CSRNation

Welcome to CSR Nation

All Blog Posts (857)

Working on transcript from hell

I know this transcript is horrible bec even my scopists are remarking that the people in this deposition are CRAZY.

Constant interruptions, constant rudeness from all parties involved. Witness to Q attorney, Opposing Attorney to Q Attorney. Actually, I guess the Q attorney was not too bad in terms of rudeness, but constant interruptions and talking over each other despite my statement saying that they need to talk one at a time. Court reporter being ignored when trying to interrupt… Continue

Added by Kyung on August 27, 2009 at 6:30 — 5 Comments

Transcribing improper grammar

This is a tricky one to post, but here goes...

When you hear a witness say a word and you know he/she was meaning to say another, what do you do? Example: "ax" for ask, "messican" for mexican, "rockweiller" for rotweiller, "lawd" for lord, "no content" for no contest, etc., etc., and the list goes on and on... In instances like these, the reporter can be the one who looks incompetent if the transcript reads the way the wit says the word. But if we are truly supposed to be writing verbatim… Continue

Added by Kaleisha Straughter on August 27, 2009 at 0:24 — 23 Comments

Do we ever get a raise?

I'm a freelance reporter working at any given time for about 5 to 10 agencies. Some of them pay very well (usually national agencies or out-of-state agencies) and some NY ones, who I do love to work for, because the people are nice, don't pay as well. But that's besides the point.

As we all know, the price of things go up. Rent goes up. Gas goes up. Food goes up. This is called, I think, inflation. Don't page rates ever go up? Don't appearance fees ever go up?

And how does… Continue

Added by Karen Goldstein on August 26, 2009 at 17:39 — 2 Comments

Federal work

I've heard from some colleagues that federal work is great, with consistent work and great pay. However, I'm having a hard time getting my foot in the door, and am curious if anyone else has ever done federal work and how you went about getting it. Any suggestions?

Added by Angela Maddux on August 26, 2009 at 9:21 — 3 Comments

THE U.S. HAS LOST........

one of its greatest senators. Sen. Ted Kennedy passed just before midnight at the age of 77 years of age from glioma brain cancer. I know many will probably disagree with me, but he has done so much for this country in my mind.

Please send prayers to his family. Godspeed, Teddy.

Tricia

Added by Tricia McLaughlin on August 25, 2009 at 22:30 — 4 Comments

BEWARE OF SCOPIST FROM HELL

Hey, everyone, just wanted to tell reporters beware of scopists out there scamming reporters. I couldn't believe. I was in desperate need of a scopist. Had several people respond. I picked out a couple with the "10 years experience in criminal court" and a "CRR. " Every day I sent her a day's worth of trial, everyday she kept on me to send her more, send her more, I'm done, need more. I sent her my work, kept reminding her I could send her extra wav file from my Mira if needed. No, everything… Continue

Added by Karol Hill on August 25, 2009 at 2:28 — 8 Comments

Agency Owners-10 day turnaround...what to do when reporters don't comply

Some time during my 30 year + career, the 10 business day turnaround became the norm for transcript delivery.

Other than leaving one's staff reporters off calender, if possible, are there other remedies that anyone uses for reporters that are missing the deadlines? Do you diminish their pay in any way? Is there any way to motivate reporters to turn their work in timely?

Other than leaving them off calender, which is the most practical, but not always possible. I'd… Continue

Added by Debbie Landi on August 23, 2009 at 19:39 — 8 Comments

It has arrived!

I finally made a decision! I ordered the CRAH program! It arrived Friday just before I left to go out of town, so haven't had time to dig into it. I cannot wait! Thanks again to all of you for your input. I am so excited I can't wait to start learning!

Added by Joanne Wilson on August 23, 2009 at 17:32 — No Comments

Pet Peeves

Okay, for the last freakin' godforsaken time, IT IS NOT A #!*$@%! BACKSLASH!!! It's a SLASH, okay, a S-L-A-S-H, SLASH!!! So every time you unbelievably annoyingly say "backslash," I will write out the WORD backslash and not put in the correct SLASH symbol for you!

THIS is a slash: /

THIS is a backslash: \

Get it straight!!! Aaaaarrrrrgh! I HATE when attorneys/witnesses use the wrong term for the danged… Continue

Added by Quyen on August 23, 2009 at 14:00 — 10 Comments

I won one for the team today!

Hello fellow reporters ~ Well, anyone who has ever insured their equipment and lost a piece of equipment (those pesky little "keys!"), only to be denied by their insurance company after making a claim, will be pleased to know, I won today in Small Claims Court!!

