When Maria Schultz of Sioux City, Iowa was first introduced to court reporting it was from watching "The Carol Burnett Show."

"They do these courtroom sketches and show this little lady typing furiously into a little typewriter," Schultz told the Sioux City Journal. "Let me tell you, court reporting is nothing like what you see on TV."

After 33 years as a court reporter, Schultz is retiring from Iowa's 3rd Judicial District. During her stint in the system, she worked with three different judges, the most recent being Edward Jacobson, whom she reported to for 11 years.

As Schultz can attest, the court reporting industry has evolved in leaps and bounds over the years. From handwritten notes to high-tech transcribing software, these professionals offer many advantages to attorneys and judges.

Through her time as a court reporter Schultz was able to see the industry evolve into what it is today. From the very beginning when she had to type two or three copies of a deposition transcripts using carbon and onion-skin paper and when the electronic typewriters of the 1980s hit the courtrooms. Now, software is able to translate the notes Schultz takes during depositions and hearings in realtime, and those transcripts go directly to litigators.

In addition, Wisconsin court reporters are also able to provide video deposition technology. This allows for litigators to depose their clients from anywhere. Also, it can not only help create a more efficient practice, but can also solve any logistical issues they may be experiencing. Furthermore, these services are also available to any surrounding businesses or professionals that may need to have a face-to-face meeting with a business partner abroad.

Who people work with can be a critical part of how productive they are. This can be especially true in the legal system, as judges and lawyers rely on the works of court reporters to provide accurate transcripts of depositions and hearings. These manuscripts are critical to how litigators are able to assess and proceed with cases.

This may be why Hamilton County Judge Ralph "Ted" Winkler hired his long-time friend and court reporter Deb Wallace, despite surmounting controversy over the partnership, according to Cincinnati Online.

According to the source, Winkler rehired Deb Wallace out of retirement as his court reporter. This allows Wallace to not only collect pension, but also earn a public salary, which is called a "double dip." Furthermore, Judge Winkler's wife, Clerk of Courts Tracy Winkler, rehired Vince Wallace as the Chief Deputy of Operations, allowing him to also double dip into public funds.

"She's the best court reporter ever," Winkler told the source. "She's loyal and honest to me … I'm willing to take the heat for that loyal and honest of an employee. If they happen to be a good friend of yours, should that disqualify you?"

Winkler also stated that he did not want a "green court reporter" in his room.

Court reporters are an integral part of the American court system as they not only provide accurate deposition transcripts, but also provide a number of other services. For example, Milwaukee court reporters also offer video deposition services, allowing judges and attorneys from anywhere to depose clients and other individuals, as well as acquiring deposition transcripts in a speedy and efficient manner.

Actos, a type 2 diabetes medication that was approved in 1999, is created by Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is currently being sued by the family of a man from Wisconsin who recently passed away due to cancer that the plaintiff claims he obtained from a long-term use of the drug.

"The suit alleges that use of the drug caused extensive pain and suffering, severe emotional distress, and substantially reduced the Decedent's ability to enjoy life," wrote Parker Waichman, the law firm representing the plaintiff, in a press release.

The deceased began taking Actos in 2004 and developed bladder cancer five years later. The deceased passed away in October 2010, alleging that it was due to the long running use of Actos.

The lawsuit is also alleging that Takeda Pharmaceutical failed to warn that Actos may cause bladder cancer, although last summer the United States Food and Drug Administration required that the company update its warning label to state that Actos can increase the risk of contracting the disease.

In addition, the release cited many studies that tie Actos to an increased risk of bladder cancer. For example, the Canadian Medical Association Journal stated that patients who take Actos become 22 percent more likely contract the disease.

During a major lawsuit such as this one, it may benefit lawyers and judges involved in the case to acquire the most accurate deposition transcripts, which increases  the importance of partnering with realtime court reporters. Furthermore, as the pharmaceutical company may not be in the same state as the plaintiff, lawyers can also benefit from partnering with Wisconsin court reporters that offer video deposition services.

The court reporting industry is known for its ability to implement new technology into its standard mode of operations. Evolving from handwritten deposition transcripts to stenograph machines that allow reporters to take down hearings and other events in realtime, these professionals have always been able to not only keep up with the pace of the court system, but even provide a unique experience.

For example, Jane Moore was a court reporter in Tippecanoe County, Indiana during the the middle to late decades of the 20th century. While she was often busy recording hearings and creating transcripts from the court system, she was able to find some free time to weave in a passion of hers.

