Court reporters/specialists recognized
Feb. 8—5th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Thomas M. O'Shaughnessy of Danville announced that this week, through Feb. 12, has been designated as Official Court Reporter and Court Specialist Week for 2022.
The 5th Judicial Circuit encompasses five counties: Clark, Coles, Cumberland, Edgar, and Vermilion.
Official Court Reporters and Court Specialists are a key player in legal proceedings. Court reporters rely on the latest in technology to use stenographic machines to capture the spoken word and translate it into written text in real time, oftentimes assisting members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities with gaining access to the courts.
The official court reporters and court specialists are responsible for producing an accurate and complete legal transcript of courtroom proceedings, including trials, hearings and other legal matters. A legal transcript is the exact record of every spoken word and who spoke it during the legal proceeding. These include all of the words spoken by the judge, lawyers, witnesses and other parties.
In order to capture this transcript, an official court reporter must be able to hear the words that are spoken and set them down as they occur. Official court reporters "write" (by keying) between 225 and 280 words per minute on a court reporting stenotype machine, which has keys representing certain letters of the alphabet.
Not all letters of the alphabet are represented by a key on the machine. An official court reporter must often press down two or more keys simultaneously to represent those letters or "sounds." The stenotype machine is oftentimes connected to a computer with software that then converts the shorthand to English creating the legal transcript.
A court specialist simultaneously monitors legal proceedings in multiple courtrooms through high-tech electronic recording systems. The court specialist then listens to the recording and prepares a written transcript.
In making the announcement, Chief Judge O'Shaughnessy said "Official court reporters and court specialists are career professionals with exemplary English skills, a strong work ethic, and the ability to focus for hours on end. They often have to deal with people under stress due to their legal problems. The judges of the Fifth Judicial Circuit appreciate the vital role they play in the judicial process, and acknowledge that they, as the silent guardians of the record, are critical to every case that comes before our courts. This week helps showcase what makes court reporting a viable career choice. Those reasons include a quicker entrance into the workforce since no four-year degree is required, good salaries, flexibility, interesting venues and the increasing demand for more reporters to meet the growing number of employment opportunities available in the field. If you're looking for a career that is on the cutting edge of technology and like to write, then the field of court reporting is a career you should explore."
