If you’ve not yet used video in your legal depositions, it’s time to consider the many benefits that you can derive from this technology. Legal depositions can be one of the technology tools in any attorney’s toolbox. There are several advantages to using video in depositions. Considering each one of the following benefits will allow you to ensure you’re taking full advantage of all the ways video depositions can be a benefit to you and your client.

1. Demonstrate a witness’s body language

Quite simply, legal video depositions assist attorneys in presenting a more compelling case. If you have a deposition transcript read into the record at trial, you are failing to show the jury the witness’ spontaneous reactions, emotional state and body language. You’re losing the pregnant pauses, nervous fidgeting and angry glares. You’re losing the opportunity to show the witness’ full demeanor when testifying. This may become important to a jury or in preparing your team for trial.

2. Hold the jury’s attention

Video depositions are much more likely to hold the jury’s attention. As you are presenting evidence, the last thing you want to see is a juror who has clearly lost interest and is not focused. In this age of television and YouTube, we are all conditioned to pay attention to a video screen for long stretches of time. Jurors will pay attention much longer to a deposition video than a transcript being read into the record.  

3. Bring a witness to trial who cannot attend in person

A video deposition can be used in the instance where a key witness will not be able to attend the trial. This situation could be due to the distance the witness may have to travel. It can also be due to physical or medial reasons that prevent the witness from attending. Video equipment can be brought to the witness who is unable to attend. In the case of an ill witness, video depositions can be set up in a hospital or nursing home if necessary. Using video in this way allows all parties to fully participate in a deposition without needing to be in the same physical location.

4. Save costly expert witness fees and travel expenses

Often a doctor or other highly qualified and respected witness may be used to offer an expert opinion. The cost of using their services can be rather high, especially if the witness has to travel and remain at the trial for several days. Having their testimony on video gives you the ability to use their words at any time during the proceedings and to be repeated, if necessary, during your closing arguments. The cost savings in this situation can be enormous.

5. View physical evidence

Video allows a judge and jury to view a witness handling an object of evidence. If you use a transcript of a deposition, and read it into the record at trial, the members of the jury, as well as the judge, will not be able to view the witness handling the object in the same manner and from the same angle. If the deponent’s handling of the object is critical, then capturing the activity on video is one way to ensure that everyone sees the same behaviors.

6. Preparing for trial

Outside of the courtroom, video depositions can also be a valuable tool for reference when considering whether to use particular witnesses at trial, and when preparing for the direct or cross-examination of those witnesses. By using video at depositions, you will be able to review the video and make assessments during your preparation when you are planning and fine tuning your trial presentation.

7. Impeaching a witness

Video deposition testimony may be used to impeach a witness if they change their testimony at trial. This is a common use of deposition video in court. Seeing the witness make an obviously different statement on the video than what they said in court has a much greater impact than simply reading written transcript testimony.

Using video strategically in your depositions can increase your effectiveness at trial and give you and your client a better result. If you decide to use video, contact Brown & Jones Reporting to help you set up the details. We will let you know what’s needed in order to conduct a video deposition. With a little planning, you can strategically use video in your depositions and get the maximum benefit from this technology.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Susan Kay is a Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Brown & Jones Reporting, Inc. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Google+.

Self-motivation is one of the requirements of being a good court reporter. While self-motivation keeps a court reporter working and getting work done, still there are times when tight deadlines can be tough for even the best court reporters. Tight deadlines often mean added stress. Straining to meet all of those deadlines can seem daunting and overwhelming.

To help tackle your excessive workload, here are some time management tips that will help you keep yourself organized and moving forward, accomplishing more work in less time:

1. Take the first 30 minutes of every day to plan your day. Don’t start your day until you’ve completed your plan for how you will spend your time. For instance, are you going to work on editing your latest transcript first, and then switch to proofreading later in the morning? Will you edit until the entire transcript is finished before switching tasks? Making decisions at the beginning of your day will allow you to easily move from one task to the next without hesitation.
2. Take five minutes before every task to decide what result you want to attain. This will help you know what success looks like before you start. Take five minutes after each task to determine whether your desired result was achieved. If not, what was missing? What do you need to bring the task to completion?
3. Put up a “Do not disturb” sign when you absolutely have to get work done. When I’m working in my home office and close my door, my family knows they are to let me work without disruption. Whether your office is in a traditional setting or a home office, it’s amazing how much you can get done when you are not being interrupted.
4. Resist answering the phone every time it rings, or answering email as soon as it shows up. Disconnect instant messaging. Don’t instantly give people your attention unless it’s absolutely crucial. Instead, schedule a time to answer email and return phone calls. Eliminating these constant interruptions can do wonders for boosting your productivity.
5. Break large, time-consuming tasks into smaller tasks. Work on them a few minutes at a time until you get them done. This works for large tasks as well as tasks over which you find yourself procrastinating. For instance, when it’s time to organize my tax receipts, I dread sitting down and going through all of them. But if I break it up into just a few minutes this morning, then work on it again a few minutes this afternoon, it makes it easier to accomplish.
6. Know when you work best. Are you a morning person? Then plan your priority tasks for the morning. Not sure when you work your best? Discover your best time by monitoring your productivity over a period of time. Once you find your best time, set your schedule to keep your best time free for your most important work. I know that I need to do proofreading in the morning, because I am often not as fresh in the afternoon and find it difficult to stay on task. But in the morning, I can get through many pages easily and know I didn’t miss anything.

