Court reporting is an honorable profession with an illustrious past and an exciting future. With the rapid advancement of technology, court reporters are needed even more today than when the Sumerian scribes began preserving the record in 3500 B.C.
Today’s court reporters are highly trained, tech-savvy guardians of the record who are able to stream real-time* over the web simultaneously to parties participating in depositions at locations all over the world, and to provide broadcast captioning or CART voice-to-text instant visual displays of breaking news, seminars, sports, conferences, and other events for hard-of-hearing persons. No machine, electronic recording or app can replace a live court reporter!
The path to becoming a licensed court reporter requires courage, perseverance, focus, grit, and flexibility. Through my reporter-of-record apprenticeships, court reporting students and new reporters learn to:
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- Feel CONFIDENT in their steno writing, editing, proofreading, and transcribing skills
- Master speaking up to get a verbatim record (the #1 challenge of all working reporters)
- Develop proficiency in managing myriad tasks and challenges in their education and career
REPORTER-OF-RECORD APPRENTICESHIPS
Since 2008, I have trained advanced court reporting students and newly licensed California Certified Shorthand Reporters (CSRs) in the art and science of capturing and protecting the record at hundreds of apprenticeships throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley.
In collaboration with litigators, law and high school professors, law firm administrators, and attorney associations, I have provided crucial real-life reporter-of-record apprenticeship opportunities in mock deposition and mock trial events at law schools, law firms, courthouses, and private venues.
As a result of my mentorship and training, court reporting students dubbed me Mock Woman.
Unlike traditional internships, where a reporting student shadows a working reporter, my apprentices feel what it’s like to be THE REPORTER: They speak up as often as needed to get the best record they can, swear in witnesses, mark exhibits, and produce rough or final transcripts. **
These collaborations offer fundamental practical skills experiences for all participants:
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- As required by the Court Reporters Board of California, “the fundamental duty of a court reporter is to protect the record, including interrupting if the accuracy of the record is jeopardized.” Apprentices must interrupt as often as needed, thus providing a solemn “reality check” to students and lawyers that their spoken words are being captured and transcribed.
- Apprentices later produce rough drafts or final transcripts of the proceedings – useful tools for all other participants to improve their performances questioning and defending witnesses as attorneys of record.
- Reporting students and new reporters are able to overcome fear, nervousness, and anxiety; learn how and when to interrupt; develop self-confidence; the benefits of working with a team; and to immediately utilize the lessons from these extra-curricular practical skills events in their training and career.
LEARN HOW TO BE THE REPORTER OF RECORD
LEARN HOW TO BE THE REPORTER OF RECORD
- Swear in witnesses
- Mark exhibits
- Produce rough drafts or final transcripts
- Manage time (pre-mock prep, showing up, delivering rough drafts)
- State your Reporter’s Admonition before going on the record
- Speak up for the record in six Q&A sessions with six law students
- Create, edit, and produce rough drafts
- Manage stressful situations and personalities
- Speak up to ensure the integrity of the record
EXPERT SUPPORT & RESOURCES
- Case files, exhibits, and dictionaries
- Participants’ names
- Rough draft transcript templates with disclaimers
- Protocol and instructional manual
- One-on-one transcript reviews
- Practice speaking up and reading back in weekly Mock Squad team Zooms
- Membership in Mock Woman
- Apprenticeships Facebook group (by invitation only)
- Coaching and breathwork support and practice
Individual and group coaching provide insights, tips and solutions. Effective coaching processes help to build resilience and gain confidence. See my Coaching page for more info!
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE
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- Serious, motivated, reliable steno and voice court reporting students writing 180+ WPM and new or returning reporters wanting extra practice.
Are you ready to develop professional skills in a real-life setting?
Multiple reporters needed for mock deposition and trial skills training sessions
* Realtime is the instant transcription of a reporter’s shorthand into English, visible on attorneys’ standalone computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.
**Unlike shadowing, you are THE REPORTER at these mock events.
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Download your copy of my ebook, 0-225: Your Guide to Writing Mastery.
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Graphic of Sumerian Scribe from The Gallery of Shorthand.
Photos copyright Ana Fatima Costa. All rights reserved.