You expect high standards from our Washington DC court reporters. You know that Capital Reporting Company is committed to being the best court reporting company in Washington DC and nationwide. Do you know what drives our success? What distinguishes us from the competition? Well, when it comes to your Washington DC transcripts, it is that our court reporters and transcriptionists have two goals in mind when they do your work: speed and accuracy.

To become a court reporter, the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) mandates that reporters be able to transcribe at least 225 words per minute. Court reporters are able to do this with the use of a stenotype machine. But, with such rapid transcription,how do our Washington DC court reporters ensure that the transcriptions are accurate? The NCRA has set forth a standard of 95% accuracy, so when a court reporter completes his or her rigorous training, that court reporter must be able to produce a 95% accurate transcript. This sounds like an incredible feat, but what is more incredible is that this standard is only the minimum–for a Capital reporter. Our Washington DC court reporters aim for a much higher level of accuracy, as close to 100% as possible.

As a top Washington DC court reporting company, we know that an accurate transcript is essential to the legal proceedings as well as to the underlying subject matter of the litigation. An accurate transcript can save valuable time for all parties. Capital Reporting Company is very careful when assigning reporters and transcriptionists to jobs so that problems other companies experience with accuracy are not problems we face. In fact, in the audio transcription world, we know that attorneys or government agencies often will have to call a court reporting company and ask for a transcript re-write because it did not match the accompanying audio (If, by the way, this happens to you, your court reporting company should offer to transcribe your document anew at no additional charge.). Of course, this should never happen in the first place and luckily this will not happen with Capita, due to our careful screening of our reporters and transcriptionists, and the fact that we work only with those reporters whose professionalism aligns with our high standard of commitment to accuracy.

The standards for court reporting may vary from state to state. The regulations for our court reporters in San Francisco and our court reporters in Washington DC may differ, but you can trust that Capital Reporting Company is committed to accuracy wherever you go. This dedication has earned the trust and respect of thousands of clients, and has made us the only court reporting and deposition service provider to the US Tax Court. See why so many clients trust us, and continue to vote us as one of the Best Overall Providers of Court Reporting & Deposition Services in the National Law Journal/ Legal Times. Schedule a deposition with us today!

The Court Reporters at Capital Reporting Company handle thousands of court cases and depositions a year. Once in a while, a Washington DC court reporter is bound to hear something surprising or even silly. All the same, a court reporter’s job is to transcribe this information word for word. Here are some of the funniest transcriptions we’ve gathered from around the web. We can relate to these court reporters’ struggling to keep a straight face!

Here’s our number one court reporter tip: Remember everything goes on record, so watch what you say (unlike this witness).

Lawyer: “Do you drink when you’re on duty?”

Witness: “I don’t drink when I’m on duty, unless I come on duty drunk.”

***

Also remember if you take the stand, nobody likes a wise guy (except maybe an amused court reporter)

Lawyer: “Any suggestions as to what prevented this from being a murder trial instead of an attempted murder trial?”

Witness: “The victim lived.”

***

On another note, what’s done in the dark will come out in the transcript

Lawyer: “Did you ever stay all night with this man in New York?”

Witness: “I refuse to answer that question.

Lawyer: “Did you ever stay all night with this man in Chicago?”

Witness: “I refuse to answer that question.

Lawyer: “Did you ever stay all night with this man in Miami?”

Witness: “No.”

…Sometimes even the Fifth Amendment can’t save you

***

Lawyer: What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke that Thursday?

Witness: He said, ‘Where am I, Cathy?’

Lawyer: And why did that upset you?

Witness: My name is Susan.

(Something tells us that one was a divorce proceeding.)

***

They say a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client…

Accused, Defending His Own Case: “Did you get a good look at my face when I took your purse?”

(The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in jail.)

***

But then..this lawyer  may not be the brightest either…

Lawyer: “Do you know how far pregnant you are now?”

Witness: “I’ll be three months on November 8.”

Lawyer: “Apparently, then, the date of conception was August 8?”

Witness: “Yes.”

Lawyer: “What were you doing at that time?”

***

Every now and again, the Washington DC court reporters at Capital Reporting Company hear something amusing. In truth, however, a deposition or a court case is no laughing matter. If you need a reliable court reporter for your Washington DC deposition, contact our Washington DC court reporting company today.

What It Takes To Be A Certified Court Reporter

Since 1935, the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) has been certifying court reporters. Back then, 27 court reporters were to first to get their certification by transcribing 5-minute dictations at 160 words per minute. Able to do this, these 27 court reporters became Certified Professionals (CP).