We all have our own time management skills that work for us. Adding a new skill occasionally will help you make the most of the time you do have, and allow you to be more productive and less stressed.

What are some other tips that have helped you with time management?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Susan Kay is a Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Brown & Jones Reporting, Inc. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Google+.

Becoming a court reporter is no easy task. There is much to learn in order to complete a court reporting program and gain your certification. But learning doesn’t stop there. The judicial system depends on good qualified court reporters who can provide the best services. For a court reporter to get to the top of the field requires a continual expanding of skills, knowledge and experience. So how does a court reporter become a better court reporter?

1. Expand Your Skills

A court reporting career begins by graduating from a court reporting program and becoming certified.  Beyond initial certification, there are many ways to acquire higher skill levels through further certifications. The National Court Reporters Association offers several levels of certification including:

Registered Professional Reporter (RPR)
Registered Merit Reporter (RMR)
Registered Diplomate Reporter (RDR)
Certified Broadcast Captioner (CBC)
Certified CART Provider (CCP)
Certified Legal Video Specialist (CLVS)
Certified Reporting Instructor (CRI)
Master Certified Reporting Instructor (MCRI)
Certified Program Evaluator (CPE) 

Gaining higher levels of certification allows you to demonstrate your commitment to the industry and build credibility in the eyes of your clients. It allows you to build and showcase your skills. More doors of opportunity will open to you as you gain higher certification. This is one way to continue to advance your career.

2. Expand Your Knowledge 

Another way to become a better court reporter is to expand your knowledge. This includes expanding your knowledge of the profession. A great way to learn more about your industry and profession is to get involved in your state and national court reporters associations. Associations will have opportunities for you to meet other court reporters. While networking with other reporters, you will be able to talk to a wide variety of reporters who have the same issues and concerns that you deal with every day.

Besides networking with other reporters, associations have a number of opportunities to get involved.  You may wish to participate in workshops and seminars that will allow you to further your skill level and learn about topics of particular interest to court reporters. Associations often are involved in lobbying efforts on court reporting issues. If you’re looking for a way to give back, many associations can put you in touch with a pro bono program that will allow you to donate your services to low-income citizens in need of legal court reporting services.

3. Expand Your Experience

The best court reporters have a wide variety of experiences in different areas of the profession. Once you become a court reporter and get comfortable with the profession, you may consider broadening the types of assignments you take in order to begin to challenge yourself. For instance, if you’ve never taken medical malpractice cases, you may begin to look for resources to start familiarizing yourself with medical terminology, and let your employer know you’re interested in taking on the higher challenge of medical testimony. Or maybe it’s time to start working on your realtime skills. You may be interested in CART and find an opportunity to job shadow a local CART provider. If you’re interested in improving your speed, you might begin preparing for a speed contest. Look for ways to challenge yourself. Find one that’s right for you, and pursue it.

Becoming a better court reporter takes time. You can continue your journey one step at a time. Choose one challenge to work on. Once you’ve mastered that challenge, choose another. The reporters who are at the top of the industry have done exactly that. They have mastered one new area at a time, and have done so over the full lifetime of their careers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jane Jones is a court reporter, Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Brown & Jones Reporting, Inc. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Google+.

Since I have been a court reporter for 25-plus years (I won’t admit to exactly how many) I often think about what qualities define a great court reporter. This is a list I have come up with. Please feel free to add anything I have omitted.

