What can you do about the court reporter shortage?

According to the Ducker Worldwide Court Reporting Industry Outlook Report, there is a looming court reporter shortage of at least 5,000 reporters in the next year. Couple that with a high rate of retirement and an industry with the reputation of being dead or out of date, and it’s a perfect storm that could cripple the legal process. It’s time we started sharing more about our growing industry.

Depo International Locations – Court Reporter Shortage by the Numbers 

With offices in Minneapolis, Chicago, and Las Vegas, we’re watching the supply and demand of court reporters closely. According to the Ducker report, Minnesota is estimated to have a shortage of about 100 reporters. Illinois is estimated to have a shortage of 260 reporters and Nevada is estimated to have a shortage of 120 reporters.

If you’re a current or prospective client, we appreciate your business and as always we are focused on delivering top quality transcripts accurately and on time. That won’t change!

What’s the impact of a court reporter shortage? 

The impact is a basic economic issue of supply and demand. When demand is up and the supply is down as it is for court reporting, the cost for services (or what reporters are paid) will increase. If you’re considering becoming a reporter, now is a great time to find a court reporting school to train you! Visit NCRA.org to see a list of approved court reporting schools in your area.

What causes the higher demand and lower supply?

The average age of a court reporter is currently early to mid-fifties which is about a decade older than the average age of the American worker. That means we’re not attracting people to our industry while at the same time reporters are retiring and demand for their services is increasing. It’s a perfect storm.

What can we do as an industry to stop the court reporter shortage?

Blogs and social media sites like ours are focused on sharing the benefits of being a court reporter including earning potential, ability to work from home, and opportunities beyond the legal field. We’re getting requests from businesses, education, politics, and sports for reporters and transcriptionists. While we’re thrilled to have the business, we’re also conscious of making sure we’re serving our clients with the high level they deserve.

As an industry, we need to continue to share the benefits with those who may be recent graduates as well as those seeking a second career. There’s lots of work to be done and for those who are detail-oriented and focused, the earning potential can be high five to six figure range given the right training and experience.

The next time you hear court reporting is a boring or out-of-date career choice, tell them about Depo International. We’d love to share our story!