While automation and various technological provocations are changing the American workplace and influencing the workforce, court reporting, aka “stenography”, is one of those old-fashioned professions that remains largely un-affected by this phenomenon. Court reporters have benefited in a significant way by embracing key technologies and maintaining the traditional values of professionalism, punctuality and other traits.
There are many reasons why.
Let’s begin with the simple fact that nothing can replace a human being when it comes to analytical judgement and improvised interaction. For court reporting firms and organizations like the National Network Reporting Company (NNRC), the importance of having a trusted reporter, videographer and litigation or trial support professional has in fact increased over time.
Thanks to the increase of litigation in the fields of business law, medical malpractice, probate law and other areas of practice, the sheer volume of requests for deposition experts has increased in a corresponding number as the American economy grows. This means that court reporting firms large and small, are experiencing a sort of renaissance, even as many of the combat the expansion of mega-firms.
While developments like automatic checkout (without the presence of a cashier) and electronic banking, have heavily negatively impacted the job force, forcing many people to look for new careers, the legal professions as diverse as expert witnesses, videographers, stenographers, marketers and others have all experienced a steady and improved series of workload increases.
Joe Grabowski of Gore Brothers Reporting and an NNRC Board Member, explains this phenomenon:
Our clients are very keen as to the impact of technology in their cases. Between video depositions and the ability to schedule a court reporting service from a smartphone, we have found that the conservative nature of the reporting industry is benefited from a basic understanding of the changing nature of technology, from the use of mobile-friendly websites to 24/7 scheduling abilities. While court reporters are essential to the legal team an attorney puts together, we have still emphasized the importance of embracing the right technologies to give us an advanced position relative to our competitors within the industry.
What distinguishes court reporters and doctors from other replaceable professions is the simple fact that nothing can replace an experienced professional when it comes to transcribing, editing and providing printed documents for depositions, trial records, and other materials.
Add to this need the importance of competent and experienced members to form a strong legal team and develop a winning case and one can see why attorneys are always looking for reliable reporting firms.
Technology has, however, impacted the reporting profession in other ways. First, the importance of mobile booking for last minute schedulings of services has made on-the-go paralegals and lawyers much more fluid in how they manage their cases. The development of tele-conferences and electronic online records also means travel and mailing (snail mail that is) are less and less important.
