A court reporter plays a critical role in court proceedings and may work for hours at a time without saying a word. This doesn't mean, however, that you can't speak up when doing so will improve the quality of your work. A court reporter generally tries not to interrupt, but when his or her work depends on needing to do so, interrupting is OK. You can signal the judge your hand, for example, and he or she can invite you to speak so that you can ask for whatever clarification you may need. Here are some situations in which a quick interruption is acceptable.
Difficulty Following Someone's Speech
There are a number of factors that can impede your ability to clearly follow what someone is saying. You can't risk writing something inaccurate because you misheard what a witness said, so this is a time to quickly interrupt. For example, the witness may be speaking with a heavy accent, and you may need him or her to repeat something. Or, it's possible that the witness is speaking too quickly for you to accurately follow and transcribe the comments. Likewise, a witness who is speaking too quietly will likely be difficult for you to follow.
Unfamiliarity With A Term
Sometimes, a witness speaking in court will use a term with which you're unfamiliar. In many of these cases, one of the attorneys will ask this person to repeat the term and explain it and may even offer a synonym for the term for the understanding of the court. However, if an attorney doesn't intervene in this manner, you may need to quietly interrupt at an appropriate time to get clarification. For example, if you can't write the term because you have no idea what the person is saying and how the term is spelled, you'll need to interrupt.
A Problem With Your Stenotype
You may take your stenotype for granted, but you'll quickly change your mindset upon realizing that it's not performing as expected. As soon as you see an indicator that this critical machine is not working correctly, you need to interrupt the legal proceedings so that you can replace the machine. You can't afford to let things move along for several minutes before you interject, as you won't have a record of what has been said during this span. Don't be afraid to interrupt in this scenario — the judge will be sympathetic to your equipment malfunction.
For more information about court reporting, contact a company like Farrell Court Reporting.
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