This category covers establishments primarily engaged in providing secretarial, word processing, typing, editing, proofreading, resume writing, letter writing, stenographic, or court reporting services.
561410 (Document Preparation Services)
561492 (Court Reporting and Stenotype Services)
Many governmental bodies, businesses, and individuals have discovered that by outsourcing tasks like word processing, proofreading, and document transcription to specialized secretarial and court reporting services, they can save time and money, avoid adding to or straining their staff and equipment, and focus on their own core functions.
By the late 1990s, there were approximately 18,000 commercial establishments offering secretarial and court reporting services nationwide.
An official court reporter traditionally produces a court transcript containing such information as witness testimony, attorney arguments and examination of witnesses, and judicial comments and instructions. A freelance court reporter typically transcribes pre-trial depositions arranged by attorneys. In 1999, the National Court Reporters Association maintained approximately 31,000 members and sponsored various certification programs. Court reporting agencies generally provide some training to employees in the form of specialized shorthand reporting. Ranging from two to four years in length, these training programs focus on computer operation, grammar, law, and attaining at least 225 words per minute on a stenotype machine. Typically, employee benefits such as health insurance and pension plans are not offered.
While secretarial services perform a large portion of contracted work on their own premises, services are also provided on-site and in "satellite offices" set up within larger businesses. A contributor for Home-Office Computing reported word processing rates of $2 to $4 per page and secretarial labor rates of $15 to $20 per hour.
A vital question facing participants in this industry is how technology will alter it. Some industry observers have predicted the demise of professional services such as proofreading, editing, and court reporting due to advances in computer technology and software. For example, the use of computer software programs capable of spell checking has caused a decline in the need for proofreading services. Still, automated editing programs that can identify an ungrammatical or awkwardly constructed sentence remain unable to identify illogical or libelous assertions. High error rates still existed with the use of such voice and speech systems by the end of the 1990s.
Despite the advances in computer-aided transcription and voice-activated computer transcription, the profession of court reporting has flourished rather than suffered a decline. According to the National Court Reporters Association, more than 90 percent of all court reporters used some form of computer-aided transcription (CAT) at the end of the 1990s. New advances in real time reporting, where notes are converted into text and projected on monitors or screens as they are recorded, allow synchronized video testimony. Real time reporting has complied with the Americans With Disabilities Act by making testimony available to the vision and hearing impaired. James Stith remarked in Career World that while the use of videotape recording equipment has increased, it will not replace human reporters. He noted that "the technology is not as reliable as the human ear. It breaks down, and it takes longer for a person to listen to a tape than to read a transcript."
By the end of the 1990s, approximately 25 percent of all court reporters were using the Internet to e-mail, research, network, and advertise. It is predicted that during the first few years of the new millennium, court reporters will be using the Internet for nearly every aspect of their job. Transcripts are predicted to become available "ondemand." Furthermore, new software was developed to enable reporters, attorneys, and litigation staff to review transcripts more efficiently.
By the end of the century, the courts and attorneys were able to search transcripts using keywords and phrases to reexamine testimonies. Real time text has made it possible for the court reporter to provide an instant transcript to be displayed on computer monitors or projection screens for viewing. Besides its use for television captioning, this technology made it possible for the hearing-impaired to participate in trials, and it also extended the length of a career for judges suffering hearing loss.
In 1999, the largest U.S. court reporting firm was Esquire Communications. Although law firms made up the majority of its clients, the company also provided service to insurance companies and various corporations. Total sales for 1998 equaled $111 million, up 108 percent over 1997. Esquire owns the subsidiary DepoNet, which is a referral network consisting of 400 independent contracted firms providing court reporting and related services. Since 1997, Esquire has acquired more than 40 new companies, thus continuing to strengthen its presence in the legal field.
In 1997, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported estimated sales receipts at $3 billion for the industry. Nationwide, freelance court reporters earn an average yearly income of $45,000, but 25 percent were able to make more than $64,000 annually. Earnings were based on the reporter's education, experience, and geographic location. Budget cuts in the courts were expected to decrease the number of reporters working directly for them, but the need for freelancers and reporters willing to provide services was predicted to increase through the first decade of the new century.
Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance. Chicago: J.G. Ferguson Publishing, 1997.
Hoover's Company Capsule. Esquire Communications. 1999.
"Verbatim Reporters Center." National Court Reporters Association. 1999. Available from http://www.ncraonline.org.html .
"Realtime FACTS." National Court Reports Association, March 1997. Available from http://www.ncraonline.org/rtfacts.html .
U.S. Department of Commerce. Census of Service Industries 1997. Washington, DC: GPO, 1997.
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