Module One: Embracing Digital Court Reporting

The following is a lightly edited transcript of a conversation between court reporting expert Liz Dwyer and former voice writer Kaci Hardin. 

Watch the video above and check out the Rev YouTube channel for more great conversations around digital court reporting and the growth opportunities available within this field.

Embracing Digital Court Reporting

Liz Dwyer:
Hi, my name is Liz, and I work for Rev. And with me today is my colleague Kaci. Today in this series, we're going to go through how to add digital court reporting onto your current traditional model.

Kaci Hardin:
Yeah, we're really excited about this conversation. We're really going to dive into embracing digital court reporting. What does it mean? What are the myths and misconceptions? Then we'll go into your business plan and implementation to help improve your margin and growth strategy for your company. 

And lastly, we're going to sum it up with technology and operational excellence so you can be sure you're getting the same product that you need each day for your clients.

The Evolution of Court Reporting

Liz Dwyer:
Absolutely. So let's start way back at the beginning. How has the role of a court reporter changed over the years? What are the different methods that have been used over the past few decades?

Kaci Hardin:
This, actually, I find extremely entertaining and amusing because in researching this, court reporters go back to Egypt. It's a really robust and interesting history there. It also comes into our country and the building of it. There were court reporters at the Declaration of Independence. Charles Dickens was a court reporter. 

But when we talk about the evolution today and what we traditionally know, you go to pen writers, and the ampersand goes back to pen writing, and we still see it and use it today. But then you have the introduction of stenographers, which are amazing, and the gold standard actually with school and stenography. And it's an amazing skill to possess.

Liz Dwyer:
Absolutely.

Kaci Hardin:
And that evolved into voice, which we both know really well. And now today we're going to talk about digital, which is really the next technological evolution.

Liz Dwyer:
Right. And I do want to add in, because we were both voice writers, that voice was actually introduced by the military, and for many years the military used that in their, like JAG units.

Kaci Hardin:
Oh, nice.

What Makes Digital Reporting Different?

Liz Dwyer:
Okay. So let's get down to the nitty-gritty. How does digital reporting differ from traditional stenography or voice writing?

Kaci Hardin:
So I love the question there where you say “differ,” and what I want to focus on is how is it the same? So there's still somebody that is the protector of the record. Somebody holds the integrity and keeps the access to justice free flowing for the whole community. So that's priority number one. So a certified individual is in that room taking the record. 

Where digital is going to differ is its evolving technology. It is not simply pressing record on a machine. It's understanding the proceedings that are taking place, having confidence monitoring your equipment, and ensuring that everybody is comfortable with your processes in the room, going straight to the development of the transcript at the end. 

That, in my mind, has more checks and balances than other methods of court reporting. What's your opinion there? You've actually been in the room as a digital.

Liz Dwyer:
So the main thing that really bothers me, and I think we need to get it out there, is the myths about digital court reporting. That it's just somebody goes in and presses a button and walks away, or they don't need any training besides how to press a button. So those are the kinds of things that I think we need to get over that stigma. 

And people need to realize that the transcript of a digital reporter has several layers on it. So it may not be that reporter who's actually transcribing it, but that reporter is actually taking annotations, notes, time-stamped, able to control the room. If somebody speaks over each other, their job, just like a traditional reporter, is to say, “We need a clear record. We need to make a clear record here, and you need to speak one at a time.” It's much more involved than people realize. 

There are certifications—this CDR, certified deposition reporter, certified electronic reporter, certified electronic transcriber. And these are rigorous tests that people have to go through.

Kaci Hardin:
I agree. And what I find is out there in social media and the presence in other forums is some individuals will see those annotations and say, “Oh my goodness, that's their record. That's what they're doing.” That's just the real-time note-taking. 

It's similar to a brief that you would jot down on your machine or take on your voice machine that is ingested into the final transcript on the back end, which, similar to other court reporting methods, there are steps and checks and balances where you have scopists and proofreaders. 

We have transcriptionists and QC teams, so they mirror each other.

