LiveDeposition Certified Reporter Spotlight
Name: Kensie Benoit
Title: Official Court Reporter, 289th Juvenile District Court, Bexar County
Certifications:
Texas Certified Shorthand Reporter
Self-summary in three words:
Vivacious, ambitious, confident
When did you begin your court reporting career?
January, 2013
What sparked your interest in choosing court reporting as a profession?
When I was younger, my best friend’s mom was a court reporter. I spoke with her about it and kind of got to see what she did. I knew that she was able to provide for her family and seemed to love her job. I was hooked from 10 years old on.
What advice would you give students or those just entering the field of Court Reporting?
Be persistent. If at first you don’t succeed, get back up and try again. Also, surround yourself only with people who are going to lift you higher.
What is your favorite thing about being a reporter?
I love that I have the opportunity to meet people every day and hear their stories.
As a Court Reporter, what is your worst nightmare or biggest pet peeve?
My worst nightmare is being late to a job. During my internship, I had to call an attorney’s office to tell them we were going to be late because a helicopter landed on the highway in front of us in downtown Houston. Five minutes early is considered late.
Where is the strangest place you have taken a deposition?
The strangest place would have to be in someone’s home with a 4-year-old jumping on the couch next to me and with a cat practically in my lap.
What is the funniest thing you have heard during a deposition or in the courtroom?
I can’t think of the funniest thing I’ve ever heard, but I can think of the funniest thing I saw. One time I was taking a medical hearing, and a roach crawled up someone’s leg. I was sitting next to the person. I happened to be looking down and saw it. If you know anything about Texas, it’s that the roaches fly. So, you had a judge, two attorneys, and a CEO of a hospital chasing this thing around the room with a shoe. It was hilarious.
When not court reporting, how do you spend your free time?
I like to spend time with my family and friends. I love to travel, and I love to make homemade gifts and cards to surprise people. At one point in my life, I was a pen pal to over 50 people.
What do you like most about LiveDeposition?
The support. From the initial call on, they have been very prompt in answering my questions. I was about to set up realtime for my judge for the first time via her laptop and I forgot how to do one thing and called them and they handled it within one minute of talking to them.
Anything else you would like to share?
This quote: “Choose to be great in your field of choice and work it out. Choose that your harvest will be abundant and strive for it. Choose to be a success and prepare for it. Choose to be a winner and fight for it. Success is a choice!”