Court Reporters Can Use Your Help

Court ReportersCourt reporters can use you help in these six suggested ways .  The number one objective of court reporters is to preserve accurate and high-quality records for each of our customers. After all, without concise records of the case, it would be difficult – if not impossible to properly manage complex legal proceedings.

While it is a stenographer’s job to keep records that accurately reflect the deposition, there are certain things that you – as a legal assistant or paralegal – can do to make our jobs easier. Here are a few of them.

1. Sharing Case Captions with the Court Reporters

Near or at the top of the list of critical items to share with your court reporter is the case caption. Namely, the caption is important because it contains the title page of the transcript. So if you want to ensure that your deposition specialist has access to the case caption, you may want to get it to her before the deposition.

2. Maintain a Record of Appearances

Another important detail that you don’t want to leave out when requesting a deposition would be the names of all who may be present during the deposition–excluding attorneys. This helps the transcriptionist keep track of anyone who addresses the court.

3. Provide Uncommon Spellings

Another area that can slow your stenographer down is odd spellings. However, you can prevent misspellings in advance by proactively sharing the spelling of any uncommon names or words with the deposition specialist beforehand.

Likewise, outside of uniquely spelled words, there are other instances where you may want to provide a spelling list with your court reporter. For example, this may be required for certain technical terms that the transcriptionist does not use on a regular basis.

4. Ordering the Transcript

When the deposition is over your court reporter may ask if you would like to purchase records. If you do need transcripts, it helps to be prepared; which means knowing which format you need the transcript in before the court reporters asks you.

Please note that sometimes it can take a while to compile the records. If this happens, remember to be patient with the court reporter.

5. Share Email Addresses

Since email messages tend to be the preferred method of communication for stenographers, you’ll want to get into the habit of emailing them. The good news is that when you do so, your records will arrive intact and on time. In addition to your email address you may also want to share your lead attorney’s email address, as well.

6. Give Lunch Breaks

You’ve often heard it said that it’s the little things that count. The same holds true with stenographers who do so much just to ensure that your cases run smoothly. For instance, a deposition can easily last for several hours or more.

This is the perfect opportunity to show the court reporter that you care by allotting break time and having lunch delivered. Not only does this help the stenographer but since it gives the transcriptionist’s mind time to rest, it ultimately makes for better court reporting, as well.

As you can see, several of the items above can be shared with the stenographer before the start of proceedings.The bottom line is that heeding these suggestions can ultimately help devote more time to your case.

We thank you for taking the time to read our blog and all interested parties can Schedule a Deposition with us by clicking here.

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