Case Catalyst speaker identifications :(

[Ryan]

In school I was taught four basic speaker Id marks for four attornies. Since I plan on working as a depo reporter, I was wondering if anyone has any ways they stroke speaker id for more than four attornies? My current strokes for speakers 1-4 are as follows:

1- SNAO
2- JAO
3- IFPLT
4- IRBGS

After that, I suppose I could use the entire left bank SGLAO and right bank IFRPBLGTS for speakers 4 and 5, but does anyone use any different strokes? I was wondering as down the road, I would love to take on 0+5's and et cetera, but just need a way to comfortable Identify attornies around the table. Any help from the community would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Mike Rowell]

Ryan,

Though I don't have any real-world experience with this (outside of interning), here are a few ideas I've tried:

All upper bank, all lower bank (with or without vowels) for a few speakers;
number bar 1, 2, 3 or 4 + RBGS, and then number bar 6, 7, 8, or 9 plus SKWR for another eight speakers;
1234AOEU, AOEU6789 (or a variation with half the vowels) for two more speakers.

I hope your first month is going well :D

-Mike

[Ryan]

Mike!!!

That's a good answer. I'll try it out as im practicing at home and stuff. Hope things are good with you.
I was thinking about it in a picture in my mind sort of, you know what I mean? Like all attornies on the left WOUB used by the left side of the bank and vice versa, but that does really give me pointers. Thanks man.

[Rosalie DeLeonardis]

I double stroke their last name. I'm sure you've learned about setting up the seating chart as to where they are sitting, and after my stphao/ skwrao, court bar, and witness symbol is used I go to the double stroke method. I don't use number 4 because that is my comma.

[Ryan]

Thank you for the advice to everybody. It's all really good pointers. I love the last name stroked twice.

[Kimberly Spangler]

Hi, Ryan -

I don't use my number bar - I write numbers out - so if I have more than four speakers I use my number bar for that. Also, sometimes I might pick out a personal identification factor - like, say, a guy is super old then he becomes "OLD OLD." Once I put them in my job dictionary or on a chart in my book the rest is history as far as the job goes!

[Teresa Maciel]

Ryan, I often have more than four attorneys in court. All I do is add an asterisk to each identifier. For example:

1-snao*
2-Jao*
3-IFPLT*
4-irbgs*

It's so simple.

Teresa :-)

[Ryan]

So if you don't mind me asking, how do you manage to keep track of each person with close resembling identifier marks? It is really simple and I'm sure it can very effective when used properly, but have you ran into times where you've mistroked a speaker identifier for that reason? Thanks for the advice and Im going to give that a try.

[Janiece Young]

When I have a lot of people, I do make a chart I can glance at so I don't have to hesistate while I'm remembering.
Good luck,
Janiece

[Teresa Maciel]

Speaker identifying is very important and you should make every effort to get them right; however, it is something you do everyday and you get really good at it.

Sometimes you can also know who is speaking just by the context.

Hope you find what works well for you. Good Luck.

[Holly]

In addition to SNAO AND JAO, I use the number bar: 1234 - ATTORNEY 1: 6789 - ATTORNEY 2:

If I have a case that involves more than four speakers, I might use M - answer bank, for THE MOTHER:, or F-answer bank, for THE FATHER:, et cetera

I use EU-answer bank for A. (Interpreter)

Then there's always the green/green (for the attorney with the green tie); or gal/gal for the attorney who's the guardian ad litem, just be sure to write yourself a note.

[S. Arielle]

for the 5th person, I use all the lower keys
then red/red
blak/blak
blue/blue
green/green
so on and so forth
And I have already put it all in Casecat so I have identifications for up to 22 people on the fly....takes a little time to set it up, but colors was the easiest for me.

[Lisa Breiter]

Hi Ryan,
I used the first syllable of the last name. If I have time, before the depo, I look at each person's face and try to remember, he's SMITH/SMITH, she's TAY/TAY (for Ms. Taylor). That also helps me at the end of the depo, if I have their name memorized, I can say, "Oh, Ms. Taylor, would you like a copy?" It always impresses when you remember someone's name. If they walk in late and I don't know their name, I pick out a defining feature like GLASS/GLASS for someone wearing glasses or RED/RED for red hair or a red tie. But you have to remember to write down the name next to the symbol somewhere or put a note in your steno notes later on. I messed up speaker ID's once on a court hearing and had the 2 attorneys names mixed up. At least I was consistent in that transcript, but it came back to the agency with a complaint right away. I had written down the wrong name next to my symbols.
Also, i don't use OLD/OLD or FAT/FAT or the old standby JERK/JERK anymore (I used to). I have my computer set up and it's the last thing I need for them to see that before whatever they say :)
Hope this helps you!