by Tom Livne and Geoffrey Hunt
Each year, thousands of cases pass through U.S. courts, producing millions of transcript pages that cement these proceedings in legal records. This impressive volume of legally mandated transcripts is the work of the courtroom’s most silent but essential member: the court reporter. But as the median age of stenographers rises and the number of new recruits shrinks, this crucial function of our justice system is left in a precarious position.
The court reporter shortage continues growing, and is expected to climb to 5,500 by the end of this year. See Ducker Wordwide, 2013-2014 Court Reporting Industry Outlook Report (March 2014), https://www.ncra.org/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/education/schools/2013-14_ncra_-industry_outlook-(ducker)8ef018c4b8ea486e9f8638864df79109.pdf?sfvrsn=c7a531e2_0. Hearings, trials, and depositions all require their presence, and reporters that are available are stretched to cover more ground. Combined with increased court workloads, this scarcity has delayed legal processes, further bogging down an already sluggish system. Judge Information Center, As Workloads Rise in Federal Courts, Judge Counts Remain Flat (Oct. 14, 2014), https://trac.syr.edu/tracreports/judge/364/.
Court reporters need to be able to type 225-300 words per minute. Finding personnel with lightning-fast typing speeds to replenish these positions is not enough to keep up with demand. Freelance reporters—now 72% of the market—are also in short supply, contributing to the growing crisis. Solving this problem effectively will require a courtroom technology revolution, implementing software increasingly common in other areas of life. Artificial intelligence and voice recognition are standing by, ready to aid court reporters and save a legal system drowning in antiquated procedures that’s scrambling to cover proceedings.
Sourcing the Shortage
The widely accepted method of transcribing proceedings is stenotype, which requires rigorous training for reporters expected to log courtroom discussions at 225 words per minute (the average person is estimated to type 40 words per minute, by comparison). But the skill’s difficulty, combined with schools losing funding, accreditation, and students’ interest, has led to plummeting enrollment rates. The number of new students has dropped by nearly 50%—and an average of just 14.4% actually graduate. See National Court Reporters Association, NCRA Annual School Report FY 2016 and FY 2017 (Jan. 2018), https://www.ncra.org/docs/default-source/uploadedfiles/education/2017-ncra-annual-school-report_final.pdf?sfvrsn=51092a9a_4.
National Court Reporter Association data show that the median age of a court reporter is 56, and around 70% are expected to retire in the next couple decades. Unfortunately, the new crop of court stenographers isn’t large enough to adequately replace this aging workforce.
Ripple effects of this shortage create issues in civil, criminal, and family courts across the country. Proceedings are prevented from moving forward in a timely manner, and even simple cases are drawn out. These complications pile onto delays inherent in traditional reporting processes, which can push back transcript delivery by up to four weeks.
How Can Automation Help?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out as one potential solution to the lack of court reporters. Speech recognition technology is on the verge of widespread adoption as accuracy improves and as courts look for ways to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Court administrators switched to electronic reporting decades ago, and AI represents the next step in transcription technology.
Aided by AI, court reporters could transition to more of a “court technologist” role, overseeing and proofreading the automated process. Here are the top benefits of speech recognition technology for legal proceedings:
Lower costs: Automation reduces the training time and manual labor needed in traditional court reporting, leading to significant cost savings. Using AI technology allows courts to allocate resources more judiciously, mitigating problems stemming from understaffing. Automation also helps cut costs and eases the burden on stenographers without sacrificing transcript accuracy.
Improving accuracy: Though many court administrators worry that AI technology won’t match the precision of trained court reporters, speech recognition advancements have made it easier to alleviate their concerns. Additionally, the machine learning algorithms in this technology enable continuous improvement, meaning transcripts become more accurate with every case. Automation also unlocks the ability to customize formatting and templates, making it easier to meet strict legal requirements. While the transition may seem daunting, today’s digital solutions are designed to eliminate human error and achieve complete accuracy. When AI comes up short, the watchful eye of a “court technologist” can course-correct the technology.
Greater efficiency: In a legal system mired in delays and slow-moving cases, automation is a jolt to an otherwise sluggish process. AI speech-recognition technologies create workable transcripts in real time, dramatically shrinking turnaround times. Though final transcripts may take a little longer to release, this technology offers a noticeable improvement from the current weeks-long standard.
More powerful court reporting tools ease the workload of stenographers, who often face stress caused by piled-up court cases. These technologies have already been introduced in some states, including Alaska, Indiana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Utah, and Vermont. Digital-focused curricula from national court reporting agencies is picking up speed, and vendors are packaging AI tools in their court-reporter kits. Including it in a package deal will likely bring AI reporting technology a step closer to being embraced by freelance court reporters.
Still, this fledgling digital revolution faces opposition from the stenotype community. Resistance is understandable, as reporters worry about losing jobs or decades of tradition. But courtrooms are in dire need of a change, and automated speech recognition software has asserted itself as a path forward.
Automation’s rise won’t eliminate jobs, but shift workers’ duties. Rather than typing at superhuman speeds, stenographers may transition to a supervisory role, overseeing court technologies and exercising the human judgement that can’t be digitally replicated. With declining numbers of court reporters and cases moving in slow motion, legal reporting has to change—and accurate, efficient AI technology offers a step in the right direction.
Tom Livne is the CEO of Verbit, an AI-powered transcription solution. Previously, Tom was a lawyer at J-L Law Firm, an Israel-based boutique law firm specializing in high tech, taxation, and project finance. Geoffrey Hunt is the president of the American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers (AAERT).
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