Miami-Jacobs offer an
Associates Degree program in Court Reporting. This program is designed
to prepare graduates to meet the ever-growing demands of the court
reporting industry by providing them with expertise in medical
terminology, anatomy and physiology, court reporting theory, real-time
recording, translating transcripts, CART reporting, closed-captioning,
and speed building.
Occupational Objectives
Graduates from this
program could be employed in law offices, mediation practices, insurance
companies, television stations, and the court system. According to the
Occupational Outlook Handbook, Court Reporters are projected to grow 25
percent,
much faster than the average for all
occupations between 2006 and 2016. Demand for court reporter services
will be spurred by the continuing need for accurate transcription of
proceedings in courts and in pretrial depositions, by the growing need
to create captions for live television, and by the need to provide other
real-time broadcast captioning and translating services for the deaf and
hard-of-hearing.
Occupational Skills
Upon successful completion of the Court
Reporting program, the graduate will be able to:
-
Demonstrate basic knowledge of
courtroom procedures;
-
Pass three (3) five-minute tests with
95 percent accuracy at each of the following speeds: 225 wpm
testimony (Q & A), 200 wpm jury charge, and 180 wpm literary;
-
Transcribe medical, technical, and
legal testimony;
-
Use Computer Aided Transcription(CAT)
systems;
-
Write Realtime during dictation;
-
Demonstrate familiarity with courtroom
procedures;
-
Complete 100 verified hours of
externship of which a minimum of 60 hours shall be in actual writing
time; and
-
Display professionalism and ethical practices during freelance
depositions, courtroom hearings, and trials.
The following from Occupational
Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition
Job Outlook
Employment is projected to grow by
18 percent, reflecting the demand for real-time broadcast captioning and
translating. Job opportunities should be excellent, especially for those
with certification.
Employment change. Employment of
court reporters is projected to grow 18 percent, faster than the average
for all occupations between 2008 and 2018. Demand for court reporter
services will be spurred by the continuing need for accurate
transcription of proceedings in courts and in pretrial depositions, by
the growing need to create captions for live television, and by the need
to provide other real-time broadcast captioning and translating services
for the deaf and the hard of hearing.
Increasing numbers of civil and
criminal cases are expected to create new jobs for court reporters, but
budget constraints are expected to limit the ability of Federal, State,
and local courts to expand, thereby also limiting the demand for
traditional court reporting services in courtrooms and other legal
venues. Further, because of the difficulty in attracting court reporters
and in controlling costs, some courtrooms have installed tape recorders
that are maintained by electronic court reporters and transcribers to
record court proceedings. However, because courts use electronic
reporters and transcribers only in a limited capacity, traditional
stenographic court reporters will continue to be used in felony trials
and other proceedings. Despite the use of audiotape and videotape
technology, court reporters can quickly turn spoken words into readable,
searchable, permanent text, and they will continue to be needed to
produce written legal transcripts and proceedings for publication.
Voice writers have become more
widely accepted as the accuracy of speech recognition technology
improves. Still, many courts allow only stenotypists to perform court
reporting duties.
Increasingly, court reporters will
be needed for captioning outside of legal proceedings. Not only is there
Federal legislation mandating that all new television programming be
captioned for the deaf and the hard of hearing, but all new
Spanish-language programming likewise must be captioned by 2010. In
addition, the Americans with Disabilities Act gives deaf and
hard-of-hearing students in colleges and universities the right to
request access to real-time translation in their classes. These factors
are expected to continue to increase the demand for court reporters who
provide CART services. Although such services forgo transcripts and
differ from traditional court reporting, they require the same skills
that court reporters learn in their training.
Job prospects. Job opportunities
for court reporters are expected to be excellent as job openings
continue to outnumber jobseekers in some areas. Court reporters with
certification and those who choose to specialize in providing CART,
broadcast captioning, or webcasting services should have the best job
opportunities. Court reporters who are willing to relocate to rural
areas or large cities, where demand for court reporters’ services is
very high, should have good job opportunities. The favorable job market
also reflects the fact that fewer people are entering this profession,
particularly as stenographic typists.
Earnings
Court reporters had median annual
wages of $49,710 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between
$35,390 and $67,430. The lowest paid 10 percent earned less than
$25,360, and the highest paid 10 percent earned more than $83,500.
Median annual wages in May 2008 were $51,150 for court reporters working
in local government and $44,670 for those working in business support
services.
Compensation and compensation
methods for court reporters vary with the type of reporting job, the
experience of the individual reporter, the level of certification
achieved, and the region of the country. Official court reporters earn a
salary and a per-page fee for transcripts. Many salaried court reporters
supplement their income by doing freelance work. Freelance court
reporters are paid per job and receive a per-page fee for transcripts.
CART providers are paid by the hour. Captioners receive a salary and
benefits if they work as employees of a captioning company. Captioners
working as independent contractors are paid by the hour.
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