Court Reporting: Tips For Creating High-Quality Transcripts

A court reporter's job is important. He or she is responsible for the written record of various legal proceedings. Work like this requires attention to detail. Therefore, court reporters need to ensure that they are focused when performing their work outside of the courtroom. When performing transcripts, to ensure that they are prepared at the highest quality, here are a few tips court reporters will want to follow.

Tip #1: Create the Perfect Work Space

Though many do not realize it, court reporters work outside of the courtroom and conference room. Once the legal proceedings are completed for the day, they have to perform extensive editing. Therefore, court reporters need a space that is free of distractions and quiet.

Tip #2: Print Copies of Transcripts

When reviewing transcripts, it is always a good idea to proofread in multiple formats. So, rather than only proofreading on the computer screen, print out copies of your transcripts so that you can also proofread them on paper. With a hard copy, there is a good chance that you will pick up on some additional errors.

Tip #3: Double-Check Proper Nouns

All legal proceedings will contain proper nouns—and likely a lot of them—like witness names, company names, and street names. During your editing of the transcripts, it is imperative that you fact check the spellings of these. In many cases, the legal assistants of the attorneys on the case will actually submit the information to you regarding these, or you may be able to check with the paperwork that was provided during the deposition.

Tip #4: Avoid Speed Editing

When court reporters are in the courtroom, they have to work at a rapid pace in order to keep up with the live legal proceedings. With editing, however, it is important to take things down several notches; otherwise, something will be missed.

Tip #5: Give It a Final Read

While it is true that legal transcripts are quite long, it is important that court reports give them a final and full read prior to handing them over. This allows you to check for any last-minute errors and to check for flow and continuity. The last thing that you want to do is to turn something in that isn't perfect.

Whether you would like to become a court reporter or you would like to hire one, reach out to court reporting service, like brentwood court reporting services, today to learn more.


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