The Silent Type: A Career as a Court Reporter

By H. Staples
Learning & Life Columnist
September 22, 2006

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If you have a patient nature, strong attention to detail and a passion for courtroom dramas, you could be only a degree away from a six-figure salary -- with job flexibility to match.

Court reporters transcribe meetings, courtroom proceedings and the like, ensuring a complete, accurate and secure legal record. Offering not only job flexibility but serious earnings to boot, court reporting qualifies as a first-rate career choice -- perhaps even a job you can love.

Work When You Want

Not only can court reporters work at home, earning a lucrative salary, but they also land work easily. That's because the market for court reporters -- freelance or otherwise --holds more jobs than it does qualified applicants. In fact, available positions are expected to grow by 10-20% between now and 2008, and reporters often have to turn work away.

25% of court reporters operate freelance, so they can take a few days off if one of their kids comes down with a bug or, better yet, if their spouses turn up with tickets to Hawaii. "The nice thing about being a court reporter, especially if you freelance, is that you don't have to go to work every day," says Patricia Hill, director of a Montgomery, Al.-based court-reporting program. As Hill told the Montgomery Advertiser, "You get paid for the work you produce."

Moving Type

Court reporting can also offer unique opportunities to help others. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more and more court reporters are providing closed-captioning and real-time translating services to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Court reporter Lisa M. Rollins told The Journal of Court Reporting about ending a hard-of-hearing child's desperate search for help. Not surprisingly, Rollins found assisting the student deeply gratifying, "a wonderful experience."

Get the Credentials

To really take advantage of the opportunities in this field, your best bet is to complete training in either court reporting or business administration. Almost two hundred institutions in the U.S. offer the relevant programs, so prospective students can easily find one close at hand. As a court reporter, you can earn the field's highest credentials in as little as two to three years, potentially qualifying you for a six-figure income.

Sources

About the Author
H.L. Staples teaches at Syracuse University. Her articles have appeared in The Boston Review, Denver Quarterly, The Georgia Review, and elsewhere.

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