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Professional court reporters have a highly valued and important job that is often not thought about or discussed in modern media. It’s easy to turn on your television today and find a TV show about lawyers or judges being the main focus. But rarely, if ever, is an essential piece of the legal court puzzle even shown on screen.

Being a court reporter means to transcribe, by either typing or recording devices, anything that occurs in a court room, deposition, or any other legal proceeding. One must be able to type, at minimum, 225 words per minute, as designated by the NCRA in order to become a certified court reporter. Court order responsibilities are crucial when it comes to the justice system. What they do can mean a vastly different verdict than if they were not present. Around 21,200 court reporters existed in the United States and those numbers are only projected to grow.

A professional court reporters job is far from easy. In addition to the fast typing speed needed to be certified, the process in order to become certified usually takes around 33.3 months to do. Court reporters have a lot of responsibility and not just when it comes to typing in the court room. They must also be present at depositions and other legal matters. In addition, they are not always typing. Legal video specialists also fall into the category of court reporting, especially in today’s day and age. Therefore, they must constantly contend with the new and growing technology used in their job to better capture everything that happens in any legal procedure.

Be that as it may, becoming a professional court reporter is actually a rather rewarding and interesting job. There is always a demand for new reporters and more than 70%of a court reporters time is actually spent outside of the court. Though it demands a lot of dedication and work, ultimately it grants a huge payoff in the form of work that leaves you well-paid, helps you focus and has you grow with the new and developing technology of the world. By 2020, the business of court reporting is expected to grow by around 10%. If you’re interested in becoming part of that percentage, look up how to get started as a court reporter today.