Does anyone use a scopist and a proofer?

[Mary Motley O'Brien]

I am on the brink of starting a family, and have often thought how awesome it would be if I could get to the point of trusting someone so much to not have to proof my own work. Currently, I send practically every job to a scopist and I proof it, but all I do is proof proof proof, early mornings and on and off all weekend. Ideally when I have a child, I would love to not have to spend so much time working on the weekend but without having to cut down the amount of pages I do during the week. The problem is, it's my work product and I've never felt safe enough to trust someone else to be the last set of eyes on my job(of course I would skim over it after) So my question is, does anyone use this method? I thought perhaps if I had the proofer proof to the audio, as well, and read "the story" as opposed to just looking for spelling and punctuation, then they could pick up things they wouldn't otherwise find, since when I proof, alot of times, I find examples of exactly that. Maybe they heard it differently, but by me being there and understanding the story, I know it's not right. Any thoughts on this would be very helpful...plus any proofers thoughts who would be interested in developing a relationship that could accomodate this. Thanks =)

[Patricia Babits]

Hi, I know one reporter who only uses a scopist. The scopist scopes word-for-word with the audio. The reporter proofed her in the beginning and didn't find any mistakes. So all she does is fill out the worksheet and send in her work. She is also an excellent reporter, real-timer and a Merit writer.

[Mary Motley O'Brien]

Really? I always find stuff in my transcripts, whether it's a hearing problem, or punctuation. That would scare me to do that, but I guess if you work with your scopist to get them that exact, it could work. Thanks for the reply =)

[Mary Motley O'Brien]

I hear you. And that is my concern. Thanks for your input.
$50,000 on fees? How many pages a week do you do? I work pretty much every day but I know I don't spend that much on scoping fees. Maybe half of that. But then again, there are some jobs I do myself if they're translated or really easy, it doesnt' make sense to use a scopist. Impressive!

[Mary Motley O'Brien]

You mentioned federal cases. Do you work in court or do depos? If depos, how do you manage obtaining that many pages pages from an agency/agencies? I can see why you have tendonitis. Quite impressive. I had the most outstanding year I've ever had in my nine years of reporting and I just looked and I averaged 1500 pages a month, but some of those were my own clients and some were multiple copy order jobs.
Yeah, I don't know what I'll do. I've heard so far, opposite responses. Thanks for taking the time to write =)

[Lorrie L. Marchant]

Hello, Mary!
I have been utilizing a scopist and a proofreader for about eight years now. I have a five-year-old daughter and a two-and-a-half-year-old son, and I'm still very busy with at-home office work. My scopist listens to the audio on all of the jobs. She marks spots for me to double check. Then it goes off to the proofreader. I very, very rarely have any correction letters. I think that having three sets of eyes on the transcript is all the better! The trick is to find a scopist and proofreader whom you are happy with. I never want to go back to scoping and proofing my jobs! I always mark "troubled spots" in my transcripts that need my attention before I send them to the scopist.
I've got to go get the kiddos to bed now, but I would love to discuss this further with you. My proofreader, whom I love, might be looking to pick up more work. I'll check.
:)
Lorrie Marchant

[Mary Motley O'Brien]

Wow, eight years!! Does your proofer listen to the audio? A lot of the changes I make are just punctuation style, but just this morning, I came across a great example....the date September and December. This attorney talks really fast and kinda mumbles, so it's hard to decipher between the two. I even wrote December when it was supposed to be September, and the scopist did not catch it, but as I was proofing and "reading the story" the same date was being talked about in the last few previous pages, so when I went back and listened to the various spots where the date came up, I could tell that it was September. Now, if a proofer is just proofing for punctuation, there is no way they will catch that. The only way they would is if they are really listening to the story and also listening to the audio over. So that just really scares me, when it's my licence, my reputation on the line. Do you ever come across any of these issues?
Thanks for your reply. And also, what a good looking family you guys are. Adorable children =)

[Lorrie L. Marchant]

Yep.
My scopist listens to everything, and my proofreader reads "the story" as well as checks for misspellings, punctuation, etc., Sometimes I'm amazed at the stuff that he catches! Once in awhile there's still something that all three of us miss. Not enough to cost me my license though!
Thanks!

[Mary Motley O'Brien]

Well, that is very encouraging. Thanks. What do you pay the proofer to do it that way?

[Patricia Babits]

I got a correction letter a couple of years ago where the witness corrected every grammar mistake he made. He wrote, "Court reporter erroneously transcribed my testimony," after each one.
Only one or two mistakes were mine, and he had a list of about fifty.

[Lorrie L. Marchant]

OMG!
What a jerk! If it was videotaped or you archive your audio (assuming that you use it) that would clearly tell the true story!

[Lorrie L. Marchant]

No video, but I always utilize my audio, and I always archive it, just in case.

[Lorrie L. Marchant]

Yes, true about the Federal cases. I saw one last year in a Cali Superior Court case. It was nothing that I had transcribed wrong; the witness was just elaborating and/or chaning her answers.
:)