When Moore was not transcribing depositions or hearings, she was sketching headshots of attorneys and defendants on small notepad paper, according to the JC Online, a local paper. She did this throughout the late 1960s and early '70s often giving the sketches to Tippecanoe Circuit Court Judge Don Daniel, who kept them in two different photo albums.

While Judge Daniel has often kept these sketches in his chambers, he was recently able to post them in a local pharmacy, which gladly took in as many as they could hang on their walls.

"People came just to see them. Relatives of people in the drawings came to see them," Steve Klink, owner of the pharmacy, told the source. "Lawyers who were pictured got a big kick out of it. It was interesting for everyone to see the defendants and talk about the old cases."

As technology evolves, lawyers and judges can still use court reporters as a way to not only transcribe depositions and hearings, but also provide headshots of suspects and witnesses. By partnering with Wisconsin court reporters that offer video deposition services, litigators will be able to effectively represent their clients and receive accurate deposition transcripts while obtaining videos and still frames that can provide whatever visuals may be needed.

It's not uncommon for many die-hard football fans to get a little out of hand. This can be especially true as the quality of play increases. The University of Wisconsin in Madison is typically considered a major football program and, as such, its teammates are high-profile figures on the school's campus.

Robert Wilks and Wendell Venerable were found guilty of substantial battery after reportedly attacking Montee Ball, the starting running back at the University of Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. The attack happened on August 1 as Ball was walking home from a night out with friends on campus.

Although the attack on Ball may have been related to another incident from July between Ball and the defendants, there was no official link, according to local police officers.

The two defendants were given the first offenders placement, which is a program that requires the two to meet certain stipulations under a contract and meet with professionals. If they are unable to do this, they'll be brought back to Judge St. John and be sentenced, which can be up to 3-and-a-half years for substantial battery. 

"This gives you an opportunity to get the support and services you need to avoid coming back into the criminal justice system," Judge St. John told the defendants.

With cases that often involve only a few individuals, it may be hard for prosecutors to produce third-party or objective evidence of the crime. In such a situation, it could be best for litigators to partner with realtime court reporters that can provide accurate deposition transcripts and even video deposition services that will allow lawyers the ability to piece together the events.

Oftentimes, mentally ill individuals must have a court-appointed guardian to help them make decisions and even manage more complicated aspects of society, such as taxes and finances. As such, these guardians are put in a position of power over the finances, which can be easily abused.

According to the Wausau Daily-Herald, Nancy Rodemeier was the the legal guardian for her mentally-disabled sister from May 2000 to December 2011. During this time, Rodemeier embezzled more than $38,000 to help fund her gambling, smoking and drinking habits.

Rodemeier was removed as guardian when an agent from the Adult Protective Services found the financial falsities in her sister's bank account. When giving the opportunity to refute the accusation, Rodemeier could not produce any financial records disproving this. Therefore, an audit which found checks written out of her disabled sister's bank accounts to numerous bars, tobacco and grocery stores.

"This is a family matter," Jim Connell, Rodemeier's attorney, told the source. "I don't believe this should have been a criminal case."

As this case revolves around the actions of close close family members, most of which may be undocumented besides the movement of money within the individuals involved, it may be necessary for lawyers to partner with experienced Milwaukee court reporters. These professionals can provide accurate deposition transcripts which will allow the litigators to more effectively represent their clients, and conduct an efficient trial.

Captioning is a critical aspect to streaming videos. Broadcasters must be able to supply not only content on standard mediums, such as Television, with captions for deaf or hard-of-hearing consumers, but also now on the internet, as digital video has exploded into a critical element of consumption.

The Washington Post reported that 1.2 million minutes of video are estimated to be streamed or downloaded every second. In addition, YouTube expects 90 percent of online traffic to be just digital video in the next few years and Netflix, the digital video subscription service, made up almost one-third of online data that was used in the United States in 2011.

According to e-Week, YouTube is actually adding six more languages for its captioning services – German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Russian and Dutch.

"For a deaf or hard-of-hearing person watching video programs online, especially those that are consumer-generated, many programs are not required by law to be captioned," Andrew Phillips, a staff attorney for the National Association of the Deaf, told e-Week. "But this tool … improves accessibility to these programs giving us better access. It's nice to have the tools to do that and to help us when the law doesn't necessarily apply."

Although the FTC has now required that any content that has been broadcasted on television must also be captioned on the internet, many popular digital videos were made explicitly for the Web.

