Name: Janis Ferguson

Title:  Freelance Court Reporter/Firm Owner

Certifications:
Registered Professional Reporter, Certified Realtime Reporter

Self-summary in three words:
Happy and Blessed

When did you begin your court reporting career?
1981

What sparked your interest in choosing court reporting as a profession?
My mom worked for a Common Pleas Court Judge when I grew up, and she used to sit me in the courtroom to listen to trials. I just loved it and couldn’t get enough. She told me I ought to get paid for listening and be a court reporter. It has been my destiny since childhood.

What advice would you give students or those just entering the field of Court Reporting?
Don’t think you can work your own hours. Totally untrue. Be prepared to work long, hard hours. Also, don’t think you will make six figures your first year….or your first many years. And pay attention in your medical terminology classes. The most used part of my schooling, aside from the machine theory.

What is your favorite thing about being a reporter?
Without a doubt, it is the people I get to work with, from co-workers, to attorneys, to secretaries, to Judges. Also, I love not doing the same things every day. Favorite part is just when I think I’ve heard it all, I definitely have not!

As a Court Reporter, what is your worst nightmare or biggest pet peeve?
I actually lived my worst nightmare. It was a hearing to fire a doctor from a hospital. There was an Indian doctor and a Chinese doctor on the hearing board. The subject doctor was Korean. It was like working at the United Nations without training.

My biggest pet peeve it witnesses cracking gum and attorneys clicking pens. Drives me absolutely insane.

Where is the strangest place you have taken a deposition?
Sadly, nothing too strange, so I will answer my favorite place. I got to go to the Bahamas, a private island, for five days. I had to work maybe four hours. It was tough!

What is the funniest thing you have heard during a deposition or in the courtroom?
My favorite deposition was about a nudist colony in the Bahamas. The next-door neighbor didn’t like the nudist colony being there, and had his caretaker allegedly burn down the place. The caretaker was then appropriately enough hit over the head with a conch shell. The attorneys got to verbally fighting something fierce and wanted to go outside and punch it out. They did not, thankfully, because we were at a swanky country club.

When not court reporting, how do you spend your free time?
I have a horse that I trail-ride, after having shown horses for years. I also take care of European hockey players, aged 16-20, teaching them how to live in the United States. These are kids that are drafted by the NHL.

What do you like most about LiveDeposition?
Too easy. The support is second-to-none. My entire LiveDeposition experience was been nothing but wonderful.

Anything else you would like to share?
Yes. I was terrified to start to realtime. I didn’t know where to turn, who would help me with hooking up, et cetera. I found a page on Facebook about realtiming. These people put me in touch with LiveDeposition, and that very day my court reporting life changed. I still get nervous, but can’t believe I didn’t start doing this sooner. I will never be able to thank LiveDeposition and those court reporters that got me going enough!