Anyone who wants to become a court reporter will follow a similar academic and career paths. This means that they must graduate from an approved program, accumulate relevant work experience and depending on the state, obtain licensure and certification.
Earn a Degree
Many online and traditional technical schools and community colleges offer two-year degrees in areas like court reporting and stenography, which teach students how to use a computer and stenotype machine for closed and broadcast captioning and judicial reporting. Degrees in court reporting and voice writing teach students how to speak into special stenomask devices that translate their words through voice recognition software programs. …show more content…
They may annotate previously recorded and non-annotated court proceedings as needed. Court assistants help edit and prepare draft copies of transcripts in compliance with applicable standards and regulations. They may assist with monitoring audio quality, generating duplicate audio recordings and sharing approved CD and DVD copies of trials, depositions and court hearings.
They may be tasked with performing daily tests of digital court recording equipment located within various courtrooms in the morning prior to the start of court proceedings. They may trade out improperly functioning equipment and archive CDs and DVDs of daily courtroom proceeding records. Court assistants may provide reporting services during court proceedings, such as the playback of recordings in court for judges or referees. They will also perform clerical tasks, like maintaining log books of activities, keeping accurate records of requests and processing received orders.
Anyone who wants to become a court reporter should obtain certification through the National Court Reporters Association, such as the Registered Professional Reporters (RPR) credential, or the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers, such as the their Certified Electronic Reporter (CER) and Certified Electronic Transcriber (CET)