General Court Reporting Terminology

antitrust laws

federal and state statutes to protect trade and commerce from unlawful restrains, prior discriminations, price fixing, and monopolies

bench conference

a conversation held by attorneys with a judge out of the hearing of the jury, may also be called a sidebar

certificate page

the last page to appear within a transcript, dated and signed by the court reporter who took the matter, attesting that the transcript is true and accurate

certified question

a question extracted from a deposition and transcribed by the reporter to be taken to a judge having jurisdiction in the matter for a ruling

confidentiality

professional responsibility of reporter to not disclose testimony to others; confidentiality extends to scopists, transcribers, and office staff

elements of civil trial

jury selection, opening statements, examination of witnesses, physical evidence, plaintiff rests, motion for directed verdict, defendant's case in chief, defendant rests, plaintiff's rebuttal, defendant's surrebuttal, closing arguments, jury instructions, jury deliberation and verdict, entry of judgment

elements of criminal trial

jury selection, opening statements, plaintiff's case in chief, defendant's case in chief, prosecution rebuttal and defense surrebuttal, closing arguments, jury instructions, jury deliberation and verdict, polling of jury

elements of transcript

title, index, stipulations, body, exhibits, certificate

errata page

a page separate from the transcript upon which a deponent is permitted to correct any errors he or she claims are present in a transcript

exhibit

material items of physical evidence introduced by attorneys to corroborate and confirm oral testimony or to introduce new evidence, which are marked for identification so they can be discussed

Federal Rule 30

a portion of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which defines matters pertinent to the taking of depositions; many states pattern their rules pertaining to depositions after this rule

freelance reporter

self-employed reporter or one who works for an agency to report depositions and other proceedings as a subcontractor

impartiality

professional responsibility of reporter to be fair and unbiased to each participant in a proceeding and to be alert to and disclose any potential conflict of interest

interpreted proceedings

proceedings in which a non-English-speaking witness testifies through an interpreter following an oath administered to the interpreter that he or she will truthfully interpret the testimony for the witness

litigation support services

extra services an individual reporter or agency offers clients, including instant viewing, ASCII disk, keyword indexing, condensed transcript, print options, and realtime.

oath

a form of attestation by which a person calls upon his god to witness the truth of his testimony, called affirmation when all reference to god is omitted; also referring to as swearing the witness

off the record

during a deposition, a discussion held by attorneys which is not reported; requires the agreement of all attorneys present

official reporter

a reporter who works in a courtroom setting or does reporting for governmental agencies

parenthetical notation

an expression or statement added to a transcript by the reporter to explain non-verbal situations or movements which occur during a proceeding

professionalism

having high standards in one's career, having the ability to work with great skill, and treating all persons in a fair, impartial, and unbiased manner

protective order

an order issued by a court to permit one party to temporarily hold back certain documents or information, or to protect a person from harassment or service of process, may also be used when interrogatories or requests for production are oppressive or burdensome

readback (noun); read back (verb)

a reporter may be requested to read back portions of testimony following an objection, when a question needs to be rephrased, or following a brief recess in the proceedings

reporter's worksheet

a preprinted form that is filled in at the time of the proceeding or from the reporter's notes which includes date, time, and location of the proceeding, appearances, exhibits, and witnesses, as well as any other information pertinent for billing or contact, may also be called information sheet, poop sheet, dope sheet, dog sheet, and control sheet

rough draft transcript

a transcript which is not fully edited and may contain errors; does not include a title page, appearance page, or certificate page, but should contain a disclaimer and header or footer stating that it is a rough draft

style of the deposition

the title or style of the case includes the names of the parties, the venue of the matter, and the case number, may also be called the caption or the heading

voir dire

examination by attorneys of prospective jurors with regard to qualifications, lack of prejudice, and general knowledge and understanding; at depositions or at trial, examination by attorneys of an expert witness with regard to qualifications as an expert

witness setup

the proper transcription of the name of a witness as it appears within the transcript, referring to the information that appears between the time a witness is called and when he or she begins testimony; may include the calling of the witness, the oath if transcribed, his or her name keyed in spread-heading format, and who the witness was called for or whether he or she is the plaintiff or defendant, and may also include asking the witness to state his or her name and address for the record