Court Reporters Are Necessary For Any Legal Proceeding

A court reporter is in charge of keeping an accurate record of legal proceedings. Those proceedings can include everything from a deposition for a restraining order to a Supreme Court case. There are court reporters that are employed by the courts so that all they do is work on court cases, both civil and criminal. There are also court reporters who provide other services, such as visiting lawyers offices for divorce cases and going to hospitals for interviews. These court reporters generally work for independent agencies that aren't associated with any particular court.  

What Does a Court Reporter Do?

There are different ways that a court reporter keeps the official record of the proceedings. One is that they can be a mask reporter. A mask court reporter repeats into a recorder everything that is said during the proceeding. After the session, the recording is transcribed so that there is both an audio and written record of what happened. The mask reporter may be the one who does the transcription, but that recording may also go to a transcriptionist who can do the job. 

A written reporter is one that uses the stenography machine to type out everything that is said during the court session or deposition. The machine generally uses a form of shorthand. It would take too long for the reporter to type out every word, especially if there are a lot of people talking all at once or someone is speaking quickly. The written reporter will then transcribe the shorthand account into standard English so that it is readable by everyone. During that period, the reporter will also do any proofing and editing to make sure that record is accurate.   

What Are Some Requirements to Become a Court Reporter?

One of the requirements to becoming a court reporter is to take some classes in legal and medical terms. Since court reporters can handle a wide variety of cases, it's important that they know how to spell the terms and the differences between different terms. For example, the terms agonist and antagonist can sound similar but have very different meanings. An agonist acts as a stimulant for cells in the same way that a naturally occurring substance would. An antagonist is a substance that negates the actions of another substance. Putting the wrong word in the official record can completely change the sentence and context. 

Court reporters (such as those provided by Farrell Court Reporting) are a necessary part of any court proceedings. The official record is used in that case as well as other related cases.

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