Career Overview: What I Do As a Court Reporter
Despite all the advances in speech-to-text software, when it comes to the courtroom, it takes a human touch to create the perfect transcript. Forensic reporters work diligently to maintain very high standards for the accuracy of their transcripts – 97.5%, in fact, just to meet the requirements.
When you imagine a courtroom, even if your knowledge mostly comes from film and television, you probably imagine someone sitting on the sidelines and typing on a stenotype — a court reporter. Their task is to ensure flawless recording of hearings, while audio recordings can be difficult due to extraneous noise or low speech. To inquire about the deal, we spoke to Cassandra Caldarella , an Orange County court reporter.
Tell us about your current position and how long you have been in it.
I am the Official Reporter for the California Supreme Court, Orange County. I’ve only been there for four months. Prior to that, I was an interim reporter for this court and the Los Angeles Supreme Court. I have also been an official reporter for the Los Angeles Supreme Court for four years.
I entered the court reporters school in 2003 and qualified to take the state exam in 2005. I passed the exam in August 2006 and have been working as a certified court reporter for nine years.
What prompted you to choose your career path?
I started out as an account manager in the tech industry. Once I accidentally intercepted a report on the department printer that listed the salaries of all employees in my department, and I was shocked to learn that my male colleagues earn at least $ 20,000 more than me, and they have no bachelor’s degree or experience. jobs in Fortune 500 companies. I decided to change careers where I will be paid what I deserve – no glass ceilings. I remembered a court reporter I met at a friend’s baby birthday party who told me all about what she did. I studied this and found that I could be my own boss and make big money, and I signed up for school the day I decided to do it and never looked back.
How did you get started as a court reporter? What kind of education and experience did you need?
I have worked as a freelancer for two years, have done many hearings and grand juries, and have found that I prefer the structure of litigation and arbitration. I have applied to the Los Angeles Superior Court of Justice along with 350 other applicants. They narrowed the margin down to 125 after proofreading. And from interviews, they selected eight new employees, one of whom was me. Although I had a bachelor’s degree, it was not required for my position as a civil servant. I think this degree helped me differentiate me from other court reporters because few reporters have an advanced degree. I think my experience at grand jury hearings, LAPD hearings and other types of hearings set me apart from other applicants. I did things that other reporters didn’t like, harder things.
Do you need any licenses or certificates?
It is the industry standard for the State of California to be licensed as a Certified Stenographer (CSR) as a court reporter. To be eligible to take the state exam, you must graduate from an NCRA approved court reporting school. You must pass the qualifying exam, which is a five-minute, 200-wpm, two-person voice dictation with 97.5% accuracy. In addition to the machine test, you must pass a written exam in English, grammar, punctuation, and terminology. The National Association of Court Reporters is a national organization. They have certifications including RPR, RMR, RDR, CRR and many more. The basic certification is the Registered Professional Reporter exam, which consists of 180 wpm jury dictation, 200 wpm literary dictation, and 225 wpm dictation of questions and answers with 97.5% accuracy or above. Starting in the coming autumn, all tests are conducted online.
The most desirable certifications are Certified Realtime Reporter (CRR) and California Certified Realtime Reporter (CCRR). It takes experience and training, as well as a lot of time to perfect our letters. When you have this certification, you can get a wage increase at the Supreme Court and District Court levels. And as a freelance reporter, you can find a better job and be more in demand. The demand for real-time reporters is growing and their pay is higher. You can also apply for international jobs with these real-time credentials.
What misconceptions do people often have about your job?
The main misconception about judicial reporting is that it will disappear in the near future. People have been predicting this for the past 20 years or so. The point is that a computer or electronic record can never replace us. There are too many examples of human error associated with electronic recording, such as when bailiffs and clerks forget to press the record button, or the recording file was damaged, or the door slammed at the very moment the decision was made, rendering the audio recording useless. Court journalists must defend the transcript. They know they are receiving a testimony and they control it. They can prevent people from talking to each other, ask a witness to repeat statements if they are too quiet or loud noises are heard at the same time, or if they speak too quickly and indistinctly. Live reporters may ask for the correct spelling of names. Without an appeal record, the case may be dropped.
What’s your average uptime?
