AL Court Reporter study guide
AL Court Reporter · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Alabama Certified Court Reporter credential is a state-level certification for professionals who capture the verbatim record of legal proceedings and produce certified transcripts. It is aimed at working and aspiring reporters who take testimony in depositions, hearings, and trials, and who need to demonstrate competence to courts, attorneys, and clients. The AL Court Reporter study guide has 6 sections and about 1,215 words.
01Court Reporting Procedures and Ethics
A candidate must know the reporter's role as an officer of the court: administering oaths, preserving the record verbatim, certifying transcripts, and maintaining impartiality. Understand the difference between a deposition (out-of-court sworn testimony) and trial testimony , the handling of exhibits (marking, custody, and description in the record), and readback and read-and-sign procedures.
254 words, about 1 min02Legal and Judicial Terminology
Build fluency with procedural and substantive terms: plaintiff/defendant , petitioner/respondent , voir dire , arraignment , discovery , interrogatories , subpoena duces tecum , nolo contendere , res judicata , stare decisis , tort , statute of limitations , and burden of proof (preponderance vs. clear and convincing vs.
225 words, about 1 min03English Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling
Master sentence structure (subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, misplaced modifiers), verb tense consistency , and parallel construction . Punctuation essentials: serial (Oxford) comma , semicolons joining independent clauses, colons introducing lists, apostrophes for possession vs.
207 words, about 1 min04Medical and Technical Vocabulary
Court reporters encounter medical testimony in personal-injury, malpractice, and workers' compensation cases. Know anatomical terms (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, proximal, distal, medial, lateral), common conditions (herniation, radiculopathy, contusion, fracture, sprain vs.
170 words, under 1 min05Machine Shorthand Theory and Dictation
Understand steno theory: keys (STKPWHRAO EUFRPBLGTSDZ), strokes , briefs , phrases , and conflicts . Know how vowels and consonants combine, how asterisk marks corrections or special forms, and how numbers are written.
183 words, under 1 min06Transcription and Proofreading
Transcription requires verbatim accuracy , proper formatting (caption, appearances, index, page/line numbering), and consistent speaker identification . Proofreading involves checking spelling , punctuation , numbers , dates , and cross-references .
176 words, under 1 min