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Use the following links to access information on how you can help the court reporter provide a more accurate transcript.
The reporter's transcript is an important document during and after a trial or any other formal investigative proceedings. It is used to compare and weigh up the evidence of witnesses and refresh the memory of legal arguments and submissions. Personal freedom, compensation for a severe personal injury, the vindication of civil rights, all can depend on a clear and accurate record. Many cases lost in the trial court are won on appeal because the evidence has been carefully recorded. "Making the record better" provides many reminders to help you make a clear record. Most of them are common sense but nonetheless they are often overlooked.
The responsibility for preserving the record rests with the court reporter on whom the bench and bar rely to accurately report the judge, counsel and witnesses. The primary job of making the record belongs to the barristers and solicitors in the case. You, as counsel, or solicitor, may have an excellent theory and a winning strategy but you must match your preparation with a careful regard for the record while in court so that it will accurately and completely reflect the merit of your case to the appeal judges.
You are aware of the effect your courtroom methods have on the judge and/or jury. But do you also remember that your words are being reported? Are you conscious that they will read by opposing counsel, legal scholars, future generations of law students and Supreme Court judges? When you keep this fact in mind you take a big step towards creating an effective, usable record. Remembering that your words are being reported for the record will help you to choose them more carefully and state them more clearly. You will tend to cut out duplication of statement and repetition of questions. Your number of false starts will drop dramatically and you will tend to present your arguments and evidence more logically.
Whether it is a court trial or disciplinary proceedings the verbatim reporter needs to know who you are and whom you represent, and the title of the case. This will prevent you being described as the man with the moustache or the blonde lady - or not being referred to at all. Matters of identification are especially important in multiple party cases. Reporters are usually good at associating names with faces, but they cannot do it if they don't get the name right in the first place. You can help to ensure a clean record if you identify yourself with a card or note to the reporter.
Overlapping is what happens when two or more people talk or shout at once. Imagine, for example, a heated cross-examination. Counsel asks a question. Before it is completed the witness begins the answer. At the same time opposing counsel objects and the Court starts to rule. The court reporter - well, what does the court reporter do when all that can be heard is a jumble of voices at a combined rate of probably ten words per second? The reporter has a duty to record, but also has a need to hear and understand. What cannot be heard and understood cannot be reported. Moreover, if the reporter didn't hear it, more likely than not other participants and the jury didn't hear it either. The proceedings at this point might be stopped so that everyone may regain their train of thought. This sort of problem can affect a judge or jury's ability to follow a line of questioning. A solicitor or barrister who continually interrupts the witness's answers should try hard to overcome the habit. Also if you have a witness who anticipates your questions and starts answering before you are finished, remind the witness to wait until the question is complete before responding. At times you might have to interrupt a witness who you think is about to give inadmissible testimony, but these occasions will be relatively few. They are not an excuse to interrupt to the point that only broken statements appear. The basics of courtroom speech etiquette are quite simple. One at a time. There are very few occasions when overlapping speech serves the interests of justice or a client.
Two things are true about names. Everyone has one, and no one is happy when his or her name is misspelled, mispronounced or confused with someone else's. But many names sound alike: Terry/Perry, Egan/Regan,Ryan/Brien. Such pairs sound similar and can be mistaken by the reporter and others especially when they show up in the same case. Proper names should be spelled out or enunciated slowly and clearly so there can be no doubt. Even if you pronounce it so slowly your jaw locks, chances are the reporter will want you to spell it anyway. Consider for example, the case of Mr. White - or was it Mr. Wight? No, it was Mr. Weit or maybe it was Mr. Wyatt. You've been very kind and spelled the acronym for the reporter but when you read the transcript BART has become DARP. Even the spelling of names and other words must be done carefully, M and N, B and D and V, F and S and P and T are likely to cause confusion. To eliminate doubt use an identifying name to clarify, such as M for Mary, I for Isaac, L for Larry etc. Q. When did the accident happen? Q. What were the damages? Numbers are no less subject to confusion than names or letters. For example when you say forty-one-o-six, you might mean 41.06, or 40,106 - all with or without a euro sign. Likewise two-twenty could refer to an amount, a street number, cubic centimetres, two-point-twenty, or twenty minutes past 2 o'clock. October-nineteen-eight-six- means October, 1986 except when someone intends it to mean October 19, '86. Let everyone know what you mean by stating figures in full followed by the subject they represent. For example, forty-one-euro, two-point-twenty-percent; six-o-five-p.m. or October-nineteenth-ninety-eighty-six.
The simple phrase, "Let the transcript reflect..." or its equivalent should be used to clarify every gesture that witnesses make. By doing so you can convert reams of otherwise meaningless testimony into a coherent account. Such answers-with-gestures as "over to about there", "about that long", "he had a bruise here about that big and another one here and not quite as large", "that man sitting there" become meaningless when read. Reporters may be able to describe gestures, but they cannot draw conclusions from them. It is up to you or the judge to clarify the record. Q. How far away from the defendant were you standing? Q. How long was the cut on your leg? Q. So you see in this courtroom the man you saw pulling the lever? If the witness nods in answer to a question, the note "witness nods" might appear in the transcript if a spoken answer is not forthcoming. Here again, remember that you make the record. It would be improper for the reporter to interpret the gesture.
