For purposes of this article I will stick to official reporters, as opposed to deposition reporters, although most of what I say applies to both. I prefer to be called a court reporter or a reporter. Training to become a court reporter requires two to three years. In addition to acquiring the technical writing skill, the academic curriculum includes such subjects as the proper use for legal and medical terminology, English, grammar, introduction to law, ethics, and protocol. It s a difficult program with only a two- percent graduation rate.
Many reporters have associate s degrees or higher levels of formal education.
Those of us who belong to the National Court Reporters Association are required to earn continuing education credits on a regular basis to retain our national certification. Regarding the amount of time necessary to get a transcript, once you ve ordered it, many factors come into play. As an official reporter, my first duty is to cover my court. This means the only available time I have to work on transcripts is when I m not needed in court, which is usually nights and weekends. If I have a large backlog of appeal transcripts with Court of Appeals filing deadlines, I need to do these first.