Author: gr-admin

As you’ve hopefully heard by now, Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC is going green.  We’re doing so for many reasons, but we’ve been at it long enough now to have obtained a better understanding of just how it changes the work our Georgia court reporters provide for you for the better.  Below you’ll find five specific examples of how our clients can and should benefit when our court reporters do what it takes to minimize the amount of paper that we use in our practice.

1.  The Environment

Some people place more importance on the environment than others, but no one really wants to hurt the environment or purposely cut down millions of trees.  We’ve found that we are already saving on paper usage, but this also helps the environment in other ways.  We’re not going to need as much storage space as we used to, and neither are many of our clients.  That saves on costs for storage, fuel for delivery and obviously on supplies.

2.  Speed

It used to be that some court reporting firms would need some time to put together paper transcripts such that they were ready to be delivered to a client.  The Georgia court reporters at Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC, were always extremely fast with our transcript delivery, but nothing can match the speed of technology.  In many situations, we can have an electronic transcript ready to be reviewed and studied within a matter of hours if necessary.

3.  Access

Before all of this technology became so available, court reporters used to work with courier services and shipping vendors to make sure that their transcripts were delivered promptly and accurately.  At this point, our firm can have your transcripts ready as soon as you are able to log onto the Internet and view them through our secure connection.

4.  Savings

It’s not uncommon for court reporting firms to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more, per year on paper alone.  The Georgia court reporters at Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC, are already seeing lower costs because of our ability to deliver transcripts and other information electronically.  We’re not only saving on paper, but we’re also saving on shipping supplies and shipping costs as well as worker hours spent preparing our transcripts for shipping.

5.  Cost Savings Passed-On

At Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC, we have always worked to lower our costs, but we have also always looked to pass those cost savings onto our clients.  We are doing that with our move towards the minimizing of paper usage, and we know that those who work with us will appreciate what we’re going in terms of the bottom line.

Overall, we’re very satisfied with the progress we’ve made with regards to minimizing our usage of paper.  We’re going to keep looking for ways to move towards a greener court reporter practice.  If you’d like to learn more about our services, contact Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC today for prompt answers to your questions.

By now most of us have heard about the playful exchange that took place between Nigel Hayes, a basketball player for the University of Wisconsin Badgers, and an NCAA stenographer who was recording a recent press conference. That now-viral video originated more than a week ago in Omaha, Nebraska. It was a lighthearted moment that most people took as such and then moved on to other things. Apparently some people took real notice of what Hayes had to say about the stenographer and the court reporter profession in general, as his words are apparently leading to real and tangible benefits for the profession.

The University of Wisconsin is located in Madison, Wisconsin. Another school in the area is known as Madison Area Technical College, or MATC. According to a news story that appeared recently in a local newspaper, the person in charge of the court reporter program at MATC has great appreciation for what Hayes has done for this line of work. A link to that story can be found here. The MATC court reporter program won a $550,000 grant from the federal government last fall that will be used to create the school’s first competency-based degree that can be completed either entirely online or partially online and partially on campus.

A few weeks ago, MATC had 30 court reporter students enrolled in its program. It now appears to be on its way towards its stated goal of enrolling 300 students from around the United States. The director at MATC places a lot of credit for that recent upward trend on the attention that has been brought to the court reporter profession by Nigel Hayes. More people now seem to be aware of the fact that court reporters can earn a good living when they get into the field and that there is a projected shortage of court reporters on a national level in the coming years.

This is how viral videos and seemingly innocuous exchanges at press conferences at enormous events can have a real effect on many things. MATC is now getting more calls and inquiries about its program than it was even a handful of days ago, and that has a lot to do with Hayes and his comments over the past couple of weeks. Hayes’ Badgers have since advanced from the round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament all the way to the team’s second consecutive appearance in the Final Four, where they will take on the Kentucky Wildcats this weekend.

Our team has been serving our clients as Georgia court reporters for several years now, and we are also excited to see the attention that’s being brought to our profession by this entire episode. If you would like to learn more about how we can help you, contact Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC today to have your questions answered.

