News From Planet Depos

Whether taking a deposition in person or remotely, having a clear record is essential for use at trial, possible settlement and/or impeachment. We’ve polled hundreds of court reporters with thousands of reporting hours under their belts and compiled their top tips for creating a clear record.

DO:

• Introduce yourself to the court reporter, present your card and indicate which party you represent.
• Always ask the witness to state and spell his/her full name so the record accurately reflects the correct spelling.
• Remind the witness to speak loudly and clearly so that the court reporter can hear and understand every word.
• Ask the witness to allow you to finish your question before answering because the court reporter can capture only one person speaking at a time. This will eliminate a transcript filled with dashes which may cause confusion later.
• Remind the witness to give a verbal response as the court reporter can capture only verbal responses. Nods or shakes of the head cannot be captured, and, similarly, it is often difficult to understand the meaning of ‘uh-huh’ and ‘unh-unh.’
• Restate in words when the witness gestures in any way, e.g., “For the record, the witness is indicating about three feet.”
• Indicate when quoted material begins and ends and provide the court reporter with a copy of any documents that are read into the record.
• Ask the witness (or the interpreter if one is present) to sit next to the court reporter to ensure he/she can both see and hear the witness/interpreter (for in-person depositions).
• Allow the court reporter to mark and keep track of the exhibits, which will ensure consistent and sequential numbering.
• Wait until the reporter completely marks the exhibit before asking your next question.
• Clearly state when going off or back on the record. In accordance with the reporter’s Code of Professional Ethics, all parties must consent to go off the record. If one party objects to going off the record, the reporter is obligated to stay on the record.
• For telephone depositions, state your name before speaking so that you are properly identified in the transcript.
• Consider retaining the services of an interpreter if the witness’ English is poor or if he/she has a heavy accent. This will avoid unpleasant surprises at trial.
• Take a short break every 1.5 hours and at least 30 minutes for lunch.

DON’T:

• Avoid asking the court reporter for his/her opinion of the witness or the testimony. Court reporters are Officers of the Court and must remain impartial at all times.
• Refrain from rustling papers, clicking pens, etc., as microphones are very sensitive. As such, they can also pick up quiet whispers or communication between you and your client.
• Don’t share your copy of the transcript with other counsel unless you represent the same party because the court reporter earns his/her living by selling deposition transcripts.

Remember, you and the court reporter have the same goal: to create a readable and useful transcript, and you both can make that happen by working together. Schedule your next deposition today, or reach out to our scheduling team for more information.

The final transcript is critically important to attorneys. It is the very reason you hire a court reporter for your deposition. The final certified transcript may be used in court to call a witness’ veracity into question, for example. Delivery of the final transcript must be prompt, and it must be accurate. Every court reporter works efficiently toward this goal. Each participant in the deposition can aid in reaching the goal of a timely, accurate transcript. Here is the timeline of what those actions are.

What to do before the deposition:

The legal team should send all prep materials it has available to the court reporter. The more case-specific terminology and proper names the court reporter has prior to the proceeding, the better. This eliminates back-and-forth between the reporter/reporting agency and your team trying to get spellings following the proceeding. Overall, it makes for a quicker, more streamlined process for the reporter, resulting in on-time delivery of your correct final transcript. Prep materials can include such documents as listed below:

• Notices
• Previous transcripts
• Exhibits

Working with the same court reporting agency throughout the entirety of your case does simplify the prep materials task. Your agency will have all the previous transcripts and exhibits in the case and should have all the notices as well. You would then only send any additional materials you determine would be beneficial to the court reporter.

The legal team can help the reporter ensure accuracy by sending spellings of any subject matter-relevant terms and proper names. This comes back to streamlining the process and ensuring accuracy of the final, from the title page, through the appearance page, all the way to the reporter’s certificate.

Every participant should test with a technician prior to every remote deposition. While this does not apply to in-person depositions, this is vital to the efficacy of the remote deposition. Each participant needs to test their internet connection and speed, as well as audio and video. This is also the time for people not as comfortable with remote technology to familiarize themselves with the platform, so they are prepared on the day of the deposition. This eliminates delays and interruptions.

Each participant should also log in early for a remote deposition to do a quick check of audio and video. For in-person depositions, parties should arrive a few minutes early to get situated.

What to do during the deposition:

Give the witness clear instructions. Most people don’t give depositions regularly and will at times slip into conversational speech, so remind them to avoid the tendency. Let them know the court reporter is capturing a verbatim record and outline how to help the reporter do so in an effective manner.

• Wait for the attorney to finish the question before answering
• Listen to the question
• Pause before answering the question to give your attorney a chance to object
• Give verbal answers to questions – reporters cannot take down nods or shakes of the head
• Ask for breaks if you need them so you don’t become flustered and have difficulty focusing on and answering questions

Check in with the court reporter on breaks. Keep in mind the reporter is already working on the transcript on these breaks, so lengthy pleasantries are not necessary. But do ask them if the pace is ok, if they need any additional spellings and other quick housekeeping notes. If you know you or the witness speak very quickly, or quietly, or the matter at hand has a lot of specific, technical terminology, make it a habit to check in with the reporter.  They will definitely appreciate the gesture.

