1. Transcript Production
2. Redaction
3. Mobility
4. Human Intervention
5. Accurate NOT Adequate
6. Realtime
7. ADA Compliance
8. Quick Turn Around [of transcripts]
9. Certified Court Reporter
10. Customer Service

While these top ten were written with ER (electronic recording) in mind, I think they also fall perfectly into the reasons why a certified reporter is essential for quality transcripts — but now I’m getting ahead of myself. What other key reasons do you see for using a court reporter?

In my state of Tennessee, certification of court reporters is not a requirement.  There have been attempts made in the past few years to require certification of court reporters, but those attempts have failed.  Our professional association, the NCRA (National Court Reporters Association), does encourage and provide the opportunity to earn certification at the national level.  There are several skill levels, beginning with the RPR (Registered Professional Reporter) and the highest level is the RDR (Registered Diplomate Reporter).  More on that later.

Are you certified?  What are your thoughts about certification?

Lynette L. Mueller, RDR, CRR, is the founder and administrator of this website. The purpose is twofold:

First, to provide a “Reporter Corner” where court reporters can share best practices for our profession, as well as an area for discussion of our craft.

Second, to provide an area where attorneys and paralegals seeking answers to the eternal question of “how do I get more value from my court reporter expenditures”. 

I hope to have some fun along the way, so join in and let’s get started.