The National Court Reporters Association will hold its convention & exposition in New York City July 30th through August 2nd. It is the largest annual gathering of court reporters, captioners, scopists, legal videographers, trial presenters, and other legal services professionals. Registrants will attend a myriad of continuing education seminars, network with their peers from around the country, and visit vendor booths that showcase the latest in writing machines and computer-aided transcription software.
NCRA’s annual business meeting will be held as well as the installation of its new officers and directors. Always of particular interest at the convention are the National Speed Competition and the National Realtime Competition where our elite vie for court reporting superstardom and immortality.
Those who compete in the Speed Contest transcribe a literary take at 220 wpm, a legal opinion take at 230 wpm, and a two-voice testimony take at 280 wpm. The contestant who qualifies on the three tests (95% or higher) with the highest average for the three is the winner.
The winner of the Realtime Contest must produce an unedited transcription of straight matter at 200 wpm and two-voice testimony at 225 wpm. To qualify, one must have an accuracy rate of 95% or higher on each segment, and the person who has the best combined score among the qualifiers wins.
Court reporters are employed as freelancers, officials, captioners, and CART providers. There is currently a nationwide shortage. For more information on how you can pursue a career in this field, visit http://www.crtakenote.com/. In addition, a documentary called “For the Record – A Court Reporting Documentary” premiered at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this year. In case you missed it, here is the link: http://www.courtreportingmovie.com/. Enjoy!
