Court Reporter Salaries Are Well Deserved
Court reporter salaries provide a good living for the person sitting in the courtroom and typing out the records for the legal proceedings. She adds every word and every detail to her copy. Fellow court reporters perform a valued service to the legal system and deserve the great pay they earn.
They go through a two and a half year course of studies before graduation. They sign a document confirming the accuracy of what they record during a trial. Fifty thousand a year is not too much for a smart new graduate. Dependent on location, size of the employer’s company or size of the court system, their salary is a very attractive one.
There are a variety of positions open to graduates of the court reporting course of study. In addition to those jobs performed in the court system, the court reporter can work for a lawyer taking depositions and recording other meetings as needed. Creating the closed captions for television shows is a highly paid profession. This may require extra education.
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.
A steno machine is quite different from the ordinary keyboard. It has only twenty two keys. It’s like learning a new language. The proficient court reporter can record up to two hundred twenty five words a minute after graduation. Every detail must be perfectly interpreted. There may be unfamiliar terminology used such as medical, scientific or legalese for example. After finishing a case, the reporter signs a document to verify the truth of the document.
The cable news channel, CNN reported the expected salary of a court reporter to be from $50,000 for a beginner to $100,000 for an experienced and business savvy freelancer. Superior qualifications are required. The freelancer may earn more money, however, he gives up benefits, paid vacations and other perks that the salaried reporter gets as part of his employment pay package. The freelancer has expenses that eat up some of that salary as well. He may need special equipment or an agency to direct him to jobs.
The official court reporter works for the state or federal court system. She records every word spoken during trials and hearings. They have regular hours of work in most cases. Their salary with benefits package is in excess of $60,000 in most cases. The freelance court reporter is self-employed. Their recording work includes depositions, arbitration and board 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.
Do you need statistics about court reporters? Check-out the stats and facts available at http://www.courtreportersalarydata.com – Learn about the average salary court reporter.