Court Reporting

Martin Deposition has been in continuous service since 1968, providing highly-skilled, experienced computerized Court Reporters and Videographers to ensure prompt delivery of an accurate record.

Court reporter with attorney and client

Court reporters document all statements made in an official proceeding using a stenotype machine and present their record as the official transcript. Because there is only one person creating an official transcript, accuracy is vitally important. Although many court reporters record official proceedings in the courtroom, most court reporters work outside the courtroom. Freelance reporters take depositions for attorneys in offices, and document proceedings of meetings, conventions, and other private activities. Others capture the proceedings in the U.S. Congress, State and local governing bodies, and government agencies at all levels.

Court reporters use stenotype machines, which allow them to press more than one key at a time to record combinations of letters representing sounds, words, or phrases. The symbols are then recorded on computer disks. The disks are loaded into a computer that translates and displays the symbols in English—this is called computer-aided transcription. Stenotype machines that link directly to the computer are used for real-time captioning. That is, as the reporter keys in the symbols, they are instantly transcribed by the computer. This is used for closed captioning for the deaf or hearing-impaired on television, or in courts, classrooms, or meetings. Court reporters who specialize in captioning live television programming are commonly known as stenocaptioners, and work for television networks or cable stations captioning news, emergency broadcasts, sporting events and other programming.

Stenographers take dictation and then transcribe their notes on a word processor or onto a computer diskette. They may take dictation using either shorthand or a stenotype machine, which prints shorthand symbols. General stenographers, including most beginners, take routine dictation and perform other office tasks such as typing, filing, answering telephones and operating office machines. Experienced and highly skilled stenographers take more difficult dictation. For example, they attend staff meetings and provide word-for-word records or summary reports of the proceedings to the participants. They also supervise other stenographers, typists, and clerical workers. Some experienced stenographers take dictation in foreign languages; others work as public stenographers serving traveling business people and others. Technical stenographers must know the medical, legal, engineering or scientific terminology used in a particular profession.