Depositions run smoothly when all parties are prepared. Taking the little bit of extra time to prepare has a big pay-off, as there will be fewer interruptions and/or delays during the deposition and an accurate final transcript delivered on time.

Planet Depos reporters have centuries of experience combined. Whatever the subject matter, they have covered it extensively. To schedule expert coverage of your next proceeding, contact Planet Depos at 888.433.3767 or schedule online.

As technology continues to advance, fears of robots replacing humans has increased across many industries as corporations look to automate certain job functions to reduce costs and stay on top of trends. This McKinsey report detailed which professions have the most potential for automation, and it may surprise you that court reporting and the legal industry only had a 16% chance. While the report was published in 2016, and the legal space continues to evolve and incorporate litigation technology, it’s evident that the court reporting industry has still maintained a strong need for human operation.

“Legal proceedings can get heated with people talking over one another, or you may have a witness that mumbles or has a strong accent,” says Sandi Wilson, CSR (CA), FPR, CER, CDR, senior director of litigation technology. “You must have a person there to keep decorum, administer an oath, mark exhibits, identify speakers and ask for questions to be repeated if needed, among other responsibilities. Technology is always going to need that human touch for a 100% verbatim record.”

The need for this human element demonstrates that it would be impossible to fully automate the court reporting industry. However, across the nation, there is a critical shortage of stenographic reporters which only continues to worsen year after year, due to low enrollments at stenography schools and retiring reporters leaving the field. These two factors make it harder and harder to meet the growing demand for stenographic reporters.

This is where litigation technology and digital court reporters can assist and serve as a way to supplement the shortage. When digital court reporting was first introduced, many were unsure about it, but they have slowly started to embrace the new technology and new type of (human) court reporter.

“There is a misconception of what digital court reporting actually is and what it has to offer; I think early on, some of the methods were not as advanced as they are today, and the reporters were not always using quality equipment and technology, so opinions were formed based on the earlier methods of digital reporting,” says Wilson. “Today, litigation technology is state-of-the-art. The digital reporting method is no longer the lesser method of court reporting; it’s simply a different method of court reporting with the end product being a verbatim transcript.”

As litigation technology continues to expand, court reporters have access to new programs and functions that they may not have had before.

“Technology is only going to make a court reporter’s job easier; with artificial intelligence and automatic speech recognition programs, it helps reporters work smarter, not harder,” says Wilson. “For example, a reporter or transcriber manually typing up a proceeding will take longer than a reporter or transcriber using ASR or AI to make the first pass on creating the transcript. With ASR and AI translation in the 80-to-90% range, the reporter or transcriber can scope and proofread the proceeding, bringing it to 100% accuracy in almost half the time.”

Ultimately, Wilson believes that the best-case scenario for the court reporting industry is a combination of amazing technology and a well-trained professional.

“Rather than focusing on the method of court reporting, we need to focus on the professional behind the method,” explains Wilson. “If a reporter has a great work ethic, is trained well, keeps up with current technology and is knowledgeable of legal proceedings and decorum, they will have job security for the rest of their career regardless of the reporting method they use to capture the record.”

To learn more about digital court reporting, check out our informational video.

By Micayla Charles & Carly Wilson

The process of scheduling a deposition can have several moving pieces, from counsel’s and the witness’ schedules to arranging for a court reporter, videographer and/or interpreter. And then there’s finding an appropriate location, organizing exhibits, setting up special services, as well as planning for the necessary technology needed to make the deposition run smoothly. If you are using a court reporting firm to assist in coordinating the logistics of a deposition, below are some tips and key points to remember when scheduling.

Tip 1: Determine the Proper Venue When Scheduling a Deposition

Determining the proper location for your deposition is vitally important. Will the deposition take place at a specific venue, or will it be held remotely? For the past few years, the rise in remote depositions has significantly increased and firms have found they can successfully complete depositions this way. Some physical aspects of a deposition location to consider, even if they are held remotely, include:

• The size of the space
• Seating availability
• Breakout room accessibility
• Proximity to parking or public transportation.

It is also important to consider the facility’s technology services, such as photocopiers, fax machines, scanners and wireless or hardline internet connections. It would also be prudent to inquire about any additional cost for heating and A/C control for after-hours access. If the venue is remote, will you need a Zoom technician, and if so, do you have a specific tech you want? Here at PD, our Zoom technicians have become like celebrities — our clients love them!

Once the location is selected, you will need to include the specific information in the Notice, along with the requirement of court reporters, videographers and interpreters.

Tip 2: Transcript and Video Delivery

The transcript turnaround time varies amongst court reporting agencies. If you know that you’ll need the transcript on an expedited basis, inform the court reporter or the agency as soon as possible. Doing so allows the reporter and the production team to adjust schedules accordingly to ensure that the transcript is delivered to you on time.

Of course, if you think you might need a rough draft of the transcript, make every attempt to let the court reporting agency know in advance so that a qualified court reporter may be assigned. If a videographer will be present at the depositions, it is important to be specific about any rush request for the video.

