NATIONAL COURT REPORTERS EXAM | 2026/2027 LATEST UPDATE
| COMPREHENSIVE QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED ANSWERS |
GRADED A+
affidavit - ANSWER a written declaration made under oath before a notary public or other authorized
officer
appearance - ANSWER a coming into court or to a deposition as a party to a suit
appearance fee - ANSWER a fee paid when the court reporter arrives at a scheduled deposition but
the deposition does not occur
ASCII - ANSWER a computer term which stands for American Standard Code for Information
Interchange. ASCII is a means of exchanging text among dissimilar computers and computer
programs. The term ASCII in court reporting is usually used to mean a file in this format. ASCIIs are
the most common form of litigation support offered by court reporters at this time. Having the ASCII
of a transcript allows a law firm to load the text into a computer for fast searches and extractions of
portions of the testimony. The programs used for this purpose range from common word processors
to sophisticated text databases.
calendar - ANSWER a "calendar," in the field of law, is the schedule of upcoming appearances in court
or legal proceedings. Attorneys keep a calendar of times when and where certain activities are to
take place. An important section of Atkinson-Baker is the Calendar department, which handles the
scheduling assignments of our court reporters along with any changes in those assignments. A job
which is scheduled to be done is said to be "on calendar."
CAT - ANSWER computer-aided transcription. CAT systems are computer equipment and programs
that perform three main functions. First, they translate the reporters notes into english. These notes
are in electronic form. Secondly, they provide an editing system that is highly specialized for court
reporting which allows the roughly translated text to be put into full, final transcript form. This step is
also called "scoping." And finally, the CAT system prints the transcript in the format required by legal
practice: numbered lines, double spacing, and a box. Early CAT systems were based on a mainframe
or mini computer. CAT programs came into wise use in the 1980s with the rise of the personal
computer. A new wrinkle on CAT systems is Realtime translation.
CIC - ANSWER Computer Integrated Courtroom. CIC is the application of computer technology in a
courtroom or deposition room such that all parties present have immediate access to the text of the
proceedings as it happens, plus possible other resources such as past testimony and exhibit images.
, Commission - ANSWER An authority or writing issued from a court directing and authorizing a person
or persons named to do some act or exercise some special function, usually to take the depositions
of witnesses
condensed transcript - ANSWER a miniaturized copy of the original transcript printed in such a way
as to place eight or more pages of transcript on a single sheet of paper, front and back
continuance - ANSWER the adjournment or postponement of a legal proceeding to a subsequent day
court reporter - ANSWER the stenographer who witnesses and reports on what is said at a trial,
deposition, or hearing. A court reporter writes verbatim notes during the proceeding, then produces
a full, written transcript of what was said from these notes.
CSR - ANSWER a certified shorthand reporter, a stenographer who has been specially trained to take
shorthand by machine, primarily for legal proceedings, and has been certified by the state.
custodian of records - ANSWER a type of court reporting job in which the person being deposed is
there not so much to ANSWER questions verbally but rather to convey records of some kind that he
has control of. THe person subpoenaed to appear is to custodian (keeper) of records being sought by
the taking attorney. The subpoena will have charges the deponent with the task of bringing with him
all of the records identified in the subpoena. Custodian of Records depositions are usually short in
terms of time and text but have a great many exhibits, which must be marked and indexed by the
reporter and then copied and bound.
Date of Loss (DOL) - ANSWER a term used in insurance cases which refers to the date of an accident,
injury, or other insured event that someone has filed a claim for
Defendant - ANSWER a person accused of wrongdoing or sued in a court of law
Deponent - ANSWER a person who testifies under oath. The person answers questions put to him,
and these questions and his answers are recorded in shorthand by the court reporter. After the ext
has been transcribed, the deponent is typically given the opportunity to read the written record of
his statement, amend it or correct it as he sees fit, and then sign his name to it as being correct.
Deposition (depo) - ANSWER the giving of testimony under oath. The actual testimony of an
individual or individuals, especially a sworn testimony. Depositions are usually distinguished from
courtroom testimony. Depositions are taken before a case goes to trial, during the "discovery" phase
of the case.
| COMPREHENSIVE QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED ANSWERS |
GRADED A+
affidavit - ANSWER a written declaration made under oath before a notary public or other authorized
officer
appearance - ANSWER a coming into court or to a deposition as a party to a suit
appearance fee - ANSWER a fee paid when the court reporter arrives at a scheduled deposition but
the deposition does not occur
ASCII - ANSWER a computer term which stands for American Standard Code for Information
Interchange. ASCII is a means of exchanging text among dissimilar computers and computer
programs. The term ASCII in court reporting is usually used to mean a file in this format. ASCIIs are
the most common form of litigation support offered by court reporters at this time. Having the ASCII
of a transcript allows a law firm to load the text into a computer for fast searches and extractions of
portions of the testimony. The programs used for this purpose range from common word processors
to sophisticated text databases.
calendar - ANSWER a "calendar," in the field of law, is the schedule of upcoming appearances in court
or legal proceedings. Attorneys keep a calendar of times when and where certain activities are to
take place. An important section of Atkinson-Baker is the Calendar department, which handles the
scheduling assignments of our court reporters along with any changes in those assignments. A job
which is scheduled to be done is said to be "on calendar."
CAT - ANSWER computer-aided transcription. CAT systems are computer equipment and programs
that perform three main functions. First, they translate the reporters notes into english. These notes
are in electronic form. Secondly, they provide an editing system that is highly specialized for court
reporting which allows the roughly translated text to be put into full, final transcript form. This step is
also called "scoping." And finally, the CAT system prints the transcript in the format required by legal
practice: numbered lines, double spacing, and a box. Early CAT systems were based on a mainframe
or mini computer. CAT programs came into wise use in the 1980s with the rise of the personal
computer. A new wrinkle on CAT systems is Realtime translation.
CIC - ANSWER Computer Integrated Courtroom. CIC is the application of computer technology in a
courtroom or deposition room such that all parties present have immediate access to the text of the
proceedings as it happens, plus possible other resources such as past testimony and exhibit images.
, Commission - ANSWER An authority or writing issued from a court directing and authorizing a person
or persons named to do some act or exercise some special function, usually to take the depositions
of witnesses
condensed transcript - ANSWER a miniaturized copy of the original transcript printed in such a way
as to place eight or more pages of transcript on a single sheet of paper, front and back
continuance - ANSWER the adjournment or postponement of a legal proceeding to a subsequent day
court reporter - ANSWER the stenographer who witnesses and reports on what is said at a trial,
deposition, or hearing. A court reporter writes verbatim notes during the proceeding, then produces
a full, written transcript of what was said from these notes.
CSR - ANSWER a certified shorthand reporter, a stenographer who has been specially trained to take
shorthand by machine, primarily for legal proceedings, and has been certified by the state.
custodian of records - ANSWER a type of court reporting job in which the person being deposed is
there not so much to ANSWER questions verbally but rather to convey records of some kind that he
has control of. THe person subpoenaed to appear is to custodian (keeper) of records being sought by
the taking attorney. The subpoena will have charges the deponent with the task of bringing with him
all of the records identified in the subpoena. Custodian of Records depositions are usually short in
terms of time and text but have a great many exhibits, which must be marked and indexed by the
reporter and then copied and bound.
Date of Loss (DOL) - ANSWER a term used in insurance cases which refers to the date of an accident,
injury, or other insured event that someone has filed a claim for
Defendant - ANSWER a person accused of wrongdoing or sued in a court of law
Deponent - ANSWER a person who testifies under oath. The person answers questions put to him,
and these questions and his answers are recorded in shorthand by the court reporter. After the ext
has been transcribed, the deponent is typically given the opportunity to read the written record of
his statement, amend it or correct it as he sees fit, and then sign his name to it as being correct.
Deposition (depo) - ANSWER the giving of testimony under oath. The actual testimony of an
individual or individuals, especially a sworn testimony. Depositions are usually distinguished from
courtroom testimony. Depositions are taken before a case goes to trial, during the "discovery" phase
of the case.
