NY State Court Reporters Association addresses reporting shortage at Queens summit

Photos by Terry Canavan

By David Brand

The New York State Court Reporters Association hosted a summit in Queens to address the critical statewide shortage of court reporters and describe the lucrative opportunities for prospective reporters

Eric Allen, president of the Association of Surrogate & Supreme Court Reporters Union delivered the “State of the Industry” address at Plaza College, near Queens Borough Hall, to representatives of nine court reporting firms, students and other industry professionals.

“We are the gold standard of the record and as far as careers go, we are the best kept secret,” Allen said. “We have entered what I like to say is a ‘Renaissance Era’ for court reporting. The word is getting out about the career, how reporters are more preferable in the courtroom than recording technology and people are starting to understand and appreciate the many different fields in which court reporting is used.”

There is a shortage of trained court reporters in New York.

Despite advances in digital technology, the American legal system relies on court reporters to preserve the historical record and serve as the reliably document legal proceedings.  

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the sector is set to grow only three percent by 2026, though the demand is far higher.

“There is a serious shortage of court reporters nationwide,” said Plaza College President Charles Callahan III. “Court reporting is the unheralded underpinning of American’s great and massive legal system, as stenographers are the guardians of the record. Without reporters, this system would be in jeopardy.”