Profile E. Duane Smith, President, National Court Reporters' Association

1.800. 973. 1177

PROFILE

Profile E. Duane Smith, President, National Court Reporters’ Association [by Regan Morris] Ever considered becoming a court reporter? LawCrossing speaks with the president of the National Court Reporters’ Association about the varied careers in stenography.

Court reporting alive and well despite new

you can do, the kind of cases you’re involved

“Piano players in particular seem to have a

technology.

in,” Mr. Smith said. “I’ve traveled to every

much easier time,” he said. “And I think a lot

major city in the United States, to Europe and

of it is the process we go through listening

Charles Dickens, perhaps the most famous

to Asia doing reporting in various kinds of

to words, to information, and then it goes di-

court reporter of all time, said learning the

cases, so I love that part of it.”

rectly from your brain to your hands without making a stop anywhere else.”

“noble art and mystery of stenography” plunged him “into a sea of perplexity.” More

Speed and accuracy make up the backbone of

than 150 years after Dickens wrote those

court reporting, and Mr. Smith said reporters

Mr. Smith became interested in court report-

words about shorthand in “David Copper-

should be able to take down a mind-boggling

ing early in the 1970s when his then wife was

field,” the noble and perplexing art remains a

225 words per minute before they can gradu-

studying the craft and he was working as a

lucrative and fulfilling profession…for those

ate and work in the field.

management trainee for a finance firm. She

who can master the craft.

eventually dropped out, and he enrolled in “It’s a service kind of business, and what we

the McMahon College or Court Reporting in

Dickens made a lot of money as a shorthand

really do is we sell trust,’ Mr. Smith said.

Houston.

reporter for Parliament and various newspa-

“People hire us because they trust us to per-

pers. Modern stenographers are also hand-

form a service at a high level, and I like that.

Mr. Smith said he didn’t foresee becom-

somely paid, said E. Duane Smith, president

I really like that.”

ing a business owner but is glad he did. He

of the National Court Reporters Association.

bought the company he’d been working for in Learning shorthand for some people would

Baltimore in 1985 and now employs six full-

While some believe technology will make

be as difficult as learning Chinese. What

time staff and about 25 freelance reporters.

court reporting an obsolete profession, it

makes a good court reporter? Are there

Freelance reporters make up the bulk of the

hasn’t happened yet, and Mr. Smith’s boom-

specific characteristics or traits people have

profession, working on everything from de-

ing business and work as president of the

that make them naturals as court reporters?

positions and arbitration, closed captioning

National Court Reporters’ Association is

Mr. Smith said he wishes he knew, but said

for television, and as one-on-one reporters

evidence that the profession is healthy and

excellent English skills and a broad, worldly

for the hearing impaired.

growing. The image of the court reporter

education help. There is talk within the pro-

reading back lines in dramatic courtroom

fession that court reporting should become a

CART, which stands for Communication

scenes is familiar to most of us. But Mr.

graduate-level course, requiring a bachelor’s

Access Realtime Translation, is becoming

Smith said the bulk of work for reporters

degree to attend court-reporting school.

increasingly common for court reporters, Mr. Smith said.

happens in the pre-trial discovery process.

Although he has no scientific evidence, Mr. Mr. Smith, who has been a court reporter

Smith believes musicians have a natural pro-

“We have right now a full-time student at the

for 32 years and owner and chief executive

clivity to court reporting. That makes sense,

University of Maryland Law School who is

of reporting business CRC-Salomon for the

because piano players read music and di-

completely deaf,” he said. “One of the report-

last 10 years, said most people love reporting

rectly translate what they have read to their

ers travels to every class with this person

because every day is different and it’s a very

hands. Court reporters listen and immedi-

and writes in real time, in other words they

mobile profession.

ately translate words and syllables to their

write on the machine, and it’s displayed on a

hands on the keyboard--often simultaneously

laptop computer right in front of this student.

striking keys to form multiple words.

So this student has complete access to ev-

“There’s a huge variety in the kind of work

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1. 800. 973.1177

PROFILE

erything that’s going on in the classroom.”

day you could be working on an intellec-

Since nearly all stenography software is in

creation of a new drug to treat hepatitis or

English, Mr. Smith believes a major trend

AIDS,” he said. “A lot of it is just knowledge

will be a growing demand for foreign-lan-

and experience--how to deal with certain

guage court reporters, particularly for Span-

situations, how to deal with fast witnesses or

ish court reporters in the United States for

difficult subject matter, and the key to doing

closed-captioning television.

all of that successfully is lots of preparation.

tual property case that has to do with the

Knowing the subject matter, knowing the Because reporters must be independent,

people you’re going to be working with.”

they do not work directly for law firms.

And if a reporter mishears a word? It hap“Under our code of professional ethics, we’re

pens, but Mr. Smith said most court-re-

required to be impartial and independent,

porting software comes with digital audio

and to be an employee of an insurance com-

backups that also have timestamps linked to

pany or a law firm would violate that portion

the transcripts.

of our code of professional ethics,” he said.

“So you can go to any word in the transcript, Being freelance is the reason court reporters

point your cursor at the word, and play the

can make so much money, because they can

audio,” he said. “More and more it’s becom-

work as much or as little as they like. The

ing the trend that transcripts are verified

median income for court reporters across

in-house against the audio to insure 100-

the country is $60,000, but Mr. Smith said

percent accuracy. But you have to remember

that includes reporters working in low-pay-

that even 99.5-percent accuracy is pretty

ing courtrooms, and most reporters make

darn good.”

much more.

Witnesses are able to go online to check Even as chief executive, Mr. Smith was

transcripts for accuracy and say if they dis-

CRC-Salomon’s top producer, continuing to

agree with something in the record.

go out on reporting jobs while performing his administrative duties. That changed last

“We always strive for perfection, and I think

summer when he became president of the

the huge majority of times we get there,” he

NCRA.

said.

Mr. Smith, who is originally from a tiny town in Missouri called Climax Springs, said since he became president of the association on August 1, he has traveled to various meetings and conventions every weekend.

The most successful court reporters do plenty of research before a job, he said. If a court reporter is handling a deposition on a patent case, for example, the reporter should speak with the attorneys about the case first and research the products involved.

“You could be working on a personal injury case involving a car accident, and the next

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