Benefits of Realtime Court Reporting Services

Benefits of Realtime Court Reporting Services

Using Realtime in Complex Litigation – Trials – Hearings – Arbitrations

While realtime court reporting services is not a new technology – Independent Reporters has been providing this service for 25+ years – many lawyers are not familiar with the benefits of using a realtime court reporter in a large or complex discovery, trial, hearing or arbitration.

We all have come to realize that today’s technology has given rise to a culture of immediate access to information through a search or news feed. Realtime transcript services are provided with similar intent, instant access to read and review live testimony, cross-examination or argument during a proceeding.

When using realtime transcription in legal settings, every person in that session can benefit by having the text accessible, searchable and available to review, live. It has been shown that lawyers using realtime services have a greater comprehension of evidence as listening to, AND reading, the live testimony gives the user a deeper memory of what was said in the proceedings. There is less chance of missing key testimony while you are writing manual notes while trying to retain ongoing evidence. By having a realtime screen in front of you, marking a section of testimony is as simple as hitting the space bar to come back and reference later. Your focus remains on what is occurring in the room and what other counsel may be referencing that you may need to note for later preparation.

In a nutshell, realtime translation requires a live connection to the court reporter’s computer and a program on your device. Unlike the past where we would run wires to connect computers through a network or serial ports, today this is all done with wireless access. For larger proceedings, we can provide remote access to other parties that may not be in the room where the live proceedings are taking place. This is useful for your research team to monitor certain issues and provide essential information back to the team at the proceedings. More about these benefits later.

While not all proceedings may warrant the use of realtime transcription, it is especially crucial in ongoing cases with lots of information, witnesses and extended sitting days where keeping on top of all transpiring information is important. Using realtime court reporting services can greatly improve the speed a proceeding moves along.

It is also important to note that not all reporters can provide realtime. At Independent Reporters, we work closely in providing training to develop a strong team or realtime writers. Experience and time spent by our court reporters in developing their skills, understanding how to make the most of their software and dictionary are key factors. Also, IR has a technical support team that works with clients to understand their exact needs and provide the necessary solutions to ensure all a client’s needs are met. From a simple setup of two recipients to having 25 or more users in various locations across the country, we can do it all with a complete understanding of the technology and support the platforms.

What are the benefits of realtime reporting? Let’s have a look.

Instant Access to the Transcript

During the discovery, trial, hearing or arbitration, counsel can view the transcript instantly on a laptop or tablet and follow along during the deposition/trial. This allows for efficient questioning of the witness and the ability to review any previous questions/answers/testimony given if needed.
While viewing the live transcript immediately as it is being taken down, counsel, board members, or the presiding judge can better know if they need to ask follow-up questions or further questions on earlier testimony.

Add a Quick Mark – Search – Make Notes – Create Reports of Live Testimony

Using our realtime software you can easily mark the current testimony by hitting the space bar and add in a quick mark to easily find text later for review at a break.
Do you need to search for keywords of earlier testimony? No problem. You can enter text, search and find all instances of that word in the testimony. Another useful feature is the ability to create Boolean or proximity searches.
You can make notes and attach that to areas of the testimony for your use in cross-examination or re-examination.
And finally, create reports based on any of the above functions and export those out at a break or the end of the day to help you further prepare for the next day.

Remote Attendance and Access

Sometimes having a large team on-site is impractical. With internet access from the main proceeding room, IR can provide remote access to co-counsel, paralegals, support staff or expert witnesses to participate from their own office. The remote text stream can be text-only or we can also add streaming video and audio.

Increased Efficiency and Process

At the end of each day, your court reporter will provide you with a rough draft of the transcript. We do a quick review of the file, then typically about one-hour later you will have a cleaned-up draft. This gives you time well before the next day to prepare. Cost-effective and convenient, the rough drafts are available to you before the final certified official transcript is completed.
Many of our clients will rely solely on using the daily draft transcript during the entire process and order certified transcripts on a normal delivery timeline. This avoids the cost of daily certified transcript production and reduces costs to your client.

Get In Touch

Do you have a large discovery case, trial, hearing or arbitration where you would like to review the options for how these services may be beneficial? Give us a call and we can review your needs, discuss options and provide solutions in any situation you may have.