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 five reasons why one should consider a career in court reporting.
1 – It is a 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.
2 – The Potential for Higher 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.
3 – Flexibility in 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 of Career
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.