California Court Reporter Examination
with Practice Questions And Correct
Answers (Verifi
1. In a California civil deposition, the noticing attorney instructs the deponent not to
answer on the basis of attorney-client privilege. The deposing attorney believes the
privilege is inapplicable. Under California law, what is the most appropriate next step
for the deposing attorney to take on the record?
A. Immediately terminate the deposition and file a motion for sanctions in superior court.
B. State the objection for the record and either continue with other questions or suspend
the deposition to seek a ruling from the court.
C. Instruct the court reporter to strike the question and any answer from the transcript.
D. Direct the court reporter to mark the question and answer as 'sealed' and continue
without judicial intervention.
Answer: B. State the objection for the record and either continue with other questions
or suspend the deposition to seek a ruling from the court.
Rationale: Under California deposition practice, when an instruction not to answer is
made based on privilege, the deposing attorney should state the objection for the record
and may either continue with other areas or suspend the deposition to seek a court ruling.
Terminating the deposition outright or unilaterally striking/sealing portions of the
transcript is not the reporter's or attorney's proper immediate remedy. The reporter's role
is to record proceedings, not to rule on privilege claims.
Page 1 of 92
,2. During realtime translation, a CSR notices that a high-frequency medical term is
consistently mistranslating. Which action best reflects current best practice for
maintaining realtime accuracy and the integrity of the certified transcript?
A. Allow the mistranslation to remain in the rough realtime feed and correct it only if the
attorney requests a certified copy.
B. Immediately stop the proceeding and reboot the CAT software to clear the translation
memory.
C. Add or correct the term in the personal dictionary/job dictionary and verify that the
corrected translation flows to both realtime and the final transcript.
D. Manually retype the term in the realtime feed and rely on the scopist to fix the final
transcript later.
Answer: C. Add or correct the term in the personal dictionary/job dictionary and
verify that the corrected translation flows to both realtime and the final transcript.
Rationale: Best practice is to update the personal/job dictionary immediately so that the
correct translation applies consistently in both realtime and the final certified transcript.
Ignoring the error or relying solely on post-production fixes undermines realtime reliability
and risks uncorrected errors in the certified record. Rebooting software mid-proceeding is
disruptive and does not address the underlying dictionary issue.
Page 2 of 92
,3. A California court reporter is preparing a transcript for appeal in a felony criminal
case. Which statement correctly describes a key formatting or procedural requirement
that applies?
A. The reporter may use any font and margin as long as the transcript is legible and
paginated.
B. The reporter must include a certificate page signed under penalty of perjury and
comply with California Rules of Court formatting requirements, including specific page
layout and indexing.
C. The reporter must provide only an electronic PDF and is not required to retain paper
notes or electronic files.
D. The reporter may omit jury voir dire and bench conferences unless specifically
ordered by the appellate court.
Answer: B. The reporter must include a certificate page signed under penalty of
perjury and comply with California Rules of Court formatting requirements,
including specific page layout and indexing.
Rationale: California Rules of Court prescribe specific formatting and content
requirements for transcripts, and the reporter's certificate must be signed under penalty of
perjury attesting to the transcript's accuracy. Reporters must also retain notes/electronic
files for the statutory retention period. Omitting portions of the record or disregarding
formatting rules can jeopardize the appeal and violate professional standards.
Page 3 of 92
, 4. A witness testifies: 'The defendant said, quote, I didn't take the money, unquote,
and then he left.' Which transcription most accurately applies standard conventions
for quoting spoken language within a question-and-answer format?
A. The defendant said, "I didn't take the money," and then he left.
B. The defendant said quote I didn't take the money unquote and then he left.
C. The defendant said, quote, I didn't take the money, unquote, and then he left.
D. The defendant said "I didn't take the money" and then he left.
Answer: C. The defendant said, quote, I didn't take the money, unquote, and then he
left.
Rationale: In verbatim reporting, when a speaker says the words 'quote' and 'unquote,'
those words are transcribed as spoken to preserve the verbatim record, typically set off by
commas. Substituting quotation marks (Options A and D) changes the spoken words and is
not verbatim. Option B removes necessary punctuation and misrepresents the spoken
pauses.