It can be almost 24/7 work. In court, I work from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm every day as an officer, but I am also an independent contractor. Transcripts are considered the work of an independent contractor and should be done in my time. Therefore, while working in the courtroom seven hours a day, I have to take notes of my time, that is, at lunchtime and in the mornings and evenings. I use a team of reviewers and proofreaders to help me fulfill the high demand for daily transcripts when I am in court. Basically we can do about 36 hours of work in 24 hours. When I’m in trial and making the daily papers, I make it a habit to go to bed at 10:00 pm while my analysts and proofreaders work all night to deliver the finished product by 6:00 am. I get up at 5:30. , shower, then in my home office I prepare the final transcript and send it to the lawyers by 7:00, then I print all the copies and leave for work by 8:00. When I’m not in court, I can relax at home like normal people from 9 to 5.
What personal tips and shortcuts have made your job easier?
I stay on top of all technology. I have the latest software, hardware, technical devices and fixtures. I have the latest version of ProCat Impression stenographer with touchscreen, wireless bluetooth and the ability to record separate audio on the machine for the sidebars. I regularly beta test my CAT software and attend many trainings.
Backup is the key to protecting your write. I have two SD cards in my writers. I’m writing to my laptop, so this is another backup. My program creates a backup file. I also save to Dropbox to send to my experts. I am using a USB stick to copy all files. I save it to my desktop at home, backed up to a 2TB external drive, and then I just got a 2TB cloud drive. You can never have too many backups.
The most important thing about court records is to stay organized. We often juggle multiple transcript deadlines, and we need to stay organized as much as possible so that we don’t miss the deadline. We must manage work that is intended for research professionals and proofreaders. And we need to keep order in our accounting records to manage accounts receivable and payable at all times. Our profession is time-bound and organization is critical.
What are you doing differently from your colleagues or colleagues in the same profession? What are they doing instead?
I go through certification tests all the time. I go to conventions and seminars. I am a member of several judicial associations as well as bar associations. I accept volunteer leadership roles in my community and associations. I regularly go to my alma mater court reporting school to talk to students and try to inspire them. Many of my peers just want to work and go home, rather than contribute to this profession. I try my best. During downtime, I practice speed belts to get better and faster.
I also follow legal industry news and court news.
When I work, I try to be as unobtrusive as possible. Lawyers in court are focused on winning the case. I jot down the spellings so I can get them later and wait for them to ask me if I need anything. This time always comes. I don’t need to disturb them when they are preoccupied with something. In addition, I set up all my equipment in real time without bothering the lawyers. I once watched a reporter set up her equipment on the desks of lawyers and then asked them if they could see what she was writing. I thought it was very intrusive as they concentrated on the upcoming trial. Instead, I put all the monitors on my desk and make them work, and then put them on the lawyers’ desks as soon as I know they are streaming live so they don’t have to worry.
What’s the worst part of a job and how do you deal with it?
Sometimes we will work immediately without a break (the judges forget that we need breaks). I maintain eye contact with courtroom staff, such as bailiffs and clerks, and signal them if I need a break, and they alert the judge to take a break. On other occasions, we will work during lunchtime. I will keep my protein bars in my bag and make sure I have a high energy level so I can stay alert and concentrate. By the end of the day, my back may hurt a lot, so I keep a bottle of Tylenol in my bag for these days, otherwise the room can get very hot, so I keep a couple of mini USB fans in my bag. Sometimes we have really uncomfortable chairs to sit on for hours – I don’t have a solution for that yet, but I’ve seen reporters carry around lumbar support pillows just in case. Often times, transcripts are ordered right before a vacation or planned vacation, and we have to drop everything to get the transcript. It’s definitely hard not to see friends and family during a long job.
Perhaps the worst part of our job involves nervous personalities, quick talkers, and really harassing subjects. I plan to meet regularly with my fellow reporters who are the only people who can truly understand our work, empathize and laugh with them freely and regularly.
What is the most enjoyable part of the job?
The most enjoyable part of the job is getting to know the vast and endless amount of information and always something new every day. I love meeting new people every day, be they attorneys, judges, clerks, bailiffs, other reporters and expert witnesses. I have to be at the center of the whole action, hear what no one else hears in the cameras, and make a living with all kinds of stories.
I love that I can provide valuable services to others. I am there at a very difficult and stressful time in people’s lives. It’s nice to know that people depend on me and that I help them by providing them with accurate records of their actions. From time to time, attorneys and their clients thank me for my hard work and excellent working product and service, and sincerely appreciate me. And it’s great when I am asked over and over again.
