What is the future of court reporting?

The importance of an accurate record of legal proceedings cannot be emphasized enough; in many cases, lives literally depend on it. The technology and computerization increasingly being installed in courtrooms across the country is changing the job of court reporters, and is, in some cases, replacing them. However, one cannot deny the fact that certified court reporter is a vital part of the judicial system and will continue to be so even in this age of electronic technology like video court reporting.

Today, being a court reporter is not an easy task, but it’s a great profession that continues to grow. Now-a-days certified court reporters are one of the most important part of the legal process and are required in order to make sure that everything that happens in a court is taken down and documented. A court reporter is said to be the officer of the court.

Back in the old days of court reporting, the back -up recording of the procedures would be video recorded on tape. But, using video to record the proceedings was difficult and created additional problems. For example let’s say cataloging, labeling, and properly storing video was definitely a challenge that took up additional hours by staff. It probably isn’t a big surprise that later when videotaping and video recorders were relatively common, courts didn’t exactly jump at the chance to video tape all of their court proceedings.

Also in the olden days, video was recorded on tape. Now, the world has gone digital. That means that the old days of having tapes are long gone and video has moved to digital storage. Videos now can even be uploaded or put onto flash drives or stored in the Cloud or email. There are so many ways to work with video now, and the age-old problem of having to store tapes is no more an issue.

So now the question is that the courts will eventually choose to adapt video recording as part of the court process before long? Though this question is a valid one, court reporters won’t have to worry at all.  Regardless of its advances, technology is not reliable as the sole method for recording court proceedings. Human beings can record testimony more accurately and their text will still be more reliable than a video file (which can be abruptly deleted, whether accidentally or on purpose). Court reporters create records of events that are not so easily disposed of.

In addition to this, courts decide how they record their cases. The decision is usually made either on a local or a state level, meaning that it’s up to judges or even legislators to decide how each city, county, or state will be proceeding. Many courts are choosing to keep human court reporters on board.

Note it has worked this far – and they are more reliable than a machine. Court reporters are reliable and will record testimonies and more accurately, whereas a machine may not be able to do so to that full extent. The future remains bright for court reporters and court reporting services. It’s unlikely that they will be replaced in the present or the future .Certified court reporters are truly a valuable asset that remains difficult to imitate with video court reporting.