A six-figure job without a B.A.

4/12/09
court reporting
By Lucy Blatter

A six-figure job without a B.A.

Photo credit: Urbanite

By KAREN TINA HARRISON

Special to amNewYork

Court reporting requires just an associate’s degree for a well-paying, flexible, diverse career.

What court reporters do

These pros sit front-and-center in trials, hearings and legal depositions, capturing every word on steno computers. “Court reporters are the legal community’s eyes and ears,” says Marshall Jorpeland of the National Court Reporters Association.

Court reporters may be employed by a court or city agency, or get freelance work through an agency. About a quarter work outside the legal system on their own schedules, furnishing closed captioning for TV or “real time” transcription of corporate meetings or classes for the hearing-impaired. “Every day is different,” says Jorpeland.How court reporters get trained

The job requires a specialized associate’s degree from a technical school or community college. New York Career Institute (NYCI) grants the five boroughs’ only associates in court reporting; Queens College offers a continuing-ed certificate program. The field attracts many career-changers.

What court reporters need

“The job demands language skills, concentration and manual dexterity,” says Jorpeland. “Perfectionism helps, because accuracy is key. And you must be reliable and confidential.”

What’s cool about this field

Court reporters right out of school earn $40-$50,000, more with city agencies and courts. Passing the Civil Service exam after two years hikes salary about another 15K. Freelance real-time transcription pays $80-$90 an hour. “Court reporters can boost their incomes considerably by selling copies of their court transcriptions,” notes Oscar Garzon, chair of NYCi’s program. “Six-figure court reporters are not unusual.”

Opportunities are ample because captioning is growing; litigation is constant; and an older generation of court reporters are retiring. Says Garzon, himself a court reporter who emigrated from Ecuador, “This career has been my American dream.”

Job snapshot: Court Reporter

Salary range: 40K-120K

Skills: Language, concentration, typing

Education: Associate’s degree or certificate program

Schools: NYCI: nyci.edu; Queens College: www.cep.qc.edu/Online/Court.htm

Forecast: Excellent; closed-captioning is a growth sector

Learn more: bestfuture.com; bls.gov/oco/ocos152.htm
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court reporting

A six-figure job without a B.A.

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