Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners

Use verbatim methods and equipment to capture, store, retrieve, and transcribe pretrial and trial proceedings or other information. Includes stenocaptioners who operate computerized stenographic captioning equipment to provide captions of live or prerecorded broadcasts for hearing-impaired viewers.

O*NET reports this occupation under titles such as: Captioner; Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR); Court Recorder; Court Reporter; Court Stenographer; Deposition Reporter; Digital Court Reporter; Official Court Reporter; Realtime Court Reporter; Stenographer

Tasks

• Provide transcripts of proceedings upon request of judges, lawyers, or the public.
• Record symbols on computer storage media and use computer aided transcription to translate and display them as text.
• Record verbatim proceedings of courts, legislative assemblies, committee meetings, and other proceedings, using computerized recording equipment, electronic stenograph machines, or stenomasks.
• Record depositions and other proceedings for attorneys.
• Ask speakers to clarify inaudible statements.
• Proofread transcripts for correct spelling of words.
• File a legible transcript of records of a court case with the court clerk's office.
• Transcribe recorded proceedings in accordance with established formats.
• Take notes in shorthand or use a stenotype or shorthand machine that prints letters on a paper tape.
• File and store shorthand notes of court session.
• Respond to requests during court sessions to read portions of the proceedings already recorded.
• Swear in witnesses.

Knowledge

• English Language
• Computers and Electronics
• Administrative
• Law and Government
• Customer and Personal Service

Skills

• Active Listening
• Writing
• Reading Comprehension
• Speaking
• Monitoring

Abilities

• Oral Comprehension
• Speech Recognition
• Written Expression
• Written Comprehension
• Near Vision
• Oral Expression
• Selective Attention
• Wrist-Finger Speed
• Information Ordering
• Finger Dexterity
• Speech Clarity