When you look at the overall history of the judicial system, realtime court reporting is a fairly new concept. Even though it was first introduced into the courtroom over twenty years ago, its adoption has been undoubtedly slow. Over the last five years, the technology used to deliver and receive realtime has drastically improved, so why aren’t more attorneys requesting this service?
It is no secret that many attorneys are set in their ways and getting them to buy into realtime has proven to be a challenge. Whether they have had a bad experience with realtime in the past or just don’t know this type of service exists, as a court reporter it is up to you sell your clients on the benefits of realtime. Next time you have a deposition, ask if they would like realtime. If they say yes you are golden, if they say no then you need to remind them how powerful of a tool realtime is for legal professionals. Here are some selling points to get you started:
- With realtime, attorneys are able to instantly see and review a rough transcript of witness testimony from any PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire or Android enabled smartphone or tablet.
- Using realtime at a deposition allows attorneys to search for keywords, highlight sections, and mark important testimony.
- When following along with realtime, attorneys can make notes for future motions, reminders, or follow-up.
- Realtime enables other legal professionals, such as paralegals or expert witnesses to review the deposition as it is occurring and suggest questions or testimony impeachment based off of previously stated items.
- With realtime, attorneys can ensure the deponent has properly answered the questions that were asked, allowing for a more complete deposition.
- Realtime speeds up the overall deposition or legal proceeding time, allowing for quicker questions and answers.
- When viewing realtime, attorneys can pause the feed, as well as scroll back to previous sections of the testimony to refer to something that was said at an earlier time.
- Realtime increases focus during a deposition or legal proceeding. Rather than zoning out while testimony is being spoken, attorneys can follow along with the actual words and concentrate on what is being said.
- Overall, realtime gives attorneys a competitive advantage during depositions and legal proceedings, allowing for more complete, thorough, and meticulous pre-trial discovery and preparation.
Realtime is an important tool during depositions and legal proceedings. As a court reporter providing this service, educating your clients on the benefits of realtime is extremely important. If attorneys don’t know that realtime is a service you provide or don’t know how they will benefit from it, all the extra time you have spent training and improving your skills will be for nothing. Also, the more realtime jobs you take, the more money you will make as a court reporter. So remember, next time you have a deposition, sell your clients on the benefits of realtime!