I also love my network of court reporters and the opportunity to meet other reporters. I can always spot them in the lobby with their trademark stenographic equipment and bags. And I always introduce myself and try to find out a little about them. There are tons of Facebook groups for court reporters. And then there are conventions where hundreds of reporters rent a hotel and swap stories over the weekend. Forensic reporters are the most interesting people when they finally get a chance to talk. They are some of the smartest, most eloquent and humorous people in the world. I love meeting court reporters in the most unexpected places.
What advice can you give to people who need to use your services?
The more the official court reporter knows about the case, the better – having a list of witnesses, a list of medications, a list of names to be mentioned, medical procedures, a general topic of the case – can help your reporter add entries to the real-time dictionary for that case, leading to for better translation and better user interface for live feed. This can help the judge decide on the objections in the case. Take time for the reporter during the breaks and ask if he needs any writing suggestions or clarification from you about what has arisen. Remember that not only is the court reporter transcribed everything that is said, but the jury can only listen at a speed of 200-225 words per minute. If you walk too fast for the reporter to keep up with him, you can bet the jury doesn’t get it either.
How are you “progressing” in your field?
There are several ways in which you can be considered “progressing” in our field. You can move up the income scale and make more money by improving your job. These top jobs usually involve construction defects, medical malpractice, asbestos, and other special real-time jobs. All judicial agencies have so-called senior reporters, and this usually pays off over time. To make it to the big leagues, you have to stand out and be willing to do what other reporters don’t want to do. When the courts privatized civil cases, the only reporters willing to do so were those who were fired from the courts, then gradually sent external depot reporters to try civil cases in court, and some of them renounced this, never going to court again. Many depot reporters are reluctant to go to court for fear of the unknown or experiential concerns. Handling daily court cases on your own is as good practice as it is in the world of court reporting.
Another way to consider promotion in court is through position. A position at the Supreme Court level is a step up from freelance testimony. A position in the District Court is a notch above the High Court. And being a Senate reporter, covering Senate hearings in Washington DC, is almost the top of the ladder here in the United States. I have met reporters who work at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. I know international reporters who travel all over the world reporting on testimony, hearings, conventions and meetings. A court reporter has so many options.
What do people underestimate or overestimate in what you do?
People often take court reporters for granted. People want our product, but they don’t want to pay for it. This is similar to what happened to the music industry when it went digital and it became commonplace to freely distribute music without buying it. The same thing happens with the court record. Because electronic files are so easily exchanged, lawyers and even the appellate court distribute our transcripts to anyone who wants to, and court reporters are not compensated for their work.
Lawyers do not understand everything that happens in preparation for a trial or trial. And after the trial is over, my work on their transcript is just beginning. They don’t understand the sacrifices we are making to get their transcript, working evenings and weekends without seeing their family, skipping meals and not being able to watch TV like normal people. When they ask for transcripts, they expect us to magically produce them right now. They do not understand all the work required to prepare a certified transcript — research, editing, refinement, proofreading, reading, and rereading.
What advice would you give to those who want to become your profession?
There are many resources that can help those interested in court reporting, including the National Association of Court Reporters . There are also numerous legal posts about Facebook groups. The most important thing you can do is go to court and witness what it is like to be in court.
Reading is also a prerequisite. Writing on our little typewriter can be taught, but a love of language, reading, words and grammar is what will make this career enjoyable and rewarding. Have passion and love what you do.
The court reporting industry is a very small, tight-knit community. Meet someone in the industry and make them your mentor.
How much money can you expect at your job?
Our pay scale is publicly available and can be found on the Internet. Salaries vary significantly based on geographic location, certifications and years of experience. It’s also important to note that court reporters have error and omission insurance, disability insurance, school loans, continuing education fees, and equipment costs that impact bottom line. Most people live comfortably, but few become rich. I am proud to receive the same remuneration as many lawyers, judges and doctors.
The salary range for a person starting in court and reporting full-time in California is $ 45,000 to $ 95,000. Officials’ salaries in Los Angeles and Orange County, California, are $ 97,000 plus transcript income. My last income in the last three years was $ 225,000 from my private civil litigation at the Los Angeles Supreme Court. I know several reporters who have done the same as me. And I know a longtime civil court reporter who I estimate was making $ 360,000 a year. According to an NCRA study, the richest 10% of people earning income in court earn more than $ 150,000 a year.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.