Local court reporting is a highly skilled job involving transcribing verbal statements literally and at top speed into a written transcript. Local court reporting is used most often in connection with the legal profession. Images from television and movies of court scenes almost always feature a court reporter sitting in the front of the bench listening intensely to the proceedings and typing on a specially adapted machine. What the viewer does not see is the behind-the-scenes process where, in real life, those court reporters turn their notes into exact transcripts of everything that has been said. Local court reporting is also used in private depositions; a process where lawyers ask witnesses questions and the court reporter takes it all down. Other uses for local court reporting may include any situation where it is important to capture what has been said and audio or video tape will not be clear or sufficiently precise. For example, local court reporting may be used by private investigators, attorneys, journalists conducting extended interviews, or anyone who needs transcripts. Modern technology has both simplified the process of local court reporting and in some respects, made it more complex. A full-size written transcript may be the end-product of local court reporting, with questions and answers written out line by line. But squish versions with four pages to a single page are also available. Virtually any local court reporting job can also produce an electronic version of the transcript, transmitted either by email or on CD or both. Typically, the written transcripts will be indexed to facilitate searching and the electronic versions can be searched by keyword.
