Comments on Court Reporting Blog - Todd Olivas

Comment on Legal Secretary Association Members? Where Is Everybody? by LRH

Wed, 1 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Todd, Im not sure where the California legal secretaries are, but I can tell you Im not a member of any professional organization because the cost is prohibitive. Lawyers get their professional organization dues paid by their firms, but secretaries usually must pay out of pocket. So we find other ways to do our networking.

Comment on Legal Secretary Association Members? Where Is Everybody? by Todd Olivas

Wed, 1 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Thanks for writing. Thats a great point you make. I hadnt thought about the cost factor as being a reason for the declining membership base here in California. BTW, I checked out your website. its awesome. Ive added you to my blogroll. Everybody needs to check out http://lawyersrighthand.com!

Comment on What My Blog Wants To Be When It Grows Up by Lawyers Right Hand

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Im humbled and grateful!

Comment on Mailbag Question From A Court Reporter... Which Agency To Work For? by Leslie Brocoff

Wed, 6 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Dear Mr. Olivas ~

I, too, am a graduate of South Coast College of court reporting. I was licensed in 1986, worked for 12 years, and then took a rather long hiatus to stay home and raise my children. After nine years, I have re-entered the work force. I have recently completed a two-month stint of going back to school to build up my speed. The skill is still there, yeah! I have made a hefty investment in all brand new equipment (Elan Mira paperless writer, and CaseCatalyst, as well as a new Dell laptop). I have been back to work for the past three weeks, and Im happy to say that it feels as though I never left the profession.

I am, however, having trouble getting study work. Any advice would be helpful. I am at a place in my life where now I can work any time, any day, any where, and I cant get the work! Is this the sign of the times, or just the time of year?

Frustrated ~

Leslie Brocoff

Comment on Public Service Announcement: Your Brain On Steno by Sandra Jackson

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Funny! 20 yr reporter and I still have dreams where Im in the courtroom w/out my machine and Im having to take everything down in longhand and cant (as you can well imagine) keep up but I keep trying and trying. Usually wake up in a cold sweat after one of those!

Comment on Court Reporters Dates To Remember by Kit Moore

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

December 31, 2007

NEW YORK STATETHE OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION

ANNOUNCES AN

OPEN-COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION

TITLE: SENIOR COURT REPORTER EXAMINATION NUMBER: 45-744

Examination is scheduled to be held April 5, 2008

Applications must be postmarked no later than January 11, 2008

To participate in this examination, candidates must, by the date of the examination,

April 5, 2008:

1) possess a high school diploma or its educational equivalent; and have,

2) three (3) years of general verbatim reporting experience*; or,

3) completed a formal program in court reporting and have two (2) years of

general verbatim reporting experience*.

*Two hundred and fifty (250) days of per diem experience may be substituted for one year of fulltime experience.

Go to http://www.courts.state.ny.us/careers/exams.shtml for further information.

NYSCRA will be conducting training/practice sessions. We will email you with the info as we get closer to the exam date.

Wishing you and yours a healthy, happy New Year!

We appreciate your comments and suggestions. You may email them to nyscra@nyscra.org.

Comment on How Long Does Court Reporting School Take? by Todd Olivas

Fri, 9 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Dear Debbie:

Great question. Youre not the only one who has had a relapse of the steno bug after a long absence. Ive met many working reporters who perhaps got licensed and then subsequently retired to have children and/or different careers. I am not a scientist but I believe the skill is still in you even after lying dormant for awhile. The muscle memory will have to be refreshed of course. You can do that by heading back to school. I know many schools will allow you to sit in on dictation without paying full price free, perhaps.

I would personally set course back to the field by doing the following: for every year that youve been off your machine, plan to spend a month in practice mode. And practice mode should consist of attending live dictation at school, sitting out in either court or in depositions. Also, get out your theory book and get back to basics. Do a theory lesson or two each day during this entire process. And read back your notes. If you are making consistent errors, how would you know unless you read your notes!

DO NOT SPEND ANY MONEY on fancy machines and CAT software until you are sure that youre ready. If you dont have a machine whatsoever, get a cheapy manual one until youre really, really ready to re-take the plunge. See ebay or craigslist for manual machines for sale.

Finally, get plugged back in to the industry by joining the NCRA and/or online communities geared towards court reporting.

