27
Feb

The concentration exhibited on the face of the court reporter is proof of his or her dedication to the task at hand. He uses a small desk located just in front of the judge’s bench. He uses a special machine, not a regular typist keyboard, to record all words spoken during a trial. He is well educated, knowledgeable and he and others like him deserve the high court reporter salaries they are earning.

She, and others like her are well educated, dedicated and provide meticulous attention to every detail of the court proceedings. Typically, a court reporter in the USA earns slightly fewer than fifty thousand dollars a year. This is an average that takes geographical location, industry and size of the company owned by her employer.

Working as an official government employee is not the only job opportunity for an educated and licensed court reporter. There are openings in lawyer’s offices, schools and even television closed-captioning creation.

How can she type that fast, how does someone qualify to become a courtroom reporter in the first place? First of all, she is not using a regular keyboard to type record the dialogue. Secondly, her education took two and a half years. Then after graduating from the program, she passed a state board exam before being licensed as an official courtroom reporter.

The machine used to record testimony is called a steno machine. Unlike the keyboard, it has only twenty-two keys. Learning to use it is like learning a new language. At peak skill she can record 225 words per minute. Each sentence and each nuance of meaning must be clearly interpreted. Medical, legal, and scientific terms must be defined accurately. A court reporter signs a statement as to veracity of the report.

According to a report from CNN/Money, a freelancing court reporter with superior skills, experience and dedication can earn $100,000 per year. This is higher than the salary earned working for the government or other employer. It must be taken into consideration that the freelancer pays his own benefits. Health insurance, taxes and insurances take a large portion from the $100,000. If he depends on an agency to refer him for work, that is another expense.

The court systems on federal and state levels require the continuous services of the official court reporter. Trials and hearings must be carefully reported. A job such as this has regular hours, a good salary and benefits worth a great deal. The freelancer, conversely, is self-employed, and pays his own taxes and saves his own retirement fund and has no paid vacations. He may work with a lawyer to take depositions and record other meetings.

A freelancer may be hired to attend and record board meetings in the corporate world. Deaf and other special needs students may require such services to help interpret classroom lectures. An especially high paying job is doing the closed caption services for television shows. The person who qualifies for this job is highly compensated.

Court reporter salaries for beginners can be around fifty thousand. When five years experience is added to his resume, the pay goes up to seventy thousand. More experience equals pay up to ninety thousand. There are thousands of jobs currently filled by court reporters. The demand for additional such workers is expected to rise and be paid according to skill level and experience.

Want more information on how much money a court reporting career can bring in? Get the full scoop on starting salary court reporter from http://www.courtreportersalarydata.com

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...
Category : Legal Careers