NV Court Reporter study plan
NV Court Reporter · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Dictation and Transcription Accuracy (literary, jury charge, and testimony speeds) & English Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Word Usage
Transcribe three 5-minute literary dictations at 140–160 wpm and score accuracy against a self-built error log
Drill the 60 highest-frequency homophones and sound-alikes (their/there, council/counsel, waiver/waver) until each is written correctly from dictation
Build a personal brief-form and phrase list of 50 entries covering common legal collocations
Identify your top five error categories from week-one practice and rank them by frequency
Your checkpoint
A scored error log covering 15 minutes of literary dictation, listing error category, frequency, and the 50-entry brief-form sheet
Dictation and Transcription Accuracy (literary, jury charge, and testimony speeds) & English Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Word Usage
Transcribe three 5-minute jury charge passages at 160–180 wpm, correctly rendering statutory language and numbered instructions
Apply comma, semicolon, and colon rules to 40 timed punctuation exercises drawn from legal prose
Practice capitalization of court names, party designations, and statutory citations from dictation
Proofread and correct one prior week's transcript against audio, logging every correction type
Your checkpoint
A fully proofread 10-minute jury charge transcript with a correction tally by error type
Dictation and Transcription Accuracy (literary, jury charge, and testimony speeds) & Legal and Judicial Terminology, Court Procedures, and Criminal/Civil Law Basics
Transcribe two-party testimony at 180–200 wpm including Q&A format, speaker tags, and colloquy interruptions
Memorize and correctly spell 80 core legal terms spanning civil and criminal procedure
Convert 30 spoken numbers (dates, dollar amounts, case numbers, statute sections) into correct transcript form under dictation
Distinguish and correctly use objection, motion, stipulation, allocution, and arraignment in written exercises
Your checkpoint
A 15-minute testimony transcript at target speed with a legal-term spelling quiz score of at least 90%
Transcript Formatting, Certification, and Production Standards & Dictation and Transcription Accuracy (literary, jury charge, and testimony speeds)
Format a complete transcript to a consistent house style: caption, appearances, index, page and line numbering, Q&A indents
Draft a reporter's certificate and an errata/signature page that state the governing oath and completion language accurately
Transcribe one continuous 20-minute multi-speaker proceeding at 180 wpm without stopping playback
Audit your formatted transcript against a self-made formatting checklist of at least 20 items
Your checkpoint
A complete, formatted, certificate-bearing transcript of a 20-minute proceeding plus the 20-item formatting checklist
Legal and Judicial Terminology, Court Procedures, and Criminal/Civil Law Basics & Nevada Statutes, Rules, and Regulations Governing Court Reporters
Outline the stages of a Nevada criminal case from arrest through sentencing, naming each hearing type
Outline the stages of a Nevada civil case from complaint through judgment, including discovery and pretrial motions
Summarize the Nevada statutes and court rules that govern court reporters, including certification, oath, and transcript duties
Map each Nevada rule you studied to a practical reporting scenario you would encounter in a courtroom
Your checkpoint
A two-page comparison chart of criminal versus civil procedure with a Nevada authority cited for each reporter-related duty
Court Reporting Ethics, Confidentiality, and Impartiality & Nevada Statutes, Rules, and Regulations Governing Court Reporters
Apply confidentiality rules to 10 written scenarios involving sealed proceedings, minors, and juror information
Resolve 10 impartiality scenarios involving conflicts of interest, prior employment, and personal relationships with parties
State the correct handling procedure for off-the-record discussions, bench conferences, and requests to strike testimony
Identify the Nevada provisions on reporter discipline, continuing education, and prohibited conduct
Your checkpoint
A written ethics decision log of 20 scenarios, each with a chosen action and the rule or principle supporting it
Professional Practice Management (notarization, fees, records retention, technology) & Transcript Formatting, Certification, and Production Standards
Draft a fee schedule and invoice template covering per-page, expedited, and copy charges with clear terms
Write a records-retention and backup policy specifying retention periods, storage media, and destruction authorization
Demonstrate notarization workflow steps, including jurat versus acknowledgment and journal entry requirements
Test your production pipeline end to end: audio to draft to proof to certified deliverable, timed
Your checkpoint
A professional practice packet containing fee schedule, invoice template, retention policy, and a timed end-to-end production log
Dictation and Transcription Accuracy (literary, jury charge, and testimony speeds) & English Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Word Usage & Legal and Judicial Terminology, Court Procedures, and Criminal/Civil Law Basics & Court Reporting Ethics, Confidentiality, and Impartiality & Nevada Statutes, Rules, and Regulations Governing Court Reporters & Professional Practice Management (notarization, fees, records retention, technology)
Complete two full-length timed simulations covering literary, jury charge, and testimony at target speeds
Re-drill the 100 items you missed most across all prior weeks
Take a 100-question mixed practice test spanning grammar, legal terminology, ethics, and Nevada rules
Review every missed item and write a one-line rule statement for each
Your checkpoint
Two scored simulation transcripts plus a 100-question practice test score with a written remediation sheet
Milestones
Week 2: Sustain 160 wpm on jury charge material with at least 97% accuracy on a proofread 10-minute transcript
Week 4: Produce a fully formatted, certified 20-minute transcript at 180 wpm that passes your own 20-item checklist with no unresolved defects
Week 6: Score at least 85% on the 20-scenario ethics log and correctly cite a Nevada authority for every reporter-duty item on the procedure chart
Week 8: Score at least 90% on the mixed 100-question practice test and complete both full-length simulations at target speed with proofread accuracy at or above 98%