The standards nowadays are much different. The NCRA, headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area has is an important organization for court reporting professionals. There are 3 certification levels today that the NCRA challenges aspiring court reporters to meet. The first is a Registered Professional Reporter (RPR), then the Registered Merit Reporter (RMR), and finally, the highest of the certifications, the Registered Diplomate Reporter (RDR).

Different criterion for meeting each of these levels are judged through difficult, multi-skill testing. To pass the RPR examination, court reporters must score higher than 70% in this testing. To pass, court reporters much prove their knowledge in the areas of court reporting technology, standard reporting practices, and professional practices. And like the first court reporters from 1935, today, it is no surprise that certified reporters much be able to transcribe quickly. In transcribing dictated literary work they must exceed 180 words per minute. In a Jury charge the minimum words per minute is 200. Finally, in a testimony setting, 225 words per minute is the minimum required to pass. All of this must be completed with at least 95% accuracy.

As if the conditions for passing the RPR exam weren’t hard enough, the RMR exam takes it to another level. To be a Registered Merit Reporter (RMR), a court reporter is tested at the minimum words per minute of 200 for literary dictation, 240 for jury charge, and a whopping 260 words per minute in a court testimony setting. But the testing doesn’t stop there. To become a Registered Diplomate reporter, the criterion for passing only gets harder. These court reporters must pass an additional test to prove their understanding, skill, and practice in a written examination. These Registered Diplomate reporters have proven themselves within the court reporting professional and set themselves apart as highly skilled court reporters.

While RPR, RMR, and RDR certifications are the three main certification levels on the road to becoming a skilled professional in the industry, there are other certifications court reporters can earn to set themselves apart. These professionals can prove their skills in realtime court reporting by becoming a Certified Realtime Reporter (CPR). This is a growing component of the court reporting industry that requires certified reporters to write at a 96% accuracy level consistently, while proving their skill at operating realtime equipment and also the handling and conversion of files.

Additional certifications that the NCRA offers are a Certified Broadcast Captioner (CBC), a Certified CART provider (CCP), a Certified Legal Video Specialist (CLVS), a Certified Reporting Instructor (CRI), a Master Certified Reporting Instructor (MCRI), and a Certified Program Evaluator (CPE).

In Washington, D.C., the professionals at the National Court Reporting Association are working hard to provide opportunities such as these to court reporters in the industry looking to distinguish themselves at top notch contenders in their field. Certification centers can be found, not only at several locations in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, but across the country. From Washington, D.C. to Chicago to San Francisco, court reporters are earning valuable skills and experience to be great court reporters.

History Of Court Reporting In Washington DC

Transcribing speech in real time is no easy task. It is not surprising that it has taken many years for methods of modern day transcription and reporting to evolve. Centuries of development have crafted a court reporting industry today that promises accurate and efficient results.

This development has been in the works since the early days of written language. Recording speech and transcribing dialogues is a profession that can be traced back to the Roman Public. In the first century, BC, Marcus Tullius Tiro developed methods of recording written transcripts of Cicero’s legal work working as his secretary. Such approached included omitting words that can later be added to a transcript by context or memory. Developments like this have set groundwork for modern day “shorthand.”
Tiro’s methods of shorthand have continued to be refined by writers and court reporters over history. The first use of shorthand writing in the English language can be seen in the 12th Century. Later, Robert Gregg developed a system of shorthand writing that was based on the use of cursive, which was first published in 1893.

The automation of court reporting did not surface until the invention of the stenotype machine by Miles Bartholomew in the 1870’s. This invention replaced transcription by hand written reporting. However, it was not until the 1940’s that the use of stenotype machines surpasses handwriting in popularity due to the first availability of the machine to the public. All of these advancements led to the evolution of modern court reporting.

Such court reporting techniques were employed in keeping congressional records during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. In 1965, the profession of court reporting flourished when President Lyndon Johnson mandated the recording by tape and live court reporters in all United States District Court proceedings.

The profession of a court reporter continues to thrive in modern day. Technological advances have helped make the process more efficient and accurate than ever. Today, court reporters can accurately record proceedings with advances shorthand techniques using stenograph machines used in conjunction with audio recordings, and even the use of video documentation.

Although the court reporting industry has been predicted to decline since the 1990s, the efficiency and accuracy of these time-tested methods is only aided further by technological advances, and is unlikely to be replaced anytime soon. As technology continues to advance, one can only predict how much more value an experienced court reporter will be able to bring to legal proceedings.

Capital Reporting Company is a national court reporting company with offices in Washington, DC and around the country.