CSR Certified Shorthand Reporter case studies
CSR Certified Shorthand Reporter · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR) credential is a state-issued licensure title for verbatim court reporters, most commonly associated with California, where a CSR is required to report depositions, court proceedings, and other sworn testimony for compensation. It is intended for stenographic reporters who can write realtime-grade shorthand at high speed and then produce a clean, properly formatted transcript from their own notes. The CSR Certified Shorthand Reporter case studies are 5 cases and about 4,019 words.
1The Keynote Reading: Homophones, Dialect, and an Editor's Request
You are engaged to report the keynote reading at a county bar association's literary luncheon. The featured author reads a 1,400-word unpublished essay at roughly 130 words per minute, alternating between a lectern manuscript and passages delivered from memory.
704 words, about 4 min2The Charge Conference: A Judge Who Reads Something Other Than the Written Charge
You are the official reporter in a felony assault trial. Before the jury is brought in, the court holds a charge conference on the record in which counsel dispute whether one element instruction and the verdict form should read "and/or"; the judge rules that the written charge will say "and/or" and directs that the written charge be filed.
746 words, about 4 min3Cross-Examination: Overlapping Objections, a Self-Correction, and a Gesture
Plaintiff's counsel is cross-examining the defendant in a personal-injury trial at a fast pace. Two attorneys begin objections at the same moment: "Objection - foundation, and I want a standing objection to all of this," while the witness is already answering.
815 words, about 4 min4The Expedited Deposition: An Undecipherable Phrase, an Off-Record Marking, and a 9 p.m. Demand
You are producing a 214-page expedited deposition transcript in a commercial case. The noticing attorney has ordered an original plus a copy to the witness for errata, and asks for four pages per sheet plus an index of terms.
853 words, about 4 min5The Sealed Custody Hearing: A Neighbor on the Stand, a Gmail Request, and a Subpoena
You are a freelance CSR reporting a contested child-custody hearing that the judge has ordered sealed. Midway through the afternoon you recognize the guardian ad litem's key witness as your next-door neighbor, with whom you have an ongoing property dispute; you have already reported two hours of her testimony and have said nothing.
901 words, about 5 min