Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 31, 1993 TAG: 9308310115
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Furthermore, let it be noted . . . that in the state courts of Roanoke and the surrounding area, the profession has been dominated for 15 years by one company, Central Virginia Reporters of Salem.
But let notice be served . . . that's not stopping the fledgling Cavalier Reporting, based in Charlottesville, from establishing a toehold in the Roanoke market.
\ "We're the new kids on the block," said JoRita Meyer, Cavalier's vice president. "It's a good market for us to move in there. There's not one law firm in Roanoke and there shouldn't be one court-reporting firm."
Cavalier set up shop in May at Tanglewood West.
Central Virginia owner Robert Young, while not happy about the competition, doesn't plan to make any changes, he said. Young will rely on relationships built on trust and experience over the years.
"You keep going to the corner gas station until you get mad at them," he said.
The job of a court reporter sounds fairly basic, but the profession's title only begins to describe its applications. Besides making an official record of court cases - the majority of which are civil disputes - reporters take depositions, minutes of city council meetings and labor arbitration proceedings.
Armed with a 24-key stenotype machine and computer disc, a reporter records testimony phonetically - how it sounds, not how it is spelled. Reporters are expected to record more than 200 words a minute with unerring accuracy.
People who are hard to understand may be the most difficult thing about doing the job, said Debra Thorson, a court reporter with Central Virginia. "They get nervous and talk really, really fast."
Much of the job is done at home, Thorson said, where reporters can edit, proof and prepare the transcripts they send to clients. Only about one-third of Thorson's time is spent actually taking down the information. She handles three to four cases a week, perhaps two of them out of town, but she said she couldn't estimate how much time she spends working at home.
"I've heard so many words . . . that I can almost anticipate the next word," said Thorson, a reporter for 11 years.
Reporters' command of vocabulary must be vast, including intricate legal and medical terminology. If called upon to take a deposition from a forensic pathologist, "He doesn't use dime-store words," Meyer said.
Neither company would comment specifically on their rates, although they charge a flat rate for a half day's or a full day's work, plus a charge per page of the transcript. One Roanoke-area lawyer said his firm paid an $80-per-half-diem rate plus $99.20 for a 32-page transcript and copy after a deposition in June. Mileage and delivery charges may be tacked on.
Ultimately, the fee is passed on to the lawyer's client.
The profession "is not a public eye-catcher," Meyer said.
The client base is very specific - lawyers, primarily - and relies on the reporter's absolute efficiency, accuracy, availability and experience.
Meyer and her husband, Rick, formed Cavalier a little more than a year ago with an embrace-the-future-or-lose philosophy.
These days, the bread and butter of their business - and court reporting in general - amounts to the basics: recording what's said in a courtroom.
Young came to Roanoke in 1972, he said. In 1977, Central Virginia was established by pooling most of the area's court reporters.
"We're a booking agency," he said. A lawyer calls him, and he calls a subcontracting court reporter to do the job. The company's strength lies in being able to provide a reporter, even on a moment's notice.
"I think the success of our business has been [in being] able to say yes," Young said.
Central Virginia uses about 20 reporters, he said, and works within 100 miles of Roanoke. Cavalier employs nine or 10, with offices also in Harrisonburg, Richmond and Charlottesville, Meyer said.
Young has "built up a relationship over the years," said lawyer Jim Johnson of Johnson, Ayers & Matterly of Roanoke, "and we wouldn't want to turn our back on that."
His firm has used Central Virginia almost exclusively over the years. For Cavalier to succeed in Roanoke, "they just have to hang in there. They have to demonstrate that they do good work and they're available.
"It's not going to happen overnight," he said.
John Johnson, a lawyer with Gentry, Locke, Rakes & Moore of Roanoke, said his firm has employed reporters from both.
"Central Virginia provides excellent service, as does Cavalier," he said. The things lawyers look for is "rates and service - who can provide the best service for the best rates."
by CNB