Best of luck!!

-Todd

Comment on How Long Does Court Reporting School Take? by Debbie R.

Sun, 7 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Todd,

What would you recommend to someone who wants to get back into the field of court reporting after a *long* absence? I am looking at machines and CAT software, and dont have money to throw away who does so I want to make wise choices.

I was an RPR/CM (now called RMR) when I left employment at a freelance agency many years ago. My machine was provided and I had a scopist. So much has changed, and I want to bring myself back up to speed.

Comment on How To Become A Vendor For TOA by Judy Toa

Sun, 7 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Dear Mr. Olivas,

I am a freelance transcriptionist/legal secretary with 20 years of experience and am interested in securing a position to allow me to work from home. If you are looking to outsource any transcription assignments, please let me know, and I will be happy to submit my resume for your review.

Thank you for your consideration, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Judy Toa

3944 W. 119th Street
Hawthorne, CA 90250
(310) 675-8357
(310) 773-2393

Comment on Cerritos Court Reporting School by Vykki Morgan

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Todd,

I have to admit it. I am a blogging virgin. I have been soooooo busy teaching and preparing teaching material, I havent had a chance to ever, ever, ever read a blog! So you are my first And what a way to start! Thank you for the glowing review. We work really hard at making Cerritos the best court reporting program we can and we are really glad when it shows! We truly enjoyed your visit and look forward to keeping in touch with you and checking your website and reading your blogs in the future. How do you find the time? So now Ive got to figure out whats up with this blogging and how it works. (And how people find the time.) Thank you, Todd!

Comment on Cerritos Court Reporting School by Jodi Harmon

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Best of luck to all the students at Cerritos Court Reporting School!

Your reference to the Japanese steno keyboard caught my eye (on Google) since Im in Japan. If anyone would like more photos or information about Japanese court reporters and their fascinating system, please feel free to contact me.

Jodi Harmon, President
American Realtime Court Reporters/Japan

Comment on Cerritos Court Reporting School by Micki England

Tue, 8 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Happy New Year Todd!

The Court Reporting Club at Cerritos College is always looking for guest speakers to inspire and encourage our students. You were sensational! I have only heard possitive comments about your visit and we would love to have you come and speak at one of our club meetings in the near future.

Karen Woods, our club president, and I have already begun scheduling guest speakers for the spring semester and hope you will be able to pencil us into your busy schedule. Hope to hear from you real soon.

God Bless,
Micki England, Court Reporting Club Advisor

Comment on Cerritos Court Reporting School by Micki England

Tue, 8 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I look forward to hearing from you real soon!

Micki

Comment on Will Court Reporters Be Replaced By Computers? by Jenny Kim

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Thanks for posting this interview. As a CR student, I am always concerned about the future of the career. This interview does help to show how technology will enhance rather than replace court reporting at least for the foreseeable future. I really enjoy reading your informative blog and appreciate the time you put into it.

Comment on Scopist Proofreaders Corner by ChrisCSR

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I cant tell you how thrilled I was to find your site. Its amazing not just your business excellent website but that you are right here in Folsom! Im beside myself.

My question is how much are proofreaders charging these days? When I was in school I charged the CSRs something like 25 cents a page. When I was a scopist I think my friends paid me by the hour so I dont have any idea whats generally accepted these days so any info would be really useful.

Comment on Scopists Information by Kristie

Sat, 2 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I am looking to get into the scoping field; do you have any advice on how to get started?

Comment on Scopists Information by zeta20

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Im a Court Reporter student attending Miami Dade Community College using Phoenix in real-time. You blog has been helpful and this is a courtesy message thanking you for the information. Two different mentors have tried to find time to help through the NCRAs recommendation. Both of them wanted to communicate over the telephone which is difficult for me between my classes and job.

Comment on Scopists Information by Todd Olivas

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Thank you for the encouragement. I really appreciate it! If theres anything that you think I should add to this site to make it more useful, please let me know. Best of luck. And remember: no matter how hard it may seem some days the payoff IS worth it in the end.

Comment on My Speech To NALS of Orange County by Lori Robinett

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Todd - thanks so much for blogging about this. My day is so full already with my real job, but part of doing my job well means that I need to be able to keep up with the profession, and your bullet points drew my attention to some important points quickly and effectively.Thanks for the reminders/suggestions!

Lori