Liz Dwyer:
Absolutely. And I was just thinking that about scopists and proofreaders. There's really not much of a difference.

Responsibilities of a Digital Reporter

Kaci Hardin:
You mentioned controlling the room and having confidence monitoring within the ecosystem itself as a reporter. To expand on that, what do you think are the key responsibilities of a digital reporter that you find valuable?

Liz Dwyer:
So they need to confidence monitor, right? So when the audio's on, they need to make sure nothing's interfering with that audio, whether it be something in the room, electronic, or a microphone placed in the wrong place. Sometimes lapel mics, people will take off their jacket. So they need to be constantly monitoring that audio to make sure it's crystal clear.

Another thing is their annotations. Their annotations need to be timestamped, matched to the audio. So later when you have a transcriptionist going through it and something odd happens, they can see in those annotations what's going on. Or say there's multiple attorneys, they can note who's objecting.

Kaci Hardin:
It's like a timestamp of exactly what's happening in the room.

Liz Dwyer:
Exactly, exactly.

Kaci Hardin:
That's how you're going to solidify the record, and you're going to make sure that it's a cohesive proceeding where every event is marked and accounted for throughout the whole thing. Leveraging technology.

Liz Dwyer:
Absolutely. And it's the same with a stenographer's notes. They're taking down what's happening in the room and who's objecting. They're doing the same thing digitally, just like a voice writer would with their voice.

AI vs. ASR vs. Digital

Kaci Hardin:
So now that we're talking about voice writing and digitally, let's dive into, I mean, the three big terms that are out there—AI, ASR, and digital. These are used interchangeably, I find, and they're actually very different things. So when we talk about AI, and especially in this industry, it's something that enhances the ability to transcribe something.

Liz Dwyer:
So what I do want to bring up about that is so many people today are terrified of the word AI. They think it's taking their jobs, it's going to take over the world. AI is just a tool that's used in digital reporting. It doesn't even have to be used. There are digital reporters who just have somebody transcribe from scratch, but it's a time saver and it's technology, and it's going to be the way of the future.

Kaci Hardin:
Yeah. It's more like the specialized tools for this version of court reporting, similar to a CAT machine where it ingests the steno and outputs it in English. It's just a tool to get there.

Liz Dwyer:
Or similar to in the beginning of voice writing, there was specialized software that would recognize one voice—so ASR for one voice—and then they would go through and edit it.

Kaci Hardin:
Can we all just say we all remember training that?

Liz Dwyer:
We all remember training for hours and hours and hours. Yes. Ad nauseam.

Kaci Hardin:
So now today's speech engines are able to train more efficiently and more quickly and adapt to multiple voices.

Liz Dwyer:
Multiple voices. And that was the whole push forward in technology that made this possible—is the multiple voices.

Kaci Hardin:
And what this does not mean is that there's no one in the room. There's just a recording that takes the record. There always needs to be a human in the loop, as we say in this industry. We're just giving that human a laser beam to focus exactly what they're doing.

Liz Dwyer:
Absolutely. And it gives you tools to get the transcript done.

Kaci Hardin:
Ethically.

Liz Dwyer:
Yes. Ethically and much faster. You can turn it around. It takes about, what? To type something by hand, it's about four hours for every hour of audio—say three hours if you're super fast. With ASR, that's a fraction of the time.

Kaci Hardin:
Yeah, absolutely. The efficiency ratio goes almost double.

Liz Dwyer:
Right. So it used to be almost impossible for a voice writer to get something out same day or a digital to get something out same day or next day.

Kaci Hardin:
Now it's here.

Liz Dwyer:
With ASR, it's 100% possible, and it's happening every day.

The Shortage of Court Reporters

Kaci Hardin:
So in your mind, having come from a court reporting agency and building it out and hiring the digital reporters, what is pushing the drive and the need for these changes? Knowing that stenos are always going to be the gold standard, the best of the best—but what is pushing for the access to justice to include digital?

