This week is National Court Reporting and Captioning Week.  Court reporters are a key player in legal proceedings, which require an exact record of what was said. The court reporter is responsible for producing an accurate and complete legal transcript of courtroom proceedings. A legal transcript is the record of every spoken word and who spoke it during the legal proceeding.  In order to capture this transcript, a court reporter must be able to hear the words that are spoken and set them down as they occur. These include all of the words spoken by the Judge, lawyers, witnesses and other parties. Court reporters are involved in trials, hearings, depositions and other legal matters.

What Court Reporters Do

Court reporters must “write” (by keying) between 225 and 280 words a minute on a court reporting “stenotype” machine. To use the stenotype machine, court reporters learn machine shorthand, typing on keys which represent certain letters of the alphabet. Not all letters of the alphabet are represented by a key on the machine. A court reporter must often press down two or more keys simultaneously to represent those letters or “sounds.”  Court reporters write what they hear phonetically. The stenotype machine is connected to a tablet or computer which contains a steno-English  “dictionary.” The software then converts the shorthand to English and creates the legal transcript.

Some court reporters are capable of providing an audio recording and video recording of depositions and other legal proceedings. This is often helpful when the mere words spoken don’t tell the whole story. For example, a witness with a speech disability may appear to have no disability at all with a written transcript, but is shown in their true light with an audio or video recording.

Court reporters require exemplary English skills, a strong work ethic, and the ability to focus for hours on end. They often have to deal with people under stress due to their legal problems. Court reporters serve a vital role in the judicial process. As the “silent guardian of the record,” they play a critical role in every court case.

We Appreciate Court Reporters

Our goal is to help clients be successful in their legal matters. Without the assistance of the able court reporters in our area, our attorneys would often be unable to fully represent our clients.  Kennedy, Kennedy, Robbins & Yarbro, LC wants to take this opportunity to thank the court reporters in Southeast Missouri and Northeast Arkansas for their help.

If you need an attorney, contact us or call us at (573)686-2459. We are here for you when you need us.