The insurance company has a little exclusion in their policy - check yours - that states that they cover accidental loss . . . well, unless it's a "mysterious or unexplained disappearance." Convenient, huh! They purposely… Continue

Added by Karla Rupp on August 21, 2009 at 19:24 — 4 Comments

Here's a secret.

I really hate expedites. I'm too old to not be sleeping at night. I always feel like I don't have enough time to get out a quality job. I'm always afraid that I will screw up when I fill in the worksheet bec. I'm so tired from staying up all night to get those next-day expedites out.

I don't mind a one-week expedite. Those are great. But it's the next-dayers that kill me.

Of course, I do like the money, but I'm at a point where I think I would rather get my… Continue

Added by Kyung on August 21, 2009 at 12:00 — 2 Comments

Promoting ourselves to students and other thoughts

Posted on the NCRA forum by me tonight.....as follows:

I've always been an advodcate to student reporters when I had the chance. By that, what I mean is that when I worked in San Antonio, there was two court reporting schools there and I always tried to hire students to be my scopist. I was always very pleased to see them progress through the time they were with me and, for the most part, a lot of them went on to become reporters. It felt good to think that perhaps I had a part in… Continue

Added by Breck Record on August 19, 2009 at 20:14 — No Comments

Diamante feedback

Has anyone purchased or used the new diamante? I have mixed feelings after using it for a week now, some pluses and minuses. Not sure if the minuses are just me or the machine, which is why I'm searching for reviews.

Added by Jayne Foreman on August 19, 2009 at 20:03 — 4 Comments

RPR

Well, I just registered for the November RPR. I passed the written knowledge test in July, so this is the big test. I sat for it in May just to get an idea of how it was (with no expectations to pass any leg, which I didn't), and so I'm hoping that will help my test jitters. I am writing a solid 200+ wpm and just need my final three Q&A tests at 225 to get out there and start working. I don't need the RPR to work, technically, but really want to get it to beef up my resume. It is one thing… Continue

Added by Jackie on August 19, 2009 at 10:00 — 7 Comments

What a blur!

My first year on the job went by so fast, but with MANY bumps along the way. Needless to say, I overwhelmed myself with work, got burned out, rejuvenated myself, and now there's not much work to be had in my area. I guess that's how it goes.

I definitely LIKE court reporting. I'm so looking forward to the day that I LOVE it. As a student I never realized how much work it would require. At school I'd transcribe a couple of times a week. It'd be a ten page transcript at that. I was not… Continue

Added by Naomi on August 17, 2009 at 22:36 — 1 Comment

Please help with sending an audio file in Case

Ok, I have a problem. I'm trying to send an audio file to a scopist. The way I do my files is this: I keep one file for a full day of court. If I get a transcript request for a hearing for that day I just save the requested portion to another file name and then I associate the audio with that file. When I try to send that new file over to a scopist it will not let me send the audio. The only way I could figure out how to send it was to send the entire audio file for the full day of court and… Continue

Added by Crystal Chilton on August 14, 2009 at 14:08 — 4 Comments

An Alternative for Freelance Court Reporters

The freedom of being a freelance court reporter is attractive to many court reporting professionals across the country, but the reality of the current economy is making this a difficult career choice. Court reporting agencies offer an alternative to reporters who want to keep their flexibility but want some added security.

Freelancing is a tough job,… Continue

Added by Huseby Inc. on August 13, 2009 at 11:30 — 4 Comments

Steno Briefs

Anyone know of easy to remember brief for: I know, I mean, I just???

I am so tired of writing those out. I have a terrible memory when it comes to briefs.

Added by maura johnson on August 12, 2009 at 10:35 — 6 Comments

One of those doh moments

Don't you just hate it when you read back wrong. The question is perfectly correct on the screen and for whatever reason, what comes out of your mouth is not what is on your screen.

For instance, today the name was Jim so-and-so. I read John so-and-so, when the screen said clear as day Jim so-and-so. It kills me bec. then the attorney says this is how you spell the last name and by the way the name is Jim so-and-so. Of course, it's all videotaped.

It's one of those times… Continue

Added by Kyung on August 11, 2009 at 19:23 — 7 Comments

my thoughts on health insurance

Sadly, the town hall meetings that congresspeople are having are being reduced to shouting matches. I fear that what happened with health care reform in 1993 will happen now again. That means that my government will have burned me twice, getting my hopes up that I will be able to afford health insurance and then dashing my hopes and not knowing where to turn. It was an issue for me in 1993 and an even bigger issue now.

In 2008 my husband got laid off and I was the breadwinner of the family… Continue

Added by Lisa Breiter on August 10, 2009 at 15:14 — 2 Comments