May 7, 2015
How a Court Reporting Career Is in Vogue with New Technology
By: Colleen Jilio-Ryan | Posted in: court reporting
Technology is taking root in the legal industry, including court reporting. Today, many courts have resorted to using handheld recorders in non-criminal proceedings. This is understandable given that using hand recorders is cheaper than hiring court reporters. Moreover, the recorders provide instant digital recording of the proceedings.
However, recording of proceedings digitally comes with a number of challenges. For instance, poor quality recorders may not capture the court proceedings well. Moreover, digitally recorded proceedings can prove problematic when testimonies have to be heard again.
Finally, the lack of a transcript in a case can work against the parties involved.
Related Post: How Detail-Orientation Helps in Court Reporting
Importance of Court Reporters
Court reporters play an important role in all types of cases.
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Highly-Skilled. The reporters are highly skilled, can type up to 225 words per minute and keep abreast of modern writing technologies like captioning.
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Dependable. At a deposition, the reporters alert everyone that they should be careful with the words they say as they can be used to create legal evidence. Court reporters also deliver the official written transcripts of what was spoken during depositions, in motions or at a trial.
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Accurate. The transcripts can be used as evidence (in case of a deposition) or may be filed for future use. This means that the reporters have no room to make errors when transcribing. The professionals must be fast and extremely accurate.
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Efficient. Court reporters are efficient and attentive. Moreover, they have control of the transcripts they are producing and can ask lawyers, witnesses or judges to repeat themselves. Reporters can also immediately read back testimonies at the request of an attorney or judge.
On the other hand, digital recorders may be imprecise. It may be difficult to detect words over door slamming or other background noises. Moreover, the systems can malfunction making it necessary for a case to be reheard.
Related Post: How Proofreading Transcripts Will Benefit Court Reporters
Colleen Jilio-Ryan is the Owner of Jilio-Ryan, a Tustin based premiere law consulting firm. The firm along with its certified court reporters is dedicated to providing the highest quality deposition and litigation services to attorneys, insurance companies, and corporations. With her sincere efforts, Colleen is committed to meeting the highest standards of the legal industry, and is an industry leader when it comes to on-time court reporting and deposition scheduling.