GA Court Reporter common mistakes
GA Court Reporter · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
During machine shorthand dictation, the candidate writes briefs for common legal phrases (e.g., 'IN THE MATTER OF', 'COMES NOW') but fails to verify the brief's outline in their personal dictionary, resulting in untranslates or incorrect expansions when transcribing.
Under time pressure, candidates rely on memorized briefs without confirming that the brief is correctly defined in their CAT software; they may confuse similar outlines or use a brief that conflicts with another entry.
What to do instead
Before the exam, audit all legal briefs in the personal dictionary by generating a brief list and testing each outline in a practice dictation; during the exam, avoid unverified briefs and write unfamiliar phrases in full or with safe phrasing.
When transcribing literary and jury charge dictation, the candidate drops or misplaces punctuation marks such as commas, semicolons, and quotation marks, especially in long complex sentences and statutory citations.
Literary and jury charge material contains dense punctuation and unusual phrasing; candidates focus on speed and accuracy of words but neglect punctuation because they have not practiced punctuating legal texts under dictation.
What to do instead
Practice transcribing recorded jury charges and literary passages with a punctuation-focused checklist; during the exam, use CAT punctuation macros and proofread each sentence for comma splices, quotation placement, and citation formatting before finalizing.
In question-and-answer testimony dictation, the candidate fails to designate speakers correctly, omitting or misplacing Q. and A. labels, or merges two speakers' utterances into one paragraph.
Rapid turn-taking and overlapping speech cause candidates to lose track of speaker changes; they may also assume the CAT software will automatically insert Q. and A. without setting the correct speaker definitions.
What to do instead
Set up speaker definitions in CAT software before the exam and practice dictations with frequent speaker changes; during transcription, listen for the attorney's question inflection and the witness's answer, and verify each Q. and A. paragraph break against the audio.
When formatting transcripts, the candidate uses inconsistent page margins, line spacing, or font size, and fails to include required elements such as the caption, appearances, index, or certificate page in the prescribed order.
Candidates memorize content but not the exact layout rules; they may rely on default word-processing templates rather than the court's formatting standards, and under time pressure they skip checking the certificate and index.
What to do instead
Create a formatting checklist based on the exam's published transcript format rules; practice producing a complete transcript with caption, appearances, body, index, and certificate; during the exam, verify margins, font, line numbering, and page numbering before submission.
The candidate misuses commonly confused legal and English terms, such as 'principal' vs. 'principle', 'assure' vs. 'ensure' vs. 'insure', 'affect' vs. 'effect', or 'plaintiff' vs. 'defendant', in transcript text.
These words sound similar or are used interchangeably in everyday speech; candidates may not have drilled the distinctions in legal contexts, and homophone errors are easy to overlook when reading quickly.
What to do instead
Study a list of commonly confused legal terms and create flashcards with example sentences; during proofreading, search the transcript for each pair and verify usage against the sentence's meaning and legal context.
The candidate incorrectly uses legal terminology, such as confusing 'judgment' with 'judgement', 'docket' with 'dockett', 'arraignment' with 'arrangement', or misstating the names of pleadings and motions.
Legal terms are often learned by ear and may be misspelled phonetically; candidates may not have verified the official spelling and usage in Georgia court rules and statutes.
What to do instead
Build a personal legal terminology glossary from Georgia statutes and court rules; practice spelling and defining each term; during transcription, flag uncertain terms and verify them against the glossary or a reliable legal dictionary before finalizing.
The candidate fails to identify and avoid conflicts of interest or ex parte communications, such as transcribing a proceeding involving a family member or discussing case details with a party outside the courtroom.
Candidates may not recognize that ethical duties extend beyond the courtroom to personal relationships and informal conversations; they may underestimate the strictness of the code of professional responsibility.
What to do instead
Review the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct and court reporter ethics rules; create scenarios and practice identifying conflicts; during the exam, apply a simple test: would a reasonable person question my impartiality? If yes, disclose and recuse.
The candidate misidentifies the hierarchy and jurisdiction of Georgia courts, such as confusing the Court of Appeals with the Supreme Court, or misstating which court hears a particular type of case (e.g., felony vs. misdemeanor).
Georgia has a multi-tiered court structure with specific jurisdictional rules; candidates may rely on general knowledge rather than studying the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) and court rules.
What to do instead
Create a chart of Georgia courts (Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, superior, state, magistrate, probate, juvenile) with their jurisdictions and typical cases; memorize key O.C.G.A. provisions; practice with sample questions mapping case types to courts.
The candidate fails to maintain and organize the record properly, such as not marking exhibits, not recording objections and rulings, or not preserving the original stenographic notes and backup files as required.
Candidates focus on transcription speed and accuracy but neglect recordkeeping procedures; they may not know the specific retention and certification requirements for Georgia court reporters.
What to do instead
Study the Georgia recordkeeping rules, including exhibit marking, objection handling, and retention periods; practice a mock proceeding where you log exhibits and rulings; during the exam, follow a checklist for record completeness and verify that all files are saved and backed up.
During proofreading, the candidate reads the transcript silently and misses errors such as omitted words, duplicated words, or incorrect numbers, because they do not read aloud or compare against the audio.
Silent reading allows the brain to autocorrect and skip errors; candidates may be overconfident and rush through proofreading to save time.
What to do instead
Proofread by reading the transcript aloud while listening to the audio at a slower speed; use CAT software's audio sync and search functions for common errors (e.g., repeated words, number formats); allocate sufficient time for a full proofreading pass before submission.