Huseby Inc. Court Reporting Blog | Nationwide Court Reporters

Shrinking revenue isn’t just affecting private business. Government agencies are trimming their budgets and many courtrooms are looking to cut back on litigation support services.

Photo by Joe Gratz

What Functions Can Be Lost?

Balancing a courtroom budget is more complicated than reducing the budget of the average private corporation. The US Constitution guarantees a right to a speedy trial. State constitutions and laws govern a court’s operation and these cannot be ignored regardless of the court’s financial state.

There are certain personnel from judges to bailiffs that are required for a courtroom to function. These positions are safe but other litigation support services are being examined and non-essential functions, such as public education on courtroom procedures, are being eliminated.

Huseby knows that court reporting is an essential function but not all courts seem to realize it. Court reporters have been victim to short-sighted budget decisions in the past that inevitably lead to a critical shortage of qualified reporters later. We can only hope that today’s courtrooms have learned from past mistakes and won’t repeat them.

Caseloads Skyrocketing As Staffing Is Cut

A struggling economy leads to an increase in court cases even as litigation support services are being cut. As people become desperate, the crime rate increases. Criminal cases cannot be delayed so attorneys are seeking more plea bargains, often offering probation over jail time. However since probation officers are being laid off, many of these deals are for unsupervised probation.

It’s not surprising that there has been a rise in civil cases as people find they can’t pay their bills. The stress contributes to a rise in other civil matters such as divorce or mental health cases. Since criminal and juvenile cases are given a higher priority, civil cases get mired in traffic jams. People are being encouraged to seek third party mediation where possible rather than straining the already overworked court system.

How Does This Affect Court Reporting?

Although Huseby feels court reporters should be in as much demand as ever, history shows this will not always be the case. As courts cut litigation support services, court reporters may need to consider positions in other industries.

Huseby offers services to clients other than courtrooms. For those who want to stay in the legal system, there is still a demand for deposition services by attorneys. Civil matters in mediation need transcripts of the proceedings to document the dispute’s resolution.

Many corporations are using court reporters to generate transcripts of meetings. As businesses come under scrutiny by the public and the government, they are discovering the benefit of careful documentation. Federal mandates on accessibility have created a recession-resistant demand for reporters providing closed captioning services for television stations and web broadcasts.

Although we have seen the demand for litigation support services rise and fall, there will always be a need for skilled and dedicated court reporters. Things may seem bleak, but there are still many opportunities for our staff.