SCOPISTS & PROOFERS RECOMMENDED BY REPORTERS

[Marla Sharp]

In the spirit of sharing and caring, I thought it would be great to have a place to post a list of scopists or proofreaders we really like, people who consistently do a great job and have proven to be reliable.

Please keep your comments simple and to the point. Any random or negative posts will be deleted by Monti, the site administrator. If you disagree with a posting, please contact the person directly rather than post anything negative here.

Please list (1) who you're recommending, (2) why, and (3) their email address or a link to their CSRnation profile.

Here's my recommendation:
PROOFREADER: Chris Renegar, [e-mail], http://www.csrnation.com/profile/ChrisRenegar
He used to be a medical transcriptionist and is very reliable, very smart, and very nice.

[Carrie Rice]

I am recommending Nicky Wight as a proofreader. She is an excellent grammarian and is a pro at punctuation. Her attention to detail rocks. She also provides quick turnaround time, even when it's not an expedite job. I've used her several times, and I don't know anyone better. She is wonderful. You can contact her through this Web site doing a member search. Her e-mail address is [e-mail].

[Judy]

I recommend Randy Renier Espinoza as a VERY thorough proofreader: [e-mail]
Give him a try. You won't be disappointed.

[Jena Macato]

Here's my recommendation:
PROOFREADER: Donna Bleskin. Donna was referred to me by my DRA mentor, and I'm so glad. She's helped me get through my first year of reporting, and hopefully for many more years to come! She's always accomodating to my last-minute requests, very professional. You can find her on this site. She's also a scopist. Although, I've only used Donna for proofreading, I'm sure she's just as awesome at scoping.

[Lisa Moskowitz]

My BIGTIME recommendation: Debi Smolinske, scopist on Eclipse. Last weekend I had several emergencies when my backup scopist stopped responding to me after I sent a job and needed it back. I had more work for her and didn't even know if I'd get the first job, and then the attorney called and needed the jobs ASAP. I put out an SOS, and Debi came to my rescue. She has proofed for me in the past, and in my panic it slipped my mind to contact her about scoping. She contacted me, I sent the job to her and got it back in plenty of time to proof and turn in to my office to get to the attorney.
I'd have been up a creek without Debi's help, and as I already discovered from working with her as a proofreader, her scoping work was outstanding. I highly recommend her as a proofreader and scopist on Eclipse.

[Brenda Rogers]

I recommend Debi Smolinski, Eclipse scopist. I have always been very reluctant to use a scopist, of revealing my raw work to anyone. Silly, I know, but in 22yrs, I hadn't done it. A few weeks ago, I was in a time bind, one that I could never have gotten out of alone. I sent three files to Debi and got back beautiful, prompt work. I was able to proofread, make my few preferential changes, and get my transcripts out not only on time, but early.

I don't let my cubs out of the den ungroomed easily, yet my first experience with a scopist was neither scary nor stressful. I'll be using Debi again -- and recommend her to other Eclipse users without reservation.

Debi can be found here on CSRnation under Debi A, http://www.csrnation.com/profile/dms.

[Jenny Griffin, RMR CRR CCRR CRC]

Hi, Lisa and Brenda! Wow, you two found out how good Debi is too! Okay, I'll then add to your recommendations by enthusiastically recommending Debi A. as an Eclipse scopist.

Debi is scoping full time and is very conscientious about turning out quality work in a timely manner. She is also extremely computer literate, which is very important to me.

I want all my scopists to take advantage of Eclipse's hyperkeys and other editing macros so they do not waste their valuable time correcting something with three movements when it can take one. Debi is a true expert regarding efficient scoping within Eclipse.

If any of you visit the CRF forum, you will already know Debi has super-scary Googling skills. That girl can find anything! She also has many scoping tools at her disposal such as the SearchMaster program and a great pair of Bose QuietComfort 3 noise-cancelling headphones.

There have been times when she has squeezed a depo of mine in her schedule because I've needed her help to make a deadline. Reporting is a hard job. I'm so glad I started using Debi as my scopist over one year ago. Sometimes I make the right decision!

http://www.csrnation.com/profile/dms

[Whitney Kumar]

Scopist: I am recommending Deborah Smolinske. She is on Eclipse. She is a great scopist. My sister is a freelance reporter and found her on here and started using her and loved her, so I tried her out, and she was awesome! I'm an official for LA Superior Court, and I work in a family law courtroom. She is easy to work with, takes the time to talk to you and work with you and figure out your punctuation style, etc. She looks names and cases up, which saves we SO much time. And she has a very quick turnaround. She's better than any of the scopists I've used in the past. I highly recommend her.

You can find her on CSRnation, or you can e-mail her at [e-mail].

[Kamryn Valadez]

Recommendation:
Scopist: Debi Smolinske. Eclipse. Debi is awesome. She makes me look so good! Her transcripts are always perfectly punctuated. She also does all your research for you, as far as company names or spellings, which saves you so much time. She makes my life so much easier. She is super nice and easy to work with. Her rates are really fair.
I am a fairly new reporter and was scared to show someone else my work, but Debi was so nice about it and worked with me when no other scopist would work with a "new" reporter. I don't know what I would do without her and highly recommend her.

[Raynee H. Mercado]

My recommendation is for Donna Bleskin. Donna is both a scopist and a proofreader. Donna has been proofing my work for over 11 years. I don't actually remember when we started together (before 11 years ago), but I can't remember life as a court reporter before Donna. Donna is an excellent proofreader. She is always able to schedule my work into her busy schedule. She has come through for me numerous times with last-minute requests, including hundreds of pages that need to be turned around over a weekend! Donna works with me on my daily trials (usually patent or securities cases), which sometimes go on for weeks at a time. Having her working with me makes reporting of the trials go so much more smoothly. She is very organized and reliable, her rates are fair, and she is truly a joy to work with. I would not want to be in this profession with Donna on my team. You can reach Donna at [e-mail].

[Elizabeth Rockett]

Elizabeth Rockett recommends Donna Bleskin as a scopist and/or proofreader, especially scoping, she's great. Really. Contact Donna @ [e-mail]

[April Floyd]

I would like to highly recommend Debi A. as an Eclipse scopist. I am a bit of a control freak and always scoped my own work, even when it was hurting me physically. Thanks to my court reporting sister Jenny who never stopped nudging me (for years!) I finally gave in. Debi A. is wonderful! My transcripts come back looking flawless. She has fixed my punctuation and made me look much better! She always get the transcripts back promptly and is very willing to work with you in whatever way you need.

[Johnna Piper]

I highly recommend Donna Bleskin for a scopist or proofreader. She has been working with me for almost 13 years and is always available when I need her and does a fantastic job, and is also very personable and easy to work with!