Court reporters seem to pop up in all sorts of professional settings.  Most people think of them as only being found in courtrooms and/or in other legal settings, but court reporters or stenographers whose job is to record every word stated are needed in many different contexts.  Public meetings, public hearings, proceedings where statements are given and other situations are all tremendously aided by having someone there who can keep an accurate record of what is said.  Few people probably realized that this is a role that is also important when it comes to interviewing athletes after NCAA Tournament basketball games.

That’s exactly what happened last weekend when Nigel Hayes, a basketball player for the University of Wisconsin Badgers, had a bit of fun with the official NCAA stenographer who was present during his press conference before the Badgers took on the Oregon Ducks in a third round game that Wisconsin ultimately won 72-65 to advance to the Sweet 16.  Hayes decided to test the stenographer’s ability to keep up with him by saying some words that would be difficult for anyone to type, let alone on a real-time basis.  A description of the playful exchange can be found here.

Hayes and some Badger teammates apparently talked with the stenographer the previous night, as they were curious about her role.  During his interview, Hayes paused before answering a question and stated, “Before I answer that question, I would like to say a few words: cattywampus, onomatopoeia and antidisestablishmentarianism” before deciding to answer the question that was asked.  Hayes’ tangent led to some questions from reporters who were wondering what he was doing.

“She does an amazing job of typing words, sometimes if words are not in her dictionary, maybe if I say soliloquy right now, she may have to work a little bit harder to type that word,” Hayes said according to Time magazine, “or quandary, zephyr, Xylophone, things like that, that make her job really interesting.”  Hayes made sure to pay tribute to the stenographer’s talent later that night by stating via Twitter that she was doing a great job.  A link to that Tweet can be found here.

The entire episode was a lot of fun for everyone involved.  Sometimes it’s difficult for people to remember that those professionals typing away in a courtroom, in a public meeting or even in a press conference also have personalities.  Hayes made sure that we all remembered that, and kudos to the stenographer for making sure that, like people in these positions do, all of the words were recorded accurately.

The Georgia court reporters at Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC would also like to congratulate the stenographer on a job well done, as this lighthearted moment shed some light on just what type of responsibility professionals in this position undertake when they do their work.

Lawsuits do not occur in a vacuum, and they do not unfold in a convenient manner such that everyone simply walks to a nearby location to present their positions.  There is a side to litigation that is nearly as time-consuming and stressful as the matter itself, and that’s managing all of the logistics that relate to a case.  Any attorney who has handled active claims understands that there are innumerable details that need to be handled.  Any mistakes that are made could lead to severe, even irreparable damage to a client’s position.  No one ever wants to deal with the fallout from such a situation.

Fortunately, the world of technology has provided forward-looking professionals with the opportunity to manage all of these ‘behind-the-scenes’ details in a much simpler and more efficient manner.  One of the headaches related to litigation that can now be minimized or even in some senses eliminated with the proper tools is logistics.  Arranging for travel for witnesses to a deposition or taking the time yourself to travel to one is a waste of many different types of resources.  It’s also not easy to have to make sure that a witness is on a plane or on the way in his or her vehicle.

Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC has a solution for clients that will deal with this exact scenario.  It’s known as portable web conferencing.  It is just like it sounds – it allows litigators to handle their depositions without having to travel.  The portable web conferencing capability that we provide brings the following benefits to those who make use of this technology:

• Fully interactive interface
• Multi-party capabilities
• Need only a device that can connect to the Internet
• System uniquely tailored to meet the needs of litigators

We’ll also minimize the chance that you encounter any actual glitches when it’s time to depose your witness.  We’ll make sure that everyone involved in the deposition is able to access the portable web conferencing interface via a computer, smartphone or tablet.  We’ll perform a test one day prior to your deposition to make sure that there are no connectivity issues at the deposition location.  We’ll also make sure that our firm provides all of the necessary tech support should something unforeseen arise on the day of the deposition.

This leaves you with a simple choice – you can choose to spend more time and money deposing a witness and endure more stress or you can do the opposite.  The Georgia court reporters at Elizabeth Gallo Court Reporting, LLC have always looked for advantages that can be put to use for our clients, and portable web conferencing is just the latest advancement we are proud to offer those who choose to work with us.  If you’d like to learn more about how we can make all of this happen for you, feel free to contact us today to obtain prompt answers to whatever questions you have.