1. Always arrive one-half hour before the start time. Don’t make the attorneys worry about whether they have a reporter showing up. It’s also nice to get set up and relax and be able to talk with the attorneys beforehand.
2. Affirm Vs. Sworn – If the witness would rather affirm, rather than be sworn, make sure you know the difference.
3. Interpreter – Make sure you know how to handle the oath for an interpreter and know how to set up the transcript.
4. Be friendly and professional.
5. Shake hands with attorneys. Introduce yourself.
6. Ask the witness what their name is and how to spell it – both the first and the last name.
7. Don’t interrupt the proceedings unless it is necessary; for example, when the witness is mumbling or reading so fast you can’t understand what they are saying or if two people are talking at once. You cannot sit there like a mouse either. You need to take control.
8. Try to get spellings during the breaks and at the end of the deposition.
9. At the end of the deposition, make sure you have all exhibits before the parties leave the room. If you find you are missing an exhibit after everyone has left the room, no one will admit to having it.
10. Make sure you get verbal or written orders from all parties.
11. If the attorney wants to expedite the transcript, ask them when they want it. If they say Monday, ask them if that means Monday morning or afternoon. This will save you a lot of grief later.
12. If you promise something, make sure you deliver on your promise.
13. Give good service.
14. If the transcript is confidential, ask if the attorneys want the entire transcript marked confidential or if they want two separate transcripts. If the whole thing is confidential, find out what language they want on the title page, Attorneys’ Eyes Only, Confidential, etc. Depending on the jurisdiction, there is different language used. Do they want something on the header of each page? Find out exactly what they want.
15. If one attorney wants to split the original, make sure the other party agrees to this while they are both present. Otherwise, you may have a big mess on your hands later on, when the other side doesn’t agree with the billing.
16. If there are a lot of exhibits, ask if they want hard copies. Do not assume. If there is a big blueprint, find out if they want it reproduced in its actual size or whichever way is cheaper. Depending on the case, it can go either way. If the exhibits are in color, always ask if attorneys want color copies or black and white. They are charged more for color copies, so they should be given a choice.
17. If you receive a message from your office to call an attorney or a secretary, do it as soon as possible.
18. Make sure you account for everyone in the room so you can include them in your appearances.
19. Stay current with your technology. Know how to use timers, in case the attorney wants you to keep track of the accumulated deposition time.
20. Become a realtime reporter.
21. Practice your skills so that you can always read back efficiently and accurately.

These are some things that come to mind when I think of what makes a great court reporter. I’m sure some of you can add some items to my list, so I look forward to hearing what makes you a great court reporter! Let us know in the comments!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jane Jones is a court reporter, Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Brown & Jones Reporting, Inc. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Google+.

What is a court reporter?

If you’ve ever seen a court stenographer in court, or on movies and television shows, you may have wondered what they really do.  We are the person who sits in the court room or in a deposition, who takes down every spoken word during the proceedings.  We prepare official transcripts for use by attorneys, judges and litigants.  These transcripts are used as the official record of the events that took place during the deposition, hearing or trial.  We are responsible for certifying that what has been entered is accurate and true to the best of our ability.

What preparation does a reporter go through to begin a career in court reporting? 

To become a court reporter, we have gone through college programs that teach us the skill of steno writing at a very high level of speed and accuracy.  It can take 2 to 5 years to reach the level of skill that is required to receive certification to work as a court reporter.  We have to demonstrate that we can write at a speed of 225 words per minute, with 97 percent accuracy.

What does it take to be a court reporter? 

Court reporters need excellent communication, organizational and time management skills.  We have the ability to work in a high-pressure environment. We know how to work under a deadline.  The documents we prepare are the only official account of the court proceedings and are vital to the credibility of the judicial system.  We take this responsibility very seriously.

Who hires a court reporter?  

Attorneys and corporations hire freelance reporters when they have a need for an accurate and complete record of proceedings, such as depositions, board of director meetings, stockholder minutes or other legal proceedings. 

How do court reporters make the record?

Court reporters use a computer and stenotype machine to take down the spoken words they hear.  The stenotype machine allows the reporter to use a form of shorthand by using sounds of words to record data.  The computer uses software called computer-aided transcription to translate the information into English. 

What technology do court reporters need to know?

Over the years, technology has changed the way in which we do our job. Court reporters are using more advanced technology to provide instant transcription in rough draft form on computer screens while the proceeding is in session.  This is called realtime translation.  This technology is also used to allow the deaf and hard-of-hearing community access to what is happening in a live classroom, meeting or theater. This skill is also used to caption live television shows, such as newscasts.  Court reporting technology now often involves videoconferencing, live internet streams, specialized print programs for transcript formatting, just to name a few technologies.

Our profession is a quiet one. We are always in the background, patiently taking down every word that is spoken, sometimes working in very difficult, emotional and trying circumstances, but we always protect the record. We know how important the role is that we play in the legal system, and we are proud to be the guardians of the record.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jane Jones is a court reporter, Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Brown & Jones Reporting, Inc. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Google+.