LiveDeposition Certified Reporter Spotlight
Name: Teresa Evans, RMR, CRR
Title: Owner, Realtime Reporters
Certifications:
RMR, CRR, WV CSR
Self-summary in three words:
Driven, Christian, encourager
When did you begin your court reporting career?
I graduated from the Huntington College of Business in 1981, getting out of court reporting school in one year (the first and last to ever do so). I had an amazing teacher who was willing to come in at 5:00 a.m. to teach me a class so I could graduate early. What a great teacher she was! I began my career as a freelance reporter, went into official reporting, then back out as a freelance firm owner currently.
What sparked your interest in choosing court reporting as a profession?
I was in shorthand classes in high school and I kept winning contests. My teacher was married to an attorney, and she says one day, “You should be a court reporter.” I said, “What’s a court reporter?” She told me a little about the profession and then went on to convey that the official court reporter in one of our smallest counties had made $60,000 the previous year. That was 1979, so that amount was an absolute fortune! I had originally wanted to become a lawyer (don’t we all!) and decided that one to two years of schooling to watch from the sidelines and do something I already enjoyed (typing and shorthand) was a good trade. The rest is history.
What advice would you give students or those just entering the field of Court Reporting?
You have to want it – really want it! If you have chosen this profession because of the money and you hate the machine or the work, you are in trouble. You need to keep your eye on the prize and let NO ONE discourage you from the ultimate goal, to actually be a court reporter and go to work every day expecting great things. And you must practice, practice, practice! You do not fly through speed tests without practicing. You MUST do more than just what you do in school time.
This is the best profession in the world for perfectionists, those who strive for excellence, and you are surrounded by intelligent, quality people. I tell everyone being a court reporter is like getting paid to watch Lifetime TV. You can’t beat it!
What is your favorite thing about being a reporter?
I have always been a people watcher. I could just sit at an event and watch the people pass by all day. You get to see the crazy, the brilliant, the lazy and the overachiever interact, sometimes all within the same day! I love that every day is different and challenging, and there are always new things to learn and new goals to be met.
As a Court Reporter, what is your worst nightmare or biggest pet peeve?
I think probably people constantly talking over each other, apologizing for doing it and then repeatedly doing it again is my biggest pet peeve. My worst nightmare would be forgetting my machine (which I have actually done!)
Where is the strangest place you have taken a deposition?
Many a deposition has been taken in a doctor’s office (even while having to sit right on top of the examining table), but the strangest place I have ever reported was by the side of a busy highway, with motorcycles and cars zooming by while the jury and I tried to stay off the road but still be able to record what was happening. Not the best day(:
What is the funniest thing you have heard during a deposition or in the courtroom?
My favorite story is of a trial when I was just a young reporter, and the defendant had tried to burn down the State Police barracks. See, he had forgery and uttering charges, but he reasoned that if the evidence was burned up, his charges would go away. So he drives through town at midnight, waves to the police officer, goes and puts a Molotov cocktail into the window of the barracks, pours some gasoline around and lights it, watches it take off, then he goes back through town, waves to the police officer again and goes home. The next day when the State Police arrive, they see what has happened, but the fire went out almost immediately. They begin to investigate and quickly land on the defendant, whose muddy shoes were still on his washing machine and the gas cans still in his trunk. As I hear the opening statement and all the evidence, I wonder, “What in the world can his defense be?” Defense begins to put on their case, and the first witness was his mother. She goes into, “Oh, he was the smartest little boy, he knew his numbers and letters before anyone else,” blah, blah, blah, and then she pauses, takes a dramatic look around the courtroom and says, “And then that’s when it happened!” Another pause. “He got bit by a black widder spider, and he ain’t been the same since!” For some reason, this struck me as hilarious, so I had to go through those convulsions that reporters do, trying not to laugh. His defense truly was that he wasn’t very smart, and that should get him off. You had to be there, I guess…
When not court reporting, how do you spend your free time?
I love to read, and I teach and speak at women’s conferences, encouraging women in their spiritual walk. I have seven grandchildren and love time with them as well.
What do you like most about LiveDeposition?
The ease of setup! The first time I used it was a nightmare day in which we had to move locations for the depositions, I had NO TIME to set up anything, much less something extra, and everyone popped in, hooked themselves up with no trouble, and the day turned out great. It is a phenomenal product, and I’m thrilled to have found it!