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Current Events Impact Court Reporter Demand

Court Reporter Demand

The recent Executive Order travel ban left many immigrants and refugees stranded at airports or worried that when they arrived, they wouldn?t be allowed to enter the United States through Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix and airports across the country. Immigration lawyers and activists made themselves available to those with questions and even as the ban is sorted out in court, we wonder how current events impact the court reporter demand.

If the instance of immigration and refugee cases increases, court reporters will be in higher demand.

For a city like Phoenix that has the 10th highest population of undocumented immigrants, the travel ban and possible subsequent orders, makes us wonder how many more court reporters we may need to cover immigration or refugee cases. With 250,000 people undocumented, that?s a lot of folks to process through an already busy court system. And that?s just in our city. Let?s not forget border towns and suburbs.

It?s not only a potential challenge for the court system which utilizes digital recording rather than live court reporters, but it?s a problem for the court reporting industry.

Even when proceedings are recorded, someone has to create the transcript.

Let?s say the courts could process 250,000 cases, which is unlikely unless legal teams and judges work around the clock for months, there is still a court reporter shortage happening across the nation, not just in Arizona. Even if we were able to send work to remote reporters or bring in freelance reporters from other states, the cost could be astronomical. That?s assuming they?re available and not covering immigration cases in their home state.

While it seems, at least for now, the travel ban issue has resolved itself in higher courts, there are other events that impact court reporter demand.

The court reporting industry is driven in part by the insurance industry. According to Ducker Worldwide, the better the economy, the more legal activity and therefore the higher the court reporter demand. If the economy continues on an upward trajectory, we will likely see a growing need for reporters. Couple that with the rain storms in California and an extended winter in the eastern United States, and you?ve got the perfect storm of increased insurance claims, court cases related to property damage, and higher demand for reporters.

For those that think court reporting is a dying profession, we?re here to tell you it?s a growing field in need of trained professionals before there?s a crisis in the courts. Interested in learning more? We?d love to talk to you.

Source

Iranian immigrants welcomed to Arizona as federal court weighs travel ban

Court Reporting Industry Outlook Report by Ducker Worldwide

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Phoenix Court Reporter Defeats 7-day Jeopardy! Champion

National Court Reporter Association member Jill Rausch, a broadcast captioner from Phoenix, Ariz., unseated a 7-day Jeopardy! champion when she competed on the television show that aired on Feb. 7.

Like most court reporters and captioners, Jill brings a unique combination of skill and knowledge to each and every proceeding. Jill spent eight years as an elementary orchestra teacher, followed by seven years working in vocational assessment, and one year behind a boutique hotel front desk before embarking on a successful career that started with court reporting school. As with all successful reporters and captioners, she has an excellent work ethic, crucial to meeting the rigorous daily demands of these dynamic fields.

In addition to the highly-specialized technical skill of verbatim real-time translation of the spoken word to print and caption, court reporters and captioners require a broad knowledge base. Jill has proven to be an astute and adaptive professional, also specializing in vocational assessment, organization, orchestra, orchestra management, guidance counseling, as well as being an accomplished musician.

Due to the daily exposure to cutting edge technology in every imaginable field, reporters/captioners need an ever-expanding and evolving knowledge base to be effective in carrying out their duties to serve the public, the Court, and members of the Bar. It is a vocation that is truly integrated across the entire spectrum of business, education, healthcare and technology.
We are proud of Jill and her amazing accomplishments. “I’ll take awesome professionals for a thousand, Alex.”

Whenever you are considering hiring a court reporter or captioner, be sure you are dealing with the most experienced and trusted in the industry.

In Arizona, that’s Herder & Associates, 480-481-0649 www.CourtReportersAz.com

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Details Matter in the Courtroom

Details Matter in the Courtroom

When CNN Supreme Court reporter Pamela Brown incorrectly referenced the Third Circuit instead of the Third District in this report, we cringed a little bit. While there are other stories that are more impactful to the average American, to court reporters, the details matter whether you?re a reporter for a major news network or a member of a legal team.

Legal Details

Brown?s gaffe was in reference to Supreme Court pick Judge Thomas Hardiman who serves on the bench of the Third District, not the Third Circuit Court. In the scheme of what a court reporter should know about the system, it?s kind of basic. As courtroom experts, we know the circuit courts are numbered (Phoenix is in the Ninth Circuit) and used for appeals while district courts are part of the state or regional system and are named by state (Arizona District Court). Most people outside the legal field may not have noticed the error but as court reporters, we?re trained to hear the details.

Details Matter in the Courtroom

Whether we?re taking depositions or hearing cases in a courtroom, the details matter not only for the attorneys that hire us but for their clients. In the big picture, what court reporters capture has potential to reach the highest courts of the nation so it?s imperative that we?re recording exactly what?s being said without prejudice.

There are times that it is challenging to hear witnesses, understand an accent, or manage conversations between attorneys who don?t see eye to eye in the middle of a proceeding, but it?s up to us to capture what is being said and by whom.

Help Us Help You

As your trusted court reporter, we ask you to help us capture the details by speaking one at a time, coaching witnesses on the importance of speaking clearly and loud enough for us to hear, and providing witness names to us ahead of the deposition or hearing. Sounds simple but too often we hear from reporters that they have to stop a deposition to ask for clarification and repetition when it could have been avoided with the implementation of a few key items.

We appreciate your help and look forward to working with you in the future!

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Preparing an Expert Witness

preparing an expert witness

On first glance it may seem like an expert can be found online and just added to a schedule of depositions but the truth is that you?ve got to spend time preparing an expert witness. And please don?t just pick one from Google! Ask for referrals from trusted colleagues before heading to court for your next case.

Prep Time

Too often we hear from our court reporters that a witness, even an expert, has not been properly prepared to testify or be deposed. Allow prep time for them to review facts and information related to the case, including their own reports and prior testimony, to prepare for their deposition. Otherwise it can lead to a long day for everyone; it?s more efficient at the deposition if you?ve prepared ahead of time.

Mastery of Facts

Allowing time also means your expert witness has a mastery of the facts and is ready to not only give a deposition but also face opposing counsel in court. There?s nothing worse than having an ill-prepared expert who may hurt rather than help your case!

Relatable

We?re each an expert at what we do but not all of us can explain it in a way that relates to an audience outside our field. It?s the role of your expert witness, even in the most technical of cases, to have witnesses who relate well to the jury. Even if the information they?re delivering is complex, it needs to be explained in a way that plays well with the jury.

The Right One

Think about the case strategy when selecting witnesses. You may have the best forensics expert in the field but if they aren?t personable from the stand in a way that engages the jury to your side, it may not work to your advantage. Instead, find an expert who can not only explain evidence but who understands the importance of speaking to the jury.

Once you find the right one, take time to prepare your expert witness. It could be the difference for your client. If you?ve got the witness ready to go and need a court reporter for the deposition, give us a call!

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