Remote Depositions Advance Litigation When Court Reporters Are Scarce

Everyone in the legal community is aware of the current shortage of qualified court reporters. Court reporters are at a premium everywhere, but particularly in busy jurisdictions such as California, New York, Florida, and Texas.

The cause is well-known. Qualified, experienced court reporters are retiring in numbers greater than the number of trained court reporters entering the industry. In 2014, the National Court Reporters Association predicted that, by 2018, there would be a shortage of 5,500 court reporter positions. That prediction has certainly come to pass. In fact, in 2023 the NCRA said the shortage is roughly 9,000 court reporters. (The “court reporter shortage” statistic is derived by comparing available court reporters to estimated market demands.)

When it comes to the problem of scarce court reporters, we’re all swimming in the same ocean. Everyone benefits when scarce resources are used efficiently. Without a doubt, remote depositions will move cases along when court reporters are hard to find.

Adding to the court reporter shortfall are civil litigation trends indicating that lawyers and courthouses are busier than ever. Leading law firms and corporate law departments expect that exposure to civil claims and regulatory scrutiny will increase significantly during the next few years – driving the current litigation workload even higher.

What can be done? The court reporting industry is working hard on recruitment efforts to meet the growing demand for court reporters. Technology innovation and legal reforms will also be part of the solution to the current court reporter shortage. However, those initiatives are not likely to bear fruit in the near future.

Finally, court reporters – along with much of the rest of the U.S. labor force – favor remote work these days. The pool of court reporters willing and available for in-person depositions has diminished significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent Esquire Deposition Solutions survey of court reporters, 54% of 1,590 respondents said it’s “unlikely” they would agree to work in-person depositions. Twenty-one percent replied that they would “never” work an in-person deposition. Obviously, this state of affairs poses a considerable challenge for litigators when scheduling in-person depositions.

With these facts in mind, here are three remedial measures that civil litigators can take to address the impact of the court reporter shortage on their clients’ cases.

Schedule Depositions as Early as Possible

When scheduling an in-person deposition, it’s critical to get on the court reporter’s schedule early. Evaluate which depositions will be necessary to successfully meet litigation objectives. Then begin the process of scheduling those depositions as early as local court rules will allow. Attorneys in jurisdictions that require attorneys to “meet and confer” on pretrial discovery matters (e.g., Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure)) should ensure that early deposition scheduling is part of the discovery plan.

Save Time: The Court Reporter’s and Yours

There are only so many hours in a day. When attorneys are efficient in setting and conducting depositions, their efforts will free the court reporter to conduct a greater number of depositions and prepare transcripts for those depositions during a typical workday. Sharing documents in advance of the deposition, and working out deposition-related legal disputes before the deposition commences, can make the deposition process quicker (not to mention more pleasant for everyone involved).

Attorneys can save significant travel time by “stacking” depositions, i.e., by scheduling several depositions in a row, at the same location, with the same court reporter. Stacking depositions also spares court reporters the burden of travel time and frees them to conduct more depositions in a single workday.

Early scheduling and “stacking” depositions are the two most important measures litigators can take to improve the odds that they will be able to conduct their depositions in-person, on-time, with the services of a trained stenographer.

Conduct Depositions Remotely

The attorney’s ethical duty of technology competence obliges litigators to consider both the benefits and risks of using available technology to advance the client’s interests. Remote depositions are a universally accepted technology for advancing litigation efficiently and with little risk to the client’s interests.

In view of the difficulty obtaining court reporters for in-person depositions, we encourage attorneys to weigh the benefits of remote depositions in every situation where an in-person deposition is not strictly necessary. Remote depositions eliminate litigator travel time, and they can be easier to schedule. Clients appreciate whatever can be done to trim litigation spending; and both clients and courts like to see civil litigation moving along expeditiously.

Less appreciated, but equally important, is the fact that remote depositions are more efficient from the court reporter’s perspective as well. Relieved of travel time, a court reporter can work more remote depositions than in-person depositions during the workday. This frees up the court reporter to handle a greater number of depositions for your law firm, your client, and all other attorneys in your community.

Litigators who choose remote depositions improve their chances for getting the depositions staffed with a qualified stenographer at a time that both advances their litigation strategy and minimizes scheduling headaches. As mentioned above, a significantly greater number of court reporters are willing to staff remote depositions than in-person depositions. Additionally, with remote depositions, litigators are able to choose court reporters from any location within the entire state – instead of from the smaller pool of court reporters working in their particular city or county.

As we’ve written before, remote depositions:

• Save clients money on attorneys’ fees and travel costs.
• Improve client relationships and increase case management efficiency.
• Free litigators to handle other client matters.
• Enable litigators to select expert witnesses based on expertise, credentials, and trial strategy — not geographic location.
• Advance litigation more quickly than in-person depositions.
• Can be conducted anywhere with a suitable recording environment and a reliable, robust internet connection.
• When conducted on a purpose-built technology platform, yield digital deliverables that can be stored in a single location — everything all in one place, accessible by anyone on the litigation team.

When it comes to the problem of scarce court reporters, we’re all swimming in the same ocean. Everyone benefits when scarce resources are used efficiently. Without a doubt, remote depositions will move cases along when court reporters are hard to find.