ATTRACTIVE COURT REPORTERS V. PLAIN LOOKING ONES

[Mary Jo Cochran]

I went to the website (getacourtreportingjob) - or something like that. This is an ad I found.
They want an ATTRACTIVE person to work on the glamorous profession of lawyers, doctors and judges. I thought it was bad enough with attorneys hiring secretaries based on looks. Well, since I am 50, and average looking, I guess I won't apply.

Salary: N/A / Yearly Location: Dallas, TX
Type: Full-Time Zip Code: 75201

We are seeking an attractive, dependable, detail oriented and highly organized Learn to be a Digital Court Reporter. Excellent Pay! Equipment & Training Provided Part-time - Full-time Be a part of the glamorous profession of Lawyers, Doctors & Judges! Computer knowledge and keyboard skills a must.

[Jennie Ann]

Sheesh! Somebody needs to put a stop to that kind of stuff!

[Patricia Babits]

That makes me sick. I'm almost positive I know who that is.

[Mary Jo Cochran]

My first thought is it is some type of school or employment agency looking to get into the field. I was never a beauty queen, but at age 50 now, I am certainly not a dog either. I've seen more than enough of "attractive beats skilled" when attorneys hire legal assistants (and I'm not kidding). But when it comes to something like court reporting, reporting is a talent, it takes a lot of skill and dedication to get that RPR - and that is an absolute insult to us when someone makes an ad like that.

[Mary Ann Payonk]

An oldie but a goodie. It might be for members only, however. Still, an interesting review of comments from a few years ago. http://ncraonline.org/forum/forums/t/1400.aspx

M.A.

[Judy]

You know what's really interesting about that ad, MA, is that he actually advertises his past office on the BoD. Hmmm.

[Mary Jo Cochran]

Wow. It's amazing what advertisement executives can do with nothing, especially taking people with no real skills and making them sound so professional. I didn't get how they were going to make an accurate transcript. Without skill it's not easy to deal with technical or medical terms. Go to Wavetext's website in Ohio. http://www.wavtext.com/reporters.html

[Judy]

I don't think the attractive one is supposed to make the transcript. I think their main job is a button pusher, not transcript maker.

[Wendy Moore]

OMG, I went on wavetext's website! The "lady" on the cover looks like a man for one thing! I mean, why don't they just change their name to Lap Dance Reporters or Happy Ending Depo Service. That is just disgusting what they're doing!!!

[S. Arielle]

Mind you...very rarely do I run across an attractive attorney or judge. LOL LOL

[Judy]

A "button pusher," I believe. They come in with their tape recorder and their laptop and record the proceedings, so that somebody else can transcribe it at .90/page.

[Jennie Ann]

I agree with the "button pusher." LOL! ;)

They actually record it with digital recorders today. For court work, they use a four-channel system or utilize four microphones, with each microphone being recorded into one channel. The judge will be on Channel 1, witness on Channel 2, and a microphone for each counsel table. If done properly, the recordings can be good, but some courts don't hire professionals to do it. Instead, they hire government employees and show them where the ON and OFF switches are. Then they send these recordings out to a transcription company vendor to produce the transcript.

The digital court transcriptionists get paid a little more than .90/page today, though, Judy. For Administrative Courts, here's the page rates set in stone. You can't charge any more or any less: Administrative Court Page Rates

You couldn't pay me $10 a page to transcribe some of the crappy audio produced by the government court monitors.

[Mary Ann Payonk]

Hi, Trina. Here's a page describing court reporting services using various methods:

http://www.ninja9.org/courtadmin/courtreporters/CourtReporting-Tech...

And here's a bulletin from Wisconsin that last year added "Digital Court Reporter" to their definition of "court reporter."

http://www.aaert.org/pdfs/08WisconsinCourt.pdf

M.A.