Court Reporter Shortage - Update for March 2025

Court Reporter Losses For Decades

The loss of steno court reporters has been an ongoing problem for decades, due to reporters retiring and court reporting schools closing from lack of interest in the profession. A report published in 2018 by NCRA, the steno industry association, highlighted how the shortage of court reporters was already well on its way at that time. Since then the shortage has become more widespread. Although there are some areas of the country where there are enough reporters to cover all the hearings, many areas are having trouble keeping courts functioning normally. This is especially true for rural courts and courts that handle family law cases where the cost of hiring a reporter is prohibitive.

California Still Debating Digital Reporting

Last year we posted a news report about the LA County judge who ruled that digital court reporting should be allowed in California as a constitutional right. This week a case was taken up by the California Supreme Court to determine for the entire state the status of digital reporting. An announcement about this appear at the San Francisco Public Press.

SoniClear - A Proven Solution

We receive reports of this problem on an almost daily basis. As far as we can tell, there is no sign of the crisis ending or even slowing down.

SoniClear Court Recorder 10 software is a proven alternative to traditional court reporting methods. The software has been installed in courtrooms throughout the United States, and is frequently used by freelance reporters. It has been used in thousands of sessions for over 20 years, assisting in the production of highly accurate transcripts for courts, administrative hearings, and depositions in states where digital reporting is legal.

Digital court reporting remains the only viable option to address the ongoing court reporter shortage. A new generation of reporters is adopting the technology. Even existing steno reporters are in some cases switching to SoniClear to address issues with RSI (repetitive stress injury from constant typing).

To help speed the adoption of digital court reporting technology, SoniClear recently released a new licensing option for new digital court reporters to help them launch their freelance reporting career. You can read about the new subscription license on this recent blog post.

We continue to support the efforts of courts, freelance court reporters and the AAERT industry association to ensure that courts stay open and fair for all litigants.