| by Heather Duncan, Esq.
California’s court reporters – also known as Certified Shorthand Reporters (CSRs) are an often overlooked but critical component of the judicial system. They are highly trained professionals who transcribe spoken words in a wide variety of legal settings.
California’s court reporters – also known as Certified Shorthand Reporters (CSRs) are an often overlooked but critical component of the judicial system. They are highly trained professionals who transcribe spoken words in a wide variety of legal settings.
Becoming a court reporter is not easy. Court reporters must pass a grueling set of requirements to be certified by the State of California, including:
- Being able to take down verbatim notes at more than 200 words a minute with a 97.5% accuracy rate. (Compare this to the average person who types around 40 words per minute with a fast typist averaging 80 words per minute);
- Having knowledge of complicated medical and legal terminology;
- Passing rigorous English grammar courses.
After the coursework has been completed, it generally takes the court reporting student more than four years of practice and experience to attain the required high accuracy and speed standards. A California Court Reporter must pass a state certification test including a dictation exam. The dictation exam is based on a recorded discussion from a courtroom with four people talking, often speaking over each other. The candidate must differentiate what each individual is saying while typing at least 200 words per minute with 97.5% accuracy. At 14%, the passage rate for the March 2018 Court Reporters Dictation Exam was even lower than the record-low 27.3% passage rate for the February 2018 California Bar Exam. The pass rate for first time takers of the Dictation Exam was 55%.
Once they have been sworn in, California court reporters must uphold the strict standards of professionalism, neutrality and impartiality found under the Business & Professions Code, California Code of Regulations and California Code of Civil Procedure. The California Court Reporters’ Board monitors its members to ensure these standards are upheld.