CSR Certified Shorthand Reporter study guide
CSR Certified Shorthand Reporter · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
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 study guide has 7 sections and about 2,087 words.
01Literary Dictation and Transcription
Literary dictation uses continuous, edited prose - an essay, article, or short story - read aloud at a steady pace. It tests the opposite skill from testimony: you must supply the punctuation, paragraphing, and capitalization the reader never announces.
296 words, about 1 min02Jury Charge Dictation and Transcription
The jury charge (also called instructions) is read by the judge from a prepared written text, and it is frequently the basis for appellate review of preserved objections. Reproduce it verbatim: awkward statutory phrasing, gender pairs ("he or she"), quoted defined terms, numbered paragraphs, and the judge's transitional remarks ("Ladies and gentlemen, I will now instruct you on the law").
319 words, about 2 min03Testimony (Question-and-Answer) Dictation and Transcription
Your duty is to record the words spoken, not a cleaned-up version of them. Incomplete sentences, false starts, and grammatical errors stay in the record unless the speaker corrects them.
298 words, about 1 min04English Usage: Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Vocabulary
Usage questions reward precision, not opinion. Review subject-verb agreement with collective nouns and indefinite pronouns ("the court is," "each of the witnesses was," "none were" versus "none was"); pronoun case, especially after prepositions ("between you and me") and in comparisons; who versus whom; restrictive versus nonrestrictive clauses; comma splices and run-ons; the serial comma; and quotation-mark placement with periods and commas.
264 words, about 1 min05Legal Terminology, Court Procedures, and the Justice System
You need the architecture of a case, not just vocabulary. Civil: pleadings, discovery (interrogatories, requests for production, depositions), dispositive motions, trial, judgment, post-trial motions, appeal.
298 words, about 1 min06Transcript Formatting, Reporting Practices, and Production Standards
A certified transcript is a locatable document: every word sits on a numbered page and numbered line, typically 25 lines per page. Standard components include the title page with the full case caption and court, appearances, an index of examinations or witnesses, the body of the proceedings, an exhibit index, and the reporter's certificate.
277 words, about 1 min07Professional Responsibility, Ethics, Confidentiality, and Compliance
The reporter is an officer of the court whose product is evidence. Core duties: accuracy and completeness, impartiality and the appearance of impartiality, confidentiality, and competence.
335 words, about 2 min