourtScribes.com pride ourselves on being a company that is honest, has integrity, and will do an accurate and professional job for all of our clients. Unfortunately, not everybody works this way. Here is an example from New York state where an Oswego County court stenographer this week admitted to stealing more than $187,000 over the years by adding zeros to invoices she used to bill her clients.

Laura Hayes, 47, pleaded guilty to felony second-degree grand larceny in Oswego County Court, New York state officials stated in a news release.

The New York State Inspector General’s Office said that Hayes, who owns and operates Quality Court Reporting, schemed over multiple years to overbill four workers’ compensation insurance carriers for her stenography services. The New York Inspector General opened an investigation after receiving multiple complaints about her billing practices.

Investigators found Hayes regularly charged 10x the appropriate value of her services by adding a zero to the end of an invoice, the IG said. Over the years, she took an additional $187,700.

Hayes’ overbilling may have negatively affected workers’ compensation premiums for those companies, the IG’s office said.

She is scheduled for sentencing before Judge Donald Todd in Oswego County Court.

If you need court reporting services from a company that would never overcharge or defraud a client 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.

NY State Senator Addabbo Honors Forest Hills Court Reporting Program

Posted on: March 2nd, 2020 by Sfl Media No Comments

We at CourtScribes.com are always proud to see the profession being honored. It doesn’t happen enough, so it always great to see when it does. In this case, New York State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., visited Plaza College in Forest Hills, Queens to celebrate the institution’s renowned court reporting program.

As we have discussed countless times, there is a serious nationwide shortage of court reporters. It is a problem that will only become worse with impending retirements, as court reporters are on average 53 years old.

State Senator Addabbo presented Plaza College with a proclamation to commend its dedication to educating young men and women with the most efficient technology in RealTime writing, providing them with the skill to become professional court reporters.

During his visit to Plaza College, Senator Addabbo discussed his appreciation for the industry and the individuals who create an accurate record of the official spoken word.

“Court reporting and captioning is a vital skill that helps keep an accurate account of what takes place in courtrooms, and even in the State Legislature, as well as informing the deaf and hard-of-hearing with the necessary information they need,” said State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. “It was a privilege to honor Plaza College with a proclamation recognizing their wonderful Court Reporting and Captioning program during National Court Reporting and Captioning Week, and the hard-working students who help make that program a success. I truly appreciate Plaza College’s commitment to the quality, diverse educational programs it offers.”

Plaza College, the only school in New York City that offers a degree program in court reporting, has successfully introduced stenography to the next generation by educating high school students and others interested in the career field about the many opportunities available.

In partnership with the National Court Reporters Association, Plaza College offers students a free four-week introductory program to Steno Machine Shorthand called A to Z.

Plaza College President, Charles Callahan III noted how this is a proud moment for the school. Stating how they are endlessly dedicated to preparing court reporting students to be skilled professionals. Being recognized by Senator Addabbo is a great honor and helps in continuing to help the court reporting industry flourish into the future.

If you need court reporting services from the best court reporting service, CourtScribes.com which supports all states and programs that aid in the court reporting world, and we are ready to serve you in your court reporting, videography services, interpreters, live-streaming, and video-to-text synchronization.

Alfred State College Helping Court Reporting Students Via Project Steno

Posted on: December 23rd, 2019 by Sfl Media No Comments

Alfred State College, of New York, is partnering with Project Steno to help put students on a path to a rewarding career in the high-demand field of court reporting.

Project Steno promotes the stenographic court reporting/captioning profession through social media and community outreach, with the goal of building a robust pipeline of students into school and graduating them in two years.

How Does Project Steno Help

The first step of Project Steno involves providing prospective students with a free introductory court reporting course, with partnering instructors donating their time and court reporters donating steno machines. After a six-week course, students are able to select a partnering school to attend so that they can obtain their court reporting degrees.

Students that complete the introductory course who then attend a partnering school will receive tuition assistance. As the final step in the process, Project Steno monitors student progress and helps mentor those who need extra help in order to ensure that those who meet the program milestones graduate in two years.

Alfred State offers a two-year degree in court and realtime reporting and a certificate in court reporting and captioning. To find out more about these programs, visit www.alfredstate.edu/court-reporting.

For more information on Project Steno, visit ProjectSteno.org.

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.

New York State Dealing With Court Stenographer Shortages

Posted on: August 19th, 2019 by Sfl Media No Comments

stenography News out of Albany, New York shows that across the country officials are looking to recruit young professionals to be court stenographers. This effort comes as big changes are being made to the justice system in New York state. We in the stenographer community tip our hat to New York as they are dealing with the court stenographer shortages.

“There’s going to be a lot of opportunity in the near future as we continue to lose people to retirement,” said John Keller, Principal Court Reporter for the 3rd judicial district of New York.

There are other factors that have led to the shortages like the development of digital recorders and a nearly 85 percent dropout rate in court reporting instructional programs.

Stenographers in many local courts have been covering for each other when the courts are short-staffed. But soon enough even that will become a problem. Especially because legislative changes taking effect, like the Raise the Age and the Child Victims Act, will likely increase caseloads.

