Court Reporting Career Paths

There are several different areas in which court reporters can work and earn above average income, approximate national average, according to CNN Money.com, range from $61,800 to more than $100,000+ per year; however, based on the amount of work and transcripts produced the amount that may be made depends on an individual basis. A professional Certified Court Reporter is the key information manager of our judicial system and is responsible for the verbatim legal record. There are several primary areas where the skills of the reporter are needed:

Official Court Reporters record the proceedings of a trial. Their transcripts are used by attorneys, both during the trial and, if necessary, later in the appeals process. Official court reporters are employed on a full-time basis and generally receive a base salary and benefits plus transcript fees for their work.

Freelance Court Reporters may be either self-employed or work for a reporting agency. Their reporting assignments range from board meetings and stockholders’ meetings to depositions, arbitrations, and conventions. The largest part of their work generally involves depositions or examinations taken before trial. Freelance reporters are paid on a per-page and attendance-fee basis by the attorney, company, or individual requiring their services. Freelance reporters have the benefit of a more flexible schedule to coincide with their lifestyle.

Hearing Court Reporters record the proceedings of local, state, and federal agencies. These positions are usually full-time civil service careers and offer fringe benefits in addition to a regular salary.

Legislative Reporters record speeches and debates in Congress and State Legislatures. Reporters are also employed by the United Nations and various governmental agencies to report meetings and debates.

Captioning for the hearing impaired is usually done at the television stations for hearing-impaired viewers, which enables them to enjoy television programs and keep them abreast of the daily news and current events.

Cart Reporters accompanies students of all grade levels to their classrooms and writes, in realtime, the lectures of the instructors in high school and/or professors in college enabling the hearing impaired student to read the translation on the monitor screen. At the end of the day a transcript of the class is available for the student.

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