Huseby court reporter services cover depositions as well as court hearings and trials. For our reporters, each day is different. The location, attorneys, witnesses and cases change daily. Sometimes, a court reporter covers more than one assignment per day.
Each morning, our stenographers must plan for the day, being ready for the unknown, even armed with assignment information given to them the evening before.
When a Huseby employee is not assigned to a specific job, they are often asked to be prepared and available in case something pops up at the last minute. At any given moment, a call may come in to the firm for an unscheduled job and the court reporter at home is launched to hustle to a certain place and time, often with little or no time to spare before they must leave.
Like Boy Scouts, our court reporters must always be prepared. Many have a mental checklist they go through the night before or first thing after they wake up in the morning. Never knowing how long a job may last, from a few minutes to several hours, little necessities must be considered and resolved before leaving the house for the day.
What to Pack
A steno machine case with wheels and a long handle similar to those for flight attendants works nicely with a smaller separate bag full of necessities nestled on top.
Items to put inside the extra bag might include the following:
Several packs of steno machine paper should be tucked into a corner where they won’t be ripped or wrinkled.
Those using tape recorders should bring plenty of blank tapes and a new package of batteries.
A bottle of aspirin always comes in handy.
A quick snack that requires no cooking and leaves no mess is helpful when attorneys forget to take a lunch break or there’s no time to eat breakfast before scooting out the door.
Change for tolls and meters should be stashed in a discreet pocket.
An extra set of realtime cables will save the day in case of a mishap or equipment malfunction.
Planning Ahead
Before leaving the house, Huseby’s court stenographers will always make sure they are prepared for our clients by taking a few extra minutes to make sure that they know where they are going and will be comfortable during a long day of court or legal depositions.
Some tips include:
Make sure there is plenty of fuel in the car. There may be a location change or last minute call, leaving little or no time to stop.
Get good directions from a reliable source. Verify the location if something sounds unusual.
Have a case name with the proper spelling. Sometimes there is more than one proceeding happening in the same place.
Know the name of the party that scheduled the job and always have a contact number in case of emergency.
Leave the house in plenty of time to allow for traffic jams, flat tires and non-existent parking spaces.
Wear something comfortable for any environment, such as a jacket over a short-sleeved top. The air-conditioner or heating vent may have a mind of its own.
Make sure all battery-powered equipment is charged up and ready to go.
