As a teenager, Perry Mason reruns were my big favorite. I envisioned myself in the role of the court reporter, typing away in the courtroom. It was the O.J. trial that reignited my dreams of becoming a court reporter.

I commenced research. Only twenty-four per cent of reporters actually work in the courts. The majority are “freelancers” who perform their services at depositions in attorneys’ offices, at stockholders’ meetings in corporate conference rooms, at universities assisting hearing impaired students and sometimes even in their own homes. I really liked the idea of freelancing where I could control my own schedule. The downside was the very high dropout rate, and the danger of developing carpal tunnel syndrome through constant typing. The fact that it would take years before I could actually start working was quite discouraging.

At that time, the standard method of court reporting was stenotyping. I visited several schools and contaced many reporters. Stenotyping is based on a phonetic theory, so it is first necessary to learn this “new language” and then attain the typing speed. It takes the average student approximately three years before she/he is in a position to enter the marketplace.

It was perfect timing, I guess, when I was offered a position in a court reporting agency. The agency had “stenotyping” reporters and “voice writing” reporters. The voice writers utilized a newer method for court reporting. They had trained their computers to recognize their individual voice pattern. Speaking into a silencer attached to their laptops, they repeated, rather than typed what was being said. I watched their spoken words appear on the laptop screen as text. Responding to my amazement, they laughed, “Welcome to Court Reporting in the 21st Century.”

I had no idea there was another method of court reporting. I started my research all over again, this time into voice writing and the AudioRite Corporation who had introduced this state-of-the art technology to New York.

To make a long story short, I enrolled in the AudioRite program. Within six months I emarked upon my new career. I am presently a voice writing court reporter. I have chosen deposition work as my current specialty. My work is interesting and exciting; my specialty exceptionally lucrative.

I may diversify in the future and enter the field of CART (working with hearing-impaired students in classrooms and lecture halls), and Closed Captioning (the recent mandate that every television broadcast be captioned will result in approximately 30,000 positions nationwide).

As a voice writing court reporter, I have entered a growth industry where the demand for my services increases each and every year.