The nation’s court reporters work in various capacities including serving as employees of federal, state, and local government agencies, and as contracted employees. But despite these differences, one thing court reporters across the board share in common is the need to use a certain set of traits that help ensure they consistently perform at peak levels of professionalism.
The reason for this need is that court reporters are often exposed to highly sensitive information and highly disturbing information related to court proceedings, and only the best-prepared individuals will be able to deliver the kind of service required in such situations.
Here we will take a look at three of these essential traits.
Confidentiality – Court reporters often find themselves reporting on cases in which juicy details about the lives of others, interesting facts about the financial statuses of companies, and other confidential details are readily divulged. Court reporters must maintain the highest level of professionalism when recording such details for the official record, and also keep said information in the strictest confidentiality outside of the confines of work.
Mental toughness – Court proceedings can often times involve testimony which can be disturbing, particularly when crimes involving violence or sexual acts is concerned. In order to accurately and diligently perform his or her job function a court reporter must be able to remain composed in the face of disturbing testimony and visual evidence related to such heinous acts.
Nonjudgmental – It could be argued that reporting court proceedings in a non-preferential manner demands that the court reporter be nonjudgmental when doing his or her job. Passing judgment on any of the participants of the court proceedings, or even the subject matter itself, could negatively affect the court reporters ability to impartially report that which transpires in the court. As such, the best court reporters are able to suspend personal judgments while impartially recording court proceedings.