What are the Courts Looking to Do

That’s why court officials are looking to implement new programs to recruit young professionals, like Steno A to Z, among others.

“The [New York State] Unified Court System and the Office of Court Administration is reaching out to BOCES programs and small community colleges to try to spark an interest in them starting programs,” John Keller said. “Because it really is an exciting field to get into. It’s very rewarding. It’s rewarding personally, professionally and financially as well.”

The average salary for a court reporter is not bad at all. It is about $57,000 a year. The top 10 percent of earners bring in about a very healthy $100,000 per year.

“If you’re a patient person and you can stay focused for a very long time that’s basically is what’s required especially when you’re in a courtroom all day long and it’s your responsibility to take every word down verbatim, word for word everything that is said in the courtroom,” Keller said.

You can learn more about the Steno A to Z program here.

Grand Jury Indictment Dismissed After Stenographer Speaks with Grand Jurors

Posted on: July 1st, 2019 by Sfl Media No Comments

99% of the time court reporters have a positive impact on a courtroom and trial. They do their jobs and do them well. But very rarely, there can be a negative impact. In New York, a Grand Jury indictment was dismissed after a courtroom stenographer spoke with grand jurors during the trial.

For the second time this year, the actions of a stenographer in the Grand Jury room is causing difficulties for District Attorney Lawrence Friedman in the Genesee County Courtroom. This caused the DA to seek that the Grand Jury indictment be dismissed after the stenographer spoke with Grand Jurors.

Friedman moved to have a sealed indictment on burglary, trespassing, and forgery charges dismissed because a stenographer spoke to grand jurors about the case while the prosecutor was out of the room!

What Happens Now

Friedman must now have a new grand jury hear the case against defendant Malik Ayala at a later date.

Ayala was in court today to deal with matters related to his pending case of criminal possession of stolen property. He was also arraigned on these new charges from the sealed indictment.

The counts in the indictment were burglary, criminal possession of stolen property, and forgery.

After the charges were read, Friedman made a motion to dismiss the indictment because a court stenographer had jeopardized the integrity of the proceeding.

Freidman said he had previously informed the Public Defender representing Ayala, that he would move to have the indictment dismissed. But with the court’s permission, he wanted to resubmit the case to a grand jury.

He gave the defender a choice. You can present it to the current grand jury, which is the one that heard the case the first time, or wait for a new grand jury to be empaneled. They asked that the case be presented to a new grand jury.

The Details

This has happened before as noted. In March, Friedman revealed during a previous court proceeding that a stenographer had been using an audio recording device on her machine to record grand jury proceedings.

Friedman was not immediately available for questions, so it is not known if it is the same or a different stenographer.

Ayala was arrested in November along with his brother after the two men were stopped in a car that had pulled into the driveway of County Manager Jay Gsell where they reportedly tried to dispose of a handgun.

During today’s proceedings, the Judge told Ayala that he had been informed that Ayala had violated the terms of his release-under-supervision contract. He said that Ayala is accused of testing positive for marijuana and alcohol consumption May 7th and May 14th, and for marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol May 28th, and that he was arrested on a petit larceny charge June 7th.

Ayala’s status could change when and if a new grand jury indictment is returned.

One can be assured that the court reporters and stenographers at CourtScribes would never make this mistake. But you already knew that. CourtScribes.com is ready to serve you in your court reporting, videography services, interpreters, live-streaming, and video-to-text synchronization.

Court of Appeals in NY Appoints First-Ever Female State Reporter

Posted on: April 8th, 2019 by Sfl Media No Comments

Portrait of Cara Brousseau

We here at courtscribes.com like to keep you up-to-date on all of the news and views surrounding the court reporting industry here in the United States. Our blog covers all of the interesting and poignant stories in this industry. This includes important hirings in our industry as well. On Thursday, the Court of Appeals appointed Cara Brousseau to be the first-ever female state reporter for the New York State Law Reporting Bureau. She will succeed William Hooks in the position.

Brousseau will be responsible for the bureau’s operations, including the regular publishing of decisions by the appellate courts and, sometimes, trial courts. She will be responsible for producing more than 17 bound volumes each year.

It’s a position she’s familiar with; Brousseau has been the deputy state reporter at the bureau since February 2017. Before that, she spent nearly two years as the assistant state reporter.

Brousseau has been practicing law for two decades now, after graduating cum laude from Albany Law School in 1999. She was admitted to the New York Bar later that year. She entered the legal community as an associate attorney for Iseman, Cunningham, Riester & Hyde in Albany, where she worked in labor law, civil rights cases and mental hygiene law.

Then she left the firm to clerk for former Court of Appeals Associate Judge Susan Phillips Read. Read served on the high court for twelve years after being appointed in 2003. Brousseau clerked for her during the first four years of her tenure on the bench.

Cara went on to serve as deputy executive director and counsel for the New York State Board of Law Examiners, which administers the bar exam and operates under the Court of Appeals. She oversaw litigation involving the board and supervised candidate misconduct investigations.

