In this case, an Official court reporter is actually an Independent reporter. The independent court reporter is not an employee of the court but is an officer of the court that provides court reporting services. Generally there are two categories of independent court reporters. There is the independent reporter that works individually as a sole practitioner. As sole practitioners, court reporters often work primarily for a limited number of clients.
Sole practitioners are also more common in rural areas.
The second category of independent court reporters is the independent reporter that is affiliated with one or more court reporting firms, either as an independent contractor or as an employee of one firm. Today's court reporter must obtain considerable education and develop considerable skill sets however to successfully perform in the marketplace. Very few professionals at any level are required to have as varied an understanding of language, grammar and the terminologies used by almost every kind of professional imaginable. A court reporter must understand specific technical conversations of doctors and lawyers and engineers of all types while accommodating variations on the English language that our world without borders makes inevitable. Additionally, the reporter must have current knowledge of technology and understand its potential impact and application within the litigation process especially as it may apply to the recording, archiving and retrieval of the record.