The reporter's ear becomes attuned through experience to the speech patterns and accents of many nationalities and local variations of English. But the reporter often needs help from the Court and counsel to decipher testimony of witnesses. It generally is sufficient for counsel and the Court to gather the gist of the answers - the thought the witness is trying to convey - but the reporter must, for the record, identify and capture all the words. This process takes a fraction of a second longer than understanding the thought. Using an interpreter can cause special problems. For example, a witness sometimes will understand the question and begin answering in English without waiting for the interpreter to translate the question. It is then the responsibility of the counsel to instruct the witness to answer only through the interpreter. When questioning a witness through an interpreter remember that the witness is being examined, not the interpreter. Address your questions directly at the witness. Don't let your questioning of a witness take this form: Q. Ask the witness to tell us what happened then. This is a conversation between counsel and the interpreter and leaves a great deal of doubt about what actually happened. But the record is clear, counsel speaks directly to the witness and the interpreter translates the response as follows: Q. Tell us what happened then. When you have a witness who speaks some English you can still request the use of a competent official interpreter. However, the judge may prefer to have the witness testify in English. The decision to use an interpreter is up to the court.
A casual listener at a legal proceeding may be impressed with the clarity of what is said. But the reporter is not a casual listener. The reporter hears and must recall the false starts, the mistaken references to the plaintiff instead of the defendant, inaccurate page numbers and dates, and, often the unfortunate grammatical errors. Before approaching the reporter with the all-too-familiar "Did I say that?" remember that the reporter is only the mirror that reflects what was actually said, not what was intended.
During the course of the trial you might find occasion to quote from law reports, transcripts or other written materials. Almost everyone has a tough time reading aloud with accuracy. Keep in mind if it is important enough to quote, it is worth doing so in a fashion that can be heard and understood by everyone. The ability to speed-read is an asset - but not in court. When quoting give the proper reference and indicate where the quote begins and ends by saying "quote" and "unquote". When you read testimony into the record, include the words "question" and "answer". Reporters spend a lot of time verifying excerpts from cases cited during the course of a trial or argument. You can greatly expedite the transcription process by providing the reporter and the Court with a copy of the quoted material. When making a point of order or fact, do not be at a loss for words and resort to hand signals, or head nodding, in the general direction of the reporter. Instead simply state your point, the correct order or fact and any reference you may have to support your assertion. Doing as so makes both the point and the judge's direction more informative within the transcript.
Through training and continuing education, shorthand reporters, like lawyers and judges, acquire a broad general knowledge. However, in the world of advanced technologies, it is difficult to be familiar with every possible subject matter. As a solicitor or barrister you have the advantage or having prepared for the metallurgical terms that have become like old friends to you during your preparation. You can ensure an accurate transcript by providing the reporter with a glossary of technical terms. This will acquaint the reporter with the terminology of the case and minimise interruptions for clarifications during the proceedings.
As with other aspects of life, the pace of legal proceedings has picked up over the years. People simply talk faster than they used to. In an average day the court reporter will write anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 words.The rate of speech now is estimated to be 150 to 160 words per minute, about two and a half per second. In the heat of a trial or hotly contested application, it's not unusual for speech to approach double that rate. Above 200 words per minute speech tends to become slurred and indistinct making it more likely that words will be misheard. This isn't to apologise for the skills of the court reporter. For example, the National Court Reporters Association (U.S.A.) has a Registered Professional Reporter exam which is taken by some Irish reporters. This includes three dictations of five minutes each at 180, 200 and 225 words per minute. That's a rate of three to almost four words per second every second for five solid minutes. The Certification of Merit exam has portions at 200, 240 and 260 words per minute. At least one Irish reporter has passed this test. But this skill, like the engine in your car, isn't there to be run at top speed every time out. The points you make with your questions and your arguments look and sound better when you speak clearly than when you are racing out of control near the upper range of comprehension.
Here in Ireland you have the right to select your freelance reporter for civil court hearings for the District, Circuit and High Courts, and for arbitrations and proceedings of disciplinary bodies. There is as yet no Irish-based body to certify the qualifications of reporters. Since 1988 examinations set by the National Court Reporters Association, U.S.A., are held twice yearly in Bray, Co. Wicklow. To help determine whether reporters are qualified ask if they are tested Registered Professional Reporters or if they hold certificates of Proficiency or Merit. When a reporter does speak up it is only in the best interest of the record to recognise and acknowledge the problem and resolve it. Remember when the last words have been spoken all that remains is the record.
COMPUTER INTEGRATED COURTROOMS Most, if not all, reporters have crossed the threshold of the computer
age with computer-aided transcription, commonly referred to as CAT.
CAT aids the Court, counsel and the reporter by speeding the transcription
process. Rather than typing the transcript from shorthand notes
or dictating it for transcription by a typist the reporter with
CAT feeds the captured keystrokes into the computer, which then
translates the steno notes into English. The text is checked for
'untranslates' (which appear as shorthand steno notes or codes on
the computer's screen). Of course proofreading, checking of quotations
and other verification procedures continue to be part of the reporter's
responsibilities.
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