For companies that plan on providing digital video content, partnering with realtime, Wisconsin court reporters is a great way to ensure that transcripts are created efficiently and accurately. Furthermore, realtime court reporters can be used during any live event as a way to provide captioning for performances and sporting events.

In 1979, revered American writer Charles Portis wrote a novel titled "Dog of The South" about a man that uses credit card statements to trace the movement of his wife and her lover across the southern states and into South America in an attempt to find his wife and win her back. While Wisconsin's authorities may not have gone to the extent of Portis' protagonist, they did use a similar tactic to find and convict Jason Anderson.

In November 2011, Nicole Anderson died from a gunshot and while the exact actions leading up to the death of Jason's wife may remain unclear, a jury decided the man is guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, according to the Appleton Post-Crescent.

Local authorities were able to locate Jason Anderson in Birmingham, Alabama where he, reportedly, fled after shooting his wife. The officials were tipped off about his whereabouts from an ATM transaction, according to WLUK-TV, the local Fox affiliate.

The jury also found Anderson guilty of possession of an illegal firearm. Although a sentencing date has not been immediately set, life in prison is mandatory for the individual's crime. The judge has yet to decide if and when he could be eligible for parole.

"I think we presented a very straightforward case," Dan Kaminsky, the Fond du Lac County district attorney, told the Post-Crescent. "All the evidence came in clean and we made very logical arguments to the jury."

While the man may have originally been from Fond du Lac, he might have spent some time held by authorities in Alabama, where he was apprehended. By partnering with Wisconsin court reporters that can provide video deposition services, lawyers will be able to depose suspects from across the country. Furthermore, by partnering with realtime court reporters, lawyers can obtain accurate transcripts in a speedy and efficient manner, allowing for better representation.

While most consumers may think of Wall Street when they hear the term "trading floor," individuals invested in the agriculture industry may think of the CME Group and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), which has been the epicenter of agricultural commerce for some time.

A judge in Cook County has stated that a group of grain traders can continue their lawsuit against the CME, hoping to overturn its new price-settlement rules.

According to Reuters, the traders that work in the open-outcry pits sued CME over new end-of-day rules that would factor in transactions that had been executed electronically. This is in contrast to the traditional way, nearly 100-years-old, of settling the future prices of crops, such as corn and soybeans, on the transactions that were completed on the floor. Many traders feel the changes made the pits irrelevant.

The Wisconsin AgConnection reported that the settlement change "has caused rapid, dramatic decreases in trades" and "will eventually, effectively, eliminate the CBOT open outcry market for agricultural futures." In addition, the traders state that the CME should not have implemented the new laws because they were not approved by a majority vote from certain members of the CBOT.

By partnering with Wisconsin court reporter that provide video deposition services, all members  of the parties involved in cases will be able to be deposed, regardless of whether they're in Chicago, Wisconsin or elsewhere. Furthermore, these realtime court reporters can offer accurate deposition transcripts, ensuring that lawyers are able to effectively represent their clients and recall back testimonies and statements made during the trial and other meetings.

A former court reporter in Butler County, Ohio has filed a complaint against Judge Michael Sage with the United States Equal Opportunity Commission. According to the Journal-News, Jennifer Olivier claimed that after her and Judge Sage's nine-year affair, she began being sexually discriminated by the judge.

"Beginning on December 17, 2011 I was subjected to quid pro quo harassment, a hostile work environment and retaliation because of my sex," Olivier stated in her complaint, as reported by the source. "My pay was reduced, my office was moved, I was left out of office meetings and treated differently by managers and co-workers."

Olivier stated that Sage  pursued a personal relation with her beginning in 2003. Scott Warwick, an attorney hired by the county, concluded that Oliver was the creator of the work environment.

This lawsuit comes in the midst of whether the Butler County court system will also keep its court reporter program. Oliver, and three other court reporters, lost their jobs when the system decided to initiate cuts from the program.

The pending complaint was actually influential enough to sway a few board members to vote to keep the system. In addition, some felt that new audio recording software are not accurate enough and do not offer the quick turnaround that realtime court reporters can with transcripts.

It's clear that this lawsuit may involve hours of personal testimonies and depositions, by partnering with Wisconsin court reporters, lawyers can ensure that they acquire the most accurate deposition transcripts. Furthermore, these professionals can provide video deposition services, which can allow clients to meet despite holiday travels or other logistical issues.