In the last few newsletters, I've attempted to share with our readers the potential problems related to the layoffs of official court reporters from the King County Courthouse and what the effect of those layoffs mean to the end user of their valuable expertise in preparing transcripts.

On November 2, 2010, the voters will decide the fate of a tax initiative that is earmarked for the King County Justice System.   Sources close to budget talks have indicated that money "may" be allocated for retaining court reporters.  There seems to be other expensive projects that were added into the initiative after it was originally drafted, i.e., the renovation or expansion of a juvenile detention center that may impact the full funding of court reporters.

One thing that is certain, though, the remaining official court reporters will be in high demand after the election and reduction of their workforce.  An overview that I can offer you is that any impact on official court reporters will be felt in the freelance deposition arena as well.  You may wonder about how that could possibly be the case and I will share with you that it has absolutely nothing to do with them entering the deposition marketplace. 

In the world of court reporting, students are a key resource to replenishing our workforce which is impacted by retirees, folks who just don't want to continue being a court reporter and quit, and reporters moving into courthouses from the deposition settings; however, when an employment cap is placed on court reporter positions at courthouses that produces a huge negative result of stemming those governmental positions from being filled from existent private workforces. 

The downside of this is that there will be a lower demand to the schools that train and educate court reporting students and eventually those institutions may close their doors to those programs.  Without students, the profession is on a downhill slide that it cannot correct or create any positive shifts in employment and so it is potentially a spiraling circle of diminishment and eventual collapse of a profession.

Your help is needed to put the profession of court reporting back on track by requesting a "live" court reporter be in attendance at your court hearing and also your deposition settings rather than a machine that is recording your client's valuable and irreplaceable words being uttered in and out of court which may or may not be recorded for lots of reasons.

Best wishes to you all,