What Does a “Freelance” Court Reporter Do?

Among court reporters, they generally designate themselves
as either an official court reporter or a freelancer. When they refer to
“freelancer,” though, that doesn’t have the same meaning it does in
other industries. So what does it mean?

In court reporting parlance, a freelance court reporter is
one who does not work in a courtroom. For the most part they take depositions,
but also report board hearings, shareholder meetings, or essentially any
proceeding where participants want a verbatim record.

Freelance court reporters can be employees of a court
reporting firm, an independent contractor working with multiple firms, or
completely self-employed with their own attorney clients. Very few court
reporters are completely self-employed anymore; those who are tend to be in
rural areas.

Freelance reporters who are employees of a court reporting firm
are generally salaried but have the option to earn extra income by assisting
with transcript production, for which they’re paid on a per-page basis. They
are expected to be available during regular business hours and don’t have any
say-so over which jobs they’re assigned to. They receive reimbursement for
using their personal vehicle to travel to depositions and some other travel
perks.

Court reporters who are independent contractors for a number
of firms have the advantage of being able to choose which assignments they’ll
accept and aren’t required to be available every day, but are also not
guaranteed they’ll have the amount of work they need or want. They’re paid
either a percentage of the total the firm bills the attorney, or a set per-page
rate. Reporters who have a reputation for being dependable and producing
quality work, though, can negotiate higher rates or more favorable assignments
from firms.

The In-Between

Many times government boards, such as a Utilities Commission
or Workers Compensation Board, have a court reporter on salary. There are also
court reporters who are government employees who take down verbatim testimony
during hearings on Capitol Hill. They aren’t “official” court
reporters in the sense the court reporters at the United States Supreme Court
or in a state courtroom are, but have the advantage of a regular salary and
benefits.

Court reporting is an intense and demanding profession, but
with the variations between official reporters and different freelance
reporting arrangements reporters are usually able to find the type of
employment that fits their lifestyle at the time.