As the world is evolving into a more technology friendly domain, there is no reason why court reporting services should not embrace a touch of tech. Real-time reporting defines the instant conversion process where an electronic gadget translates the court reporter’s shorthand notes to English for a display. This process requires a software application that can perfectly “read” and convert the shorthand for the human readers.
Real-time court reporting provides smart tools to the reporters for faster and more accurate transcription. Real-time reporting with a generous dose of technology can provide instant access to online streaming options. This enables the clients to check the transcription online. This eliminates the need for a person to travel large distances to clarify doubts or consult the notes for case studies. The top court reporters now use real-time reporting techniques. Real-time court reporting has several salient advantages and here are the most significant ones you will come across in the recent future –
Instant access to transcripts
You will have access to a plethora of transcripts from the current case. You will never have to face waiting time for your rough transcripts with the advent of real-time reporting. The instant capture of information, storage, and maintenance of information makes the process more streamlined. This enables the legislative services to scan the complete database of transcripts and provide an accurate report that conveys the gist of the case. This summary can be critical for appealing to the court, approaching the jury or recounting the progress of the case inside the court premises. Agencies often take lesser time than before to produce the final transcripts of the cases.
More ways to share case transcripts
The real-time reporting technologies help in the collection of all case-related data in a complete database, and at the same time, it helps the user access the information. Sharing the case information is very easy considering it involves just one mouse click. Clients can confirm the stored information or review the evidence of the items. In majority of the cases, the agencies can send a copy of the report or the transcript via email or fax. Now the clients can easily send a copy of the transcript to associates and other professionals when the need arises.
Combining real-time with video provides better chances of winning
Live testimonies and video recordings can allow the attorneys to clarify or challenge key issues with the support of video evidence from previous sessions. Real-time court reporting can help in the impeachment of live testimony, in case there are issues with credibility. The technicians can usually overlay the transcripts with the video like subs in a movie. The judge and the lawyers can access the video transcript remotely as well. Lawyers no longer have to wait for weeks to review the testimony to consult an expert witness. Attorneys can now cut-and-paste parts of the testimony for medical experts or psychologists for evaluation. This eliminates the long days of processing involved in traditional trials and helps with preserving the continuity of the case. Fewer days of discontinuity helps the judges, jury and the lawyers stay focused on the facts.
Real-time transcription offers better precision
It combines the court reporter’s skill set with the recording and translation feature of software programs. Real-time court reporting can resolve a number of persistent issues that lawyers often face when using automation only. It is very natural for the people involved to lose focus during a recess or during the interruption of a trial. The presence of a real-time system allows the court to play the recording of the previous sessions right back in case of doubts. It provides answers to all doubts with the click of one button.
It provides people with an instant review system
A combination of human talent and automated translation allows the team members of a council to review the testimonies quickly. The court can go back to older parts of the proceedings and check for discrepancies in the witness testimonies. Human memory is prone to errors, but the presence of a live translation cum backup system ensures better reviews of witness interviews. Lawyers can rephrase their questions and clarify their doubts about the details by revisiting their old interviews.
Real-time reporting supports an accurate note making process
Presence of real-time court reporting enables all parties to make usable notes alongside the testimony. Multiple individual notes on a case help in underlining the inconsistencies, if any. Real-time reporting supports the case of team members, who are absent from the courtroom. They can access the information remotely, make their notes for the next day’s session and make comments from a remote location. This alleviates the necessity of a second disposition and reduces the hassle for parties absent from court.
It fosters better strategizing and cooperation
The real-time court reporting services provide the same live testimony to all parties inside the courtroom. This levels the ground for all participants since they can make their individual notes on the same transcripts. The can coordinate with one another by exchanging their personal notes and observations on the transcript. For the legal teams involved in the case, this is a significant improvement over traditional court reporting and disposition systems. The entire legal team now has the power to review the testimonies, double check the details, compare their notations and share the effort.
It helps in cost-cutting
The lawyers can possess the rough drafts of their transcripts even before the court releases the final transcript version. It helps the lawyers ready their deposition for the next day. The counsel, client, clerks, legal assistants, and the judges can have access to the rough transcript almost immediately irrespective of their location. This saves the attorneys a lot of hard work and a lot of money. The clients appreciate the presence of rough transcripts since it saves them the cost of expediting a transcript.
Encourages better participation from all parties involved
A courtroom may entertain several types of population including the elderly and the hearing-impaired. In several cases, the surrounding noise drowns the dialogue between the lawyer and the witness or the defendant. Juries often have trouble keeping up with the process due to the clamor that may prevail in the audience. Everyone knows how important the exchange of dialogs can be between the judge and the law professionals or the lawyers and their clients. The presence of an electronic device (translator) mediated display increases the effectiveness of participation. All parties involved in court proceedings are embracing the advent of real-time reporting with open arms since it makes the proceedings easier to follow and understand.
Why is real-time court reporting better than dedicated audio reporting?
Dedicated audio reporting sounds like lesser work and better accuracy, but the cost of the process can be significantly higher than real-time reporting. Real-time reporting usually involves a stenographer and a device with software support, which translates the shorthand to English. Audio Recording devices require microphones that have the power to capture human voices in their faintest whispers, amidst the ruffling of papers, sniffling of people and other background noise.
Incidentally, even the most sophisticated microphones can fail to capture the voices and dialogues between the parties involved. The imperfections in recordings are usually accessible after the session is complete. This provides fewer opportunities for correction and clarification. In case of real-time reporting, the court reporter can pause and ask for clarification in case of muffled testimonies or background interruptions. These are almost impossible in case of fully automated voice recording devices.
Transcribers require time to convert voice recordings into written material. The process of real-time transcription is much faster than recording the session and then appointing a freelance court reporter to decipher the complete transcript. It supports quicker communication and clarification as compared to the audio recordings.
Opting for real-time court reporting can provide you or your team a strategic advantage
Sometimes, asking the opponent team or the court clerk for certain portions of the testimony can aid in divulging certain parts of your strategy. The opponents may get wind of your plans or thinking pattern. With real-time recording, you can have the entire process on your tablet, laptop or PC without the risk of revealing your possible next move. You can mark certain passages, make notes and jot down your questions for the next day’s session. You will never have to worry about alerting the other parties involved, ever again, as long as you have real-time reporting on your side.
Opting for a real-time reporting service can mean that you can access the transcripts of the legal proceedings with a computer or the traditional way with printed notes. Your clients and associates will have instant and direct access to the testimony as the case unfurls. Usually, in case of a real-time live court reporting session, the court reporter provides a direct live link to the computer. This link allows the present and remote parties access to the same proceeding transcripts at the same time.
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