Tip 3: Request Realtime Translation

If you would like to receive a realtime feed during the deposition, it is best to provide the request to the court reporting agency at the time of scheduling so that a qualified reporter may be assigned. The reporter will be prepared to transmit local realtime (within the deposition suite), as well as to stream the realtime to a remote location.

Tip 4: Attend Depositions Remotely

Traveling to depositions is not always convenient or cost-effective, but fortunately, technology easily permits for remote attendance through either traditional videoconferencing or mobile videoconferencing.

Traditional videoconferencing uses dedicated VC units that connect through a static IP address. Another option for remote attendance is via mobile videoconference. Mobile videoconferencing allows remote participants to connect via most any device, including laptops, iPads or smartphones via Zoom or other video conferencing platforms. Your court reporting firm can set you up with a mobile videoconference meeting that is both secure and stable.

It is important to consider security needs for the remote deposition. At Planet Depos, we have the enterprise version of Zoom with fantastic security, but also have versions that are both HIPAA-compliant and Zoom for Government that will provide you a secure remote deposition while following all necessary guidelines. Our blog post on Zoom security provides additional details on why Zoom meets our security needs.

If seeing the witness is not a priority, often the cheapest method to attend a deposition remotely is to utilize a conference call number, which will allow you to simply connect via phone.

Tip 5: Proper Deposition Equipment

Your court reporting firm should also be able to provide you with loaner pieces such as iPads, projection units and document cameras, if requested in advance.

And if you are scheduling a remote deposition, there is some important “equipment” that you will want to take care of ahead of time:

• Test your internet for a strong Wi-Fi connection or utilize a hardwired connection.
• If you will be on video be sure there is good lighting, eliminate distracting backgrounds and dress professionally.
• Test your equipment to be sure your microphones, headphones and audio quality are all working properly. You can schedule a test with one of our technicians.
• Make sure your Zoom software is up to date.

Tip 6: Sending Exhibits in Advance

It’s always helpful to send exhibits in advance of the deposition. Sending exhibits digitally can be the most convenient and efficient way to ensure the exhibits make it to the deposition. If you want to pre-mark exhibits, you can always include that information for the court reporter. But if you need to send original exhibits through a mail service, be sure to always retain a tracking number and confirm the proper receiving address for the exhibits.

Having a Zoom Tech on your remote depo makes the exhibit process seamless. You will upload the exhibits beforehand and our Zoom Tech will take it from there during the deposition to share the exhibits.

Tip 7: Changes in Time, Venue or Services

Deposition details change all the time. Court reporting firms are generally very flexible, but it is vital to communicate any changes in the deposition time, venue or services as soon as you know them. This ensures that every deposition starts on time, and it also helps to avoid any unnecessary charges.

There are many service options available when taking a deposition. Knowing your options and communicating your deposition needs are important to ensure that your deposition runs smoothly and that all participants are on time and prepared.

Our experienced scheduling coordinators are available 24/7 to assist you with scheduling a deposition. Reach out to us at scheduling@planetdepos.com or call 888.433.3767.

Court reporters do make appearances in the movies and on TV. They are portrayed as quiet, in-the-background working people in a courtroom, usually. They are, in fact, quiet, competent, in-the-background people working on a monumental task but making it look easy. Taking down every word that is said in a hearing or a deposition is no easy task! But there they are, cool as cucumbers, registering no shock or disgust at any sensational moments, no boredom during legal harangues, and paying attention the whole time and not missing a beat. This doesn’t even include all the tasks and duties court reporters accomplish “off camera,” which are many and impressive as well. These are formidable professionals, and they deserve a spotlight in real life.

Well, one of them, at least, is getting just that. Judy Justice is back for a third season, and on this show, the real-life and onscreen court reporter, gets more attention than TV court reporters usually get. Whitney Kumar, certified CA court reporter, reads back the record in real-life cases adjudicated by Judge Judy, demonstrating one of the many valuable services court reporters provide.

Whitney isn’t the only court reporter with screen credits. Harvey Keitel was a court reporter in New York for a few years before the acting bug bit him and nipped his stenography career in the bud. Michelle Pfeiffer attended court reporting school for a few months before switching to acting and becoming a star. The most famous court reporter you didn’t even know was a court reporter would have to be Charles Dickens. Before he bequeathed us Ebenezer Scrooge, Dickens was taking down the record at trials ranging from debtors’ cases to murder. His experience as a court reporter gave him a background in the legal system that proved invaluable in the writing of a novel or two!

Court reporting in and of itself is a cool, rewarding profession, even if one does not wind up on TV or writing bestselling books. Those who achieve realtime certification will find boundless opportunities. A top realtime reporter is in high demand to cover intricate cases, often involving high-profile parties (think Samsung or Ford). Travel abroad is a real possibility. Court reporters possess not just impressive technical skills but a “can do” attitude, adventurous spirit and the best poker face at the table.

Planet Depos court reporters are stars in the legal world, if not on TV. They have been covering legal proceedings all over the world for decades. To schedule a court reporter for your upcoming proceeding, contact Planet Depos at 888.433.3767 or schedule online.