The Court Reporter's Equipment
So what do you need to be a court reporter?
Start with a steno machine, that rather peculiar little typewriter with blank keys. Add an audio tape recorder and a microphone, a laptop computer, and computer disks. There's software for the steno, more software for the laptop, licenses for that software, and a steady stream of updates.
"We've got the most up-to-date software and equipment, but tomorrow you can be out dated and have to upgrade," Anita Spurger said. "There's always something new."
The court reporter's equipment has evolved from its origins in the mid 1800s to efficient digital tools that have virtually eliminated the need for paper notes or transcripts. But those advances have a cost: court-reporting technology is made by only a handful of companies who possess near-monopolies in their respective fields. Prices are extremely high, and reporters have no choice but to pay.
"There's not many companies that produce this equipment, so you're stuck with one company that can charge whatever it wants, and you have to pay because you have no options," Anita said. "If your steno machine breaks, you can't just take it to a computer repairman.
"Imagine coming straight out of school and having to buy that stuff," she added. "You can start out fifteen to twenty thousand dollars in debt. We were lucky that a lady we were working with helped us get started."
That starting point was the reporter's primary tool, the steno machine, also known as a stenograph or stenotype, which uses a system radically different from the alphanumeric keyboard of typewriters and computers.
"It's machine shorthand," Anita Spurger said. "Different key combinations make words and phrases. You don't type letter for letter. Certain combinations make phrases, briefs, and sentences.
"The way one person writes 'ask' may be different from the way I write it. Some reporters write it exactly the way they hear. Others use different theories that use different combinations. Whatever the school you attended, that's the theory you use."
Training on the steno begins with learning the layout of the letters, because steno keys are blank. Once that is memorized, the student studies theory, where they learn to form words.
"There were twelve in my class, and everyone gets these ancient steno machines," Anita said.
Next comes speed building, where the aspiring reporter will eventually reach 225 words a minute or more.
"All the while, you're also taking courses in medical, legal, English, and computers, and a typing course because you have to be able to type sixty-five words a minute on a regular keyboard. You learn vocabulary, spelling, and courtroom and deposition procedures."
It all leads to a written knowledge test and a machine test, which in Texas are held in Austin. To obtain certification, a court reporter must demonstrate ninety-five-percent accuracy.
"Right out of school, you're trying to remember everything they taught, but you find out there are so many things they didn't teach you," Kim Spurger said. "It's a big shock when you get out there.
"But it's a good career."