Liz Dwyer:
So there's a shortage. I think everybody's aware that there's a shortage of court reporters. There's people retiring every day, and there's less schools, and there's a need for justice to keep going. Attorneys, I've heard them complain about nobody showing up. They can't find a court reporter for their deposition. They have to put it off. They have to ask the court reporting agency when they have somebody available. 

So there's really no need for that to happen when all these methods can work together. Nobody's saying if you have a current traditional CSR model that you have to change to 100% digital, but adding it on is going to allow you to serve your clients better.

Kaci Hardin:
Yeah, it's going to give you more growth opportunities. And the margins might be a little bit better because the access and the barrier to entry for a digital reporter is lower. Now, that does not mean the digital reporter is subpar and trained. It's just the skill set to be able to execute on the technology—it's a shorter bandwidth.

Liz Dwyer:
And it's the same. If you go back to stenography, voice writing is quicker than stenography. Digital is quicker than voice writing. And it's just progress, right?

Kaci Hardin:
Progress. Progress.

Future-Proofing CRA Businesses

Kaci Hardin:
So how can adopting digital reporting help court reporting firms stay competitive, in your mind?

Liz Dwyer:
So you're future-proofing your business. Ten years from now, you may not be able to find a stenographer. They're in huge demand.

Kaci Hardin:
And the pass rate for the exam is incredibly low.

Liz Dwyer:
It's incredibly low. And you also will stay at the forefront of technology. Things are being developed all the time to help make this job quicker, faster.

Kaci Hardin:
Easy. But what you're not saying is degradation of the transcript. There's nothing being developed that will degrade that transcript, because that's what matters.

Liz Dwyer:
Absolutely not. And there's always going to be a human set of eyes on the transcript. And there's more layers usually on a digital reporter’s—

Kaci Hardin:
Yeah. There's more scrutiny on the digital reporter's—

Liz Dwyer:
And their transcript has to be better, I feel like. That's the thought I had when we would send out digital reporters—is that this has to be a good transcript because people are looking at it like, is it going to be a mess?

Kaci Hardin:
Yeah. They've got their backs against the wall. And honestly, the struggle of the business owners to get a court reporter in the room is very real. There are multiple reports that will show that there is a shortage. It is hard to get a certified individual in that room.

Liz Dwyer:
And they can't cover jobs. They just can't cover the jobs.

Kaci Hardin:
No, they can't. And so that impedes the access to justice for, say, a stay-at-home mom that got in a car accident and really needs to get her case settled. They can't get a court reporter in the room.

Liz Dwyer:
And it also takes money out of the pocket of the agencies, let's face it. I mean, bottom line is you're in business to make money.

Kaci Hardin:
Oh yeah. And the margins—they would be better for a digital versus steno. Do digital reporters, business-wise, not make the same page rate or even get paid similarly to steno? No, but it's because the barrier to entry and the ability to hit the ground running and evolve with technology in this industry goes up. So those digital reporters are able to take more jobs.

Rethinking the Court Reporting Workflow

Liz Dwyer:
Because the way I like to look at it very simply is it's almost like dividing the job into two parts: somebody to take down, somebody to transcribe. In the traditional model, you have the same person—soup to nuts—go take the job, turn in the transcript. When you have somebody who's just taking the job and making the annotations, you can go out every day. 

You know—you've worked as a reporter and I have as well—that it's impossible to take all-day hearings every single day and still get your jobs in on time. You're working weekends, nights. It's just impossible to keep that up for any period of time.

Kaci Hardin:
Absolutely.

Liz Dwyer:
So with digital reporting, and you have it broken into separate parts, it is possible to send that person out every day.

The Beginning of the Court Reporting Revolution

Kaci Hardin:
I am so happy that we had this discussion and we've really dove into understanding the shift in where the industry is going and embracing this new idea and the revolution that is going to come to court reporting—with, one, ensuring that quality is at the forefront of everybody's mind, that it's not being sacrificed; really dispelling the myths of what is a digital reporter, what is it not; and then, how does this impact your business and how can we grow it? 

So in the next module that we'll go over, we're going to really discuss the microcosm of this all for your specific business. So I'm glad we covered all the high points. Check out Module Two: Business Strategy and Implementation