Court Reporters / Stenographers

Some services are getting certifications -- which is great -- but it's not necessarily enough.

A digital recording is no substitute for the neutrality and legitimacy that is inferred when a court report is involved in recording the testimony of witnesses.

The legal community is much smaller than lawyers like to think, and it is likely that court reporters will see the same attorneys over and over again, especially if a court reporter specializes in a practice area in which the attorney works.

For a variety of reasons, court reporters perform a vital role in the legal process and deserve much respect within the legal community.

Remote proceedings may be here to stay, but that won't change the basics of reporting.

And we need more fast!

In an age when smartphones can take great video, why are we paying $200 an hour for videotaping of depositions?

Just how fast can they type?

You wouldn't expect the word "butthurt" to be used professionally by lawyers during legal proceedings -- until now.

If a court reporting service just didn't prepare transcripts in criminal cases for months on end, they might earn themselves a hearty benchslapping.

* Clearly we’ve got some problems, Cleary: Following Argentina’s default, the country is being advised to drop the law firm that said it was a good idea to default in the first place. [The Guardian]

* Lawyers have been flocking to Ferguson, Missouri, left and right to serve as “the eyes and ears of those who protect and guarantee civil rights.” That’s nice, but it’s kind of not working. [National Law Journal]

* “I really don’t know how the people who work there can keep a sense of sort of personal dignity.” American Law plunged in the rankings because of its “dubious employment prospects.” Ouch. [Washington City Paper]

* In case you’ve been wondering what the NFL’s response to all of the cheerleader wage-and-hour complaints are, here it is: “Labor law? LOL. The NFL is immune from state labor law.” [NBC Bay Area]

* Apparently there’s a national court-reporting championship that the world has been missing out on — until now. There was a major upset this year, and a new winner was crowned. Congrats! [WSJ Law Blog]

You know how when you’re drunk you think everything you’re writing makes perfect sense? Yeah…

* Roger Clemens was found not guilty on charges of lying to Congress about using steroids. [New York Times] * Why did the ABA Journal kill a feature story on mentoring by Dan Hull and Scott Greenfield? The world may never know, and the world may never see the story. [Simple Justice] * Q: What does a male lawyer do when his female secretary gives him a nice little Father’s Day gift? A: Freak out because random acts of kindness are so unusual, and then write a letter to a New York Times advice columnist. [New York Times] * If you’ll be in D.C. this Thursday, June 21, check out this battle of the law firm bands — a fun event that we’ve covered before, as well as a fundraiser for a worthy cause. [Banding Together 2012] * ATL readers are awesome. You guys have already been a huge help to this court reporter who almost died when he fell into the Chicago River. The family is still taking donations, and now there’s a PayPal link, so it’s even easier to lend a hand to Andrew Pitts and his family. [Kruse Reporters Blog] * A closer look at the continuing rapid progress of predictive coding (or, as skeptics would say, our new computer overlords) in legal discovery. [WSJ Law Blog] * New York’s “hot dog hooker,” Ms. Catherine Scalia (no, not that Scalia), was sentenced to jail. Maybe she should have deigned to sell chocolate milkshakes instead. [Gothamist]

This must be the most profanity-laced piece of transcript since Aaron Wider’s deposition. It’s the transcript of the sentencing hearing before Judge Frederic Block (E.D.N.Y.) at which Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Pokorny was attacked by the defendant, before the court reporter and defense counsel tackled the assailant. The transcript was prepared by Ron Tolkin, the […]

The Empire State is sending all sorts of craziness our way lately. From the New York — no, not the Washington — Post: A female federal prosecutor was viciously attacked by a hulking, razor-wielding drug dealer in a Brooklyn courtroom yesterday – and was saved when the thug’s 72-year-old lawyer and others tackled him. “He […]

Is trouble brewing in Paradise? And no, we’re not referring to the computer and wi-fi problems that are causing us to blog at a somewhat sluggish leisurely pace today, here in sunny Miami. We now bring you a bit of local color, about allegedly procrastinating court reporters in south Florida….