She held that position until she became assistant state reporter in April 2015. Brousseau is a past president of the Capital District Women’s Bar Association and a member of the Appellate Division, Third Department Committees on Character and Fitness.

It is good to see women like Brousseau climbing up the ladder. We at courtscribes.com are very proud of her, and remind you that if you ever need legal services in court reporting, videography, or interpreters, then please consult us via the website.

Mount Hope Student Is Fastest Court Reporter

Posted on: March 18th, 2019 by Sfl Media No Comments

Maia Morgan, the winner of Plaza College’s 2019 National Court Reporting Association Student Speed Competition.

Mount Hope resident Maia Morgan from the Bronx is one of twelve winners in Plaza College’s 2019 National Court Reporting Association Student Speed Competition.

With over 100 students racing against the clock and racing against each other to see who was the fastest and most accurate court reporter in honor of National Court Reporting and Capturing Week, Morgan was the best.

Morgan and her peers were to transcribe using a stenotype. It is a specialized shorthand machine which interfaces with a customized laptop, and take dictation at various speeds as they train to become professional court reporters. Morgan has proven that she is good enough to be hired by CourtScribes, which houses the best in the business.

A stenotype keyboard has fewer keys than a conventional alphanumeric keyboard. It is usually used for court reporting purposes. Multiple keys are pressed simultaneously to spell out whole syllables, words, and phrases with a single hand motion. Since the keyboard does not contain all the letters of the English alphabet, letter combinations are substituted for the missing characters.

“Using the stenotype machine is almost like learning another language,” Morgan expressed.

Morgan types at an impressive 120 words per minute with 96% accuracy. To graduate, she will have to increase her speed to 225 words per minute. Morgan aspires to one day work as a stenographer in either the supreme or civil court. She finds being a court reporter an exciting career option and encourages everyone to give it a try.

“Maintaining the required speed and trying not to think too hard while typing are challenges, but they can be overcome through practice and patience,” Morgan said.

She said making one’s fingers nimble is key to increasing typing speed. Morgan suggested learning to play an instrument such as a piano or guitar to establish muscle memory.

According to Karen Santucci, Plaza College Court Reporting chairwoman and NYS Court Reporters Association vice president, stenographers are very vital. They keep records for legal hearings and trials; grand juries; depositions; government meetings and hearings at local, state and federal levels; as well as TV closed captioning and services for the hearing impaired.

“Our role is crucial because we record and preserve the accurate accounts of trials, depositions, grand juries and other crucial aspects of the legal system which are essential to ensuring the fair administration of justice,” Santucci explained.

Court reporters’ records ensure fair trials and serve as the basis for appeals and other cornerstones of the entire American legal process. These professionals (court reporters), 90% of whom are women, are responsible for preserving the historical record of legal proceedings and serve as crucial documentarians ensuring reliability.

Court reporters’ salaries can top $100,000 a year. If you have trained to be a court reporter or you are in need of one, go to the website courtscribes.com to see how you can become a part of the team, or contact to hire a reporter.

Plaza College is NYC’s sole court stenographer program, with 200 students currently enrolled. Plaza College has a 70% graduation rate across all of their offered programs and more specifically a 73% retention rate within the court reporting program. A true sign of a successful program putting out successful reporters.

New York Adds Watchdog Organization For Prosecutors

Posted on: September 17th, 2018 by Sfl Media No Comments

Accurate court reporting is an important part of the criminal justice system, and so is fairness in prosecution.

New York state is working to reform its court system, and as part of that effort, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has signed legislation establishing the nation’s first State Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct.

The Commission will review and investigate prosecutorial conduct to address allegations of misconduct which lead to malicious prosecutions and wrongful convictions, frequently impacting people of color and marginalized communities.

By avoiding wrongful convictions and associated retrial costs and settlements, the Commission will save taxpayers money, the state said in a statement.

“Our criminal justice system must fairly convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent,” Governor Cuomo said. “When any prosecutor consciously disregards that fundamental duty, communities suffer and lose faith in the system, and they must have a forum to be heard and seek justice. This first-in-the-nation Commission will serve to give New Yorkers comfort that there is a system of checks and balances in the criminal justice system, and to root out any potential abuses of power to ensure that our justice system is just for all New Yorkers.”

Senator John DeFrancisco said, “There have been many cases of individuals who’ve been wrongfully convicted and who’ve served jail time because of the misconduct of some prosecutors. Despite the good work of most prosecutors, there must be a remedy against those who violate the law. This prosecutorial conduct commission legislation, signed by the Governor today, will provide that remedy and also provide oversight by an independent body, which over time will change the conduct of the wrongdoing of prosecutors, and help to ensure all a fairer criminal justice system.”

Governor Cuomo also led a successful effort to expand New York’s DNA databank in 2012, making New York the first state in the nation to require DNA samples from anyone convicted of a felony or Penal Law misdemeanor.

The Governor also established the Work for Success Initiative which has helped over 18,000 formerly incarcerated people find work upon their release.