Employment Opportunities For Court Reporters

Courts of law have traditionally been the sole employer of court reporters. Up to now, local, state and federal courts remain to be the largest employer of court reporters (stenographers), providing jobs to more than 18,000 stenographers nationwide as of 2010 data by the United States Occupational Employment Statistics.

Most of them find employment in government service. They are hired by courts to provide court clerk services, sometimes with clerical and research duties. For this reason, people who are fresh from their court reporting training are advised to take up and pass the civil service examination in order to get into government service.

Many of these individuals also work for businesses, law firms, and other service providers that hire them as full-time or part-time employees on a freelance or per-project basis. These business support services cover various areas such as legal and medical transcription services, reporting for depositions and legal meetings/counsels, and recording and transcription of business proceedings such as important meetings and professional forum. Other areas which hire court officials are agencies and brokerages, as well as activities related to insurance.

Court reporting or stenography is a growing profession that is increasingly expanding outside the courtroom. Many court reporters are hired for closed-captioning for the benefit of people who are hard of hearing or are deaf. They do closed-captioning of news, shows, and live coverage of events such as church ceremonies, seminars, symposium, sporting events, etc.

With the enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the demand is growing for service providers such as stenographers who can create real-time translation of classes for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. This is a big employment opportunity for individuals with skills in Communication Access Real-time Translation or CART. CART reporters can do live broadcast captioning as well as closed captioning of recorded TV shows and movies. This is especially so in the face of the federal legislation that mandates the closed-captioning of all new television programming. Again, this would be for the benefit of persons with hearing impairment.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of vacancies for these highly sought after individuals exceeds the number of court clerks in some areas. Most employment opportunities can be found in large cities and in rural areas. Court reporters who are open to relocating will always find work waiting for them.

There are also other areas where these court professionals can find opportunities to expand their money-making power. These include business consultation and education. With the right training and credentials, experienced and certified court reporters can take on the roles of consultants for businesses that are engaged in transcription and reporting. They can also become trainers for other people who are interested in becoming court reporters.