PohlmanUSA Takes Time With Local Court Reporting Students

Today I was given the opportunity to listen as Nancy Varallo, President of the National Court Reporting Association (NCRA), and her husband Ed Varallo, 6 time NCRA Speed Champion, spoke to students about the court reporting profession. This outreach program was part of PohlmanUSA’s effort to promote the court reporting profession and provide an opportunity for current and prospective court reporting students to hear from others some of the tricks of the trade. After an introduction from PohlmanUSA President, Vicki Pohlman, Nancy and Ed Varallo gave an inspiring presentation on how they began as court reporters and held a Q & A session.

Nancy and Ed also spoke to the attendees on various topics including their tips on starting out in court reporting. Some of the key takeaways that every court reporter can benefit from were: to take baby steps when trying to increase your speed; to keep pushing yourself to improve; to proofread your steno with a red pen to analyze errors; practice concentration; don’t spend too much time each day practicing; don’t practice more than 10 WPM above your current speed; and always be professional in the field and on interviews.

After the Q & A session the day was capped off with a reception and networking event at PohlmanUSA headquarters in St. Louis, MO.

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Tips in setting your personal guidelines for social media: Part 1:

Before you jump in (or in too deep) consider setting parameters around your use of social media. Several tips to getting the most out of social media:

1) Keep your postings short.
2) Be engaging.
3) Use different postings for different media (ie. LinkedIn, Twitter, face book).
4) Keep it interesting, including using pictures.
5) Endorse others cautiously, your reputation can be built or ruined on the actions and posts of others.
6) Be sincere and honest about why you are wanting to connect.
7) Only accept invitations from individuals who you know or are referred to by trusted contacts.
8) Only post positive comments.
9) Hide your connections.
10) Don’t let social media replace traditional networking.

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What Attorneys Should Know About Court Reporting: Part 1: Terminology and Acronyms

Court reporters have a difficult job listening to and catching every spoken word verbatim during a deposition. As an attorney or other “outsider” it can be just as difficult to understand what the reporters themselves are talking about. During law school attorneys are taught legal terminology and acronyms. Likewise court reporters have a language of their own. If you have ever wondered what the court reporter is referring to or what all those letters behind their name mean your answers are finally here. Some of the most commonly referred to words and acronyms are defined for everyone to understand.

APPEARANCE FEE- The appearance fee is the fee charged by the court reporter either on an hourly or by day basis to attend the deposition. There can also be an appearance fee applied if the court reporter arrives for a deposition which is subsequently cancelled.

ASCII- referred to commonly as ASCII it is the American Standard Code for Information Exchange. It is based on the English alphabet and uses 128 specified characters including the letters A-Z, numbers 0-9 and basic punctuation to form a character-encoding system.

CCR – Certified Court Reporter (used in some states instead of CSR)

CLR- Certified LiveNote Reporter

CONDENSED TRANSNCRIPT- A condensed transcript is a version of the official transcript that is prepared with 4 pages on transcript on a single printed page.

COURT REPORTER- A court reporter may also be referred to as a stenographer. Their job is to transcribe speech during a deposition or other official court proceeding and provide it in written form.

CROSS NOTICE- A cross notice commonly has an addition or change to the original notice.

CRR – Certified Real Time Reporter

CSR- Certified Shorthand Reporter

DESKTOP VIDEO CONFERENCING- Desktop Video Conferencing (DVC) is a high-tech litigation support service. Combining the convenience of telephonic deposition attendance with the benefits of appearing in person. DesktopVC is a reliable, secure, and cost-effective way to attend a deposition from the continence of your home or office.

ELMO – An ELMO is a projector used during depositions. It has a light box so you can review x-rays, etc. It can also be an addition to a video conference allowing both sides to see exhibits.

E-TRANS (electronic transcript)- An e-trans is a way to receive the transcript electronically verse the traditional paper format. Depending on the format an e-trans may be searchable.

EXPEDITIED TRANSCRIPT- the request to receive a transcript completed before the standard deadline.

NOTICE- The notice of deposition is a formal discovery direction informing the opposing counsel or party of when and where to appear to answer questions under oath for an active litigation.

REALTIME (Communication Access real-Time Translation or CART)- Real-time is a type of transcript that is delivered via text on computer screens within seconds of the words being spoken.

ROUGH- A rough or also referred to as rough draft transcript is the first draft coming straight from the steno machine with little or no clean-up. There will be mis-strokes, and the draft will be in steno format. It cannot be used as official testimony.

RPR- Registered Professional Reporter

SCOPIST- A scopist is a person hired by the court reporter to edit the transcript.

STENO- Steno is the short hard version without full names, etc.

STENOGRAPHY- Stenography is the process of writing in shorthand.

STENO MACHINE (stenographic machine)- A steno machine or stenotype machine is a specialized typewriter used for typing shorthand.

STIP (stipulation)- A stip is used by counsel following filing or a lawsuit setting out agreed to terms by the parties.

TAKING ATTORNEY- A taking attorney is the attorney on record asking the witness questions and gathering testimony.

TENDER- Plaintiff counsel may tender their witness which is presenting the witness and making them available for questioning.

Text Streaming – Is real-time testimony being streamed over the internet to other parties participating in other states, offices, etc.

TRANSCRIPT- A transcript is the written document reflecting verbatim what was spoken on the record during a deposition or court proceeding.

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Network Throughout Your Entire Career

There are many different reasons to network throughout the course of your career. Community leaders did not become that way over night, the dream job rarely falls in someone’s lap, social etiquette takes practice, and industry trends are changing rapidly. Of course everyone has their own agenda for networking and choosing how they prefer to network. Whether you network in group settings, one-on-one or through social media make sure you are networking and don’t stop. No matter your reason to network know that without it you might miss out on something big.

Early in your career you may decide to network to find a mentor, or a job, to establish professional contacts, look for ways to socialize with other young professionals, or simply learn how to connect with people in your industry.
Mid-career you may need additional educational opportunities, want to continue to build relationships, or be looking to get referrals or professional development opportunities. Maybe you are ready to step it up and speak at an event or facilitate a presentation.

Late in your career, once you are established and not spending as much focused time on getting clients or working as much, you may want to offer wisdom by becoming a mentor others, or by sharