The career of a court reporter is very rewarding and challenging. In most instances, work-life balance is good and compensation is high. Why? Well, a court reporter is responsible for recording testimony with the utmost accuracy in a legal proceeding. The court reporting brain must process this testimony in real-time, and in many situations the vocabulary being used is highly specialized. This information is then simultaneously translated into court reporting language, which will be translated back at a later point.

Attributes of the Best Court Reporters

At the Court Reporting and Litigation Support firm of Kaplan Leaman & Wolfe, we have identified that the best court reporters possess the following attributes:

• Excellent listening skills
• High levels of concentration
• The ability to multi-task
• A passion about perfection
• An inquisitive mind
• Perfect communication skills

 

What Do The Experts Say About Court Reporters?

In a recent federal court matter, a neuropsychologist gave expert testimony as to the complexity of the human brain. In his testimony, he used the Court Reporter’s brain as an example. Here is what he testified to:

Neuropsychologist: “May I give an example of this?”

Counsel: “Sure.”

Neuropsychologist: “Okay. If you look — and the example is this: Our brains are a miracle. Okay? They’re a miracle that needs to be protected. And if you look at the court reporter right now, as an example, okay, this is a miracle in progress happening right before your eyes.

Let me just explain what she needs to do. I am speaking, so the information has to come in through her ear into her temporal lobe, and it has to go log itself into the language center. She has to be able to comprehend what I’m saying.

Then it has to get rerouted to the prefrontal cortex where it has to hold — she has to be able to hold the information, because, you know, I continuously talk so she has to hold it. Right? Then she has to analyze it, integrate it and synthesize it. Then it has to go back to the cerebellum and she has to be able to execute this, and she has to be able to then convert my words into those little squiggly marks. Have you ever seen court reporters have little squiggly language things?

So she has to convert it into a different language, and the white matter tracks allow her to reroute all of this information simultaneously without effort. Okay.

We take our brains for granted. She’s sitting here. I’m probably talking too fast for her, but she’s able to do this simultaneously. Seamlessly. Okay?

No animal on the planet can do this. All right? That’s why I believe court reporters will never be replaced. Because no technical — no technology could replace the beauty of that brain and the miracle of that brain.

And that’s why your brain should always be protected and you should take care of it. It takes a special brain to be a court reporter.”

Conclusion

As you spend time with family this Holiday weekend, you may encounter family members who are considering different career paths. Hopefully this blog article will provide you with some great insights on the career of a court reporter!

Kaplan Leaman & Wolfe is a court reporting and litigation support firm with its headquarters in Philadelphia, PA. We serve law firms, courts, and insurance companies in every state across the United States with their court reporting and litigation support needs.