Page 4 of 92
with Practice Questions And Correct
Answers (Verifi
1. In a California civil deposition, the noticing attorney instructs the deponent not to
answer on the basis of attorney-client privilege. The deposing attorney believes the
privilege is inapplicable. Under California law, what is the most appropriate next step
for the deposing attorney to take on the record?
A. Immediately terminate the deposition and file a motion for sanctions in superior court.
B. State the objection for the record and either continue with other questions or suspend
the deposition to seek a ruling from the court.
C. Instruct the court reporter to strike the question and any answer from the transcript.
D. Direct the court reporter to mark the question and answer as 'sealed' and continue
without judicial intervention.
Answer: B. State the objection for the record and either continue with other questions
or suspend the deposition to seek a ruling from the court.
Rationale: Under California deposition practice, when an instruction not to answer is
made based on privilege, the deposing attorney should state the objection for the record
and may either continue with other areas or suspend the deposition to seek a court ruling.
Terminating the deposition outright or unilaterally striking/sealing portions of the
transcript is not the reporter's or attorney's proper immediate remedy. The reporter's role
is to record proceedings, not to rule on privilege claims.
Page 1 of 92
,2. During realtime translation, a CSR notices that a high-frequency medical term is
consistently mistranslating. Which action best reflects current best practice for
maintaining realtime accuracy and the integrity of the certified transcript?
A. Allow the mistranslation to remain in the rough realtime feed and correct it only if the
attorney requests a certified copy.
B. Immediately stop the proceeding and reboot the CAT software to clear the translation
memory.
C. Add or correct the term in the personal dictionary/job dictionary and verify that the
corrected translation flows to both realtime and the final transcript.
D. Manually retype the term in the realtime feed and rely on the scopist to fix the final
transcript later.
Answer: C. Add or correct the term in the personal dictionary/job dictionary and
verify that the corrected translation flows to both realtime and the final transcript.
Rationale: Best practice is to update the personal/job dictionary immediately so that the
correct translation applies consistently in both realtime and the final certified transcript.
Ignoring the error or relying solely on post-production fixes undermines realtime reliability
and risks uncorrected errors in the certified record. Rebooting software mid-proceeding is
disruptive and does not address the underlying dictionary issue.
Page 2 of 92
,3. A California court reporter is preparing a transcript for appeal in a felony criminal
case. Which statement correctly describes a key formatting or procedural requirement
that applies?
A. The reporter may use any font and margin as long as the transcript is legible and
paginated.
B. The reporter must include a certificate page signed under penalty of perjury and
comply with California Rules of Court formatting requirements, including specific page
layout and indexing.
C. The reporter must provide only an electronic PDF and is not required to retain paper
notes or electronic files.
D. The reporter may omit jury voir dire and bench conferences unless specifically
ordered by the appellate court.
Answer: B. The reporter must include a certificate page signed under penalty of
perjury and comply with California Rules of Court formatting requirements,
including specific page layout and indexing.
Rationale: California Rules of Court prescribe specific formatting and content
requirements for transcripts, and the reporter's certificate must be signed under penalty of
perjury attesting to the transcript's accuracy. Reporters must also retain notes/electronic
files for the statutory retention period. Omitting portions of the record or disregarding
formatting rules can jeopardize the appeal and violate professional standards.
Page 3 of 92
, 4. A witness testifies: 'The defendant said, quote, I didn't take the money, unquote,
and then he left.' Which transcription most accurately applies standard conventions
for quoting spoken language within a question-and-answer format?
A. The defendant said, "I didn't take the money," and then he left.
B. The defendant said quote I didn't take the money unquote and then he left.
C. The defendant said, quote, I didn't take the money, unquote, and then he left.
D. The defendant said "I didn't take the money" and then he left.
Answer: C. The defendant said, quote, I didn't take the money, unquote, and then he
left.
Rationale: In verbatim reporting, when a speaker says the words 'quote' and 'unquote,'
those words are transcribed as spoken to preserve the verbatim record, typically set off by
commas. Substituting quotation marks (Options A and D) changes the spoken words and is
not verbatim. Option B removes necessary punctuation and misrepresents the spoken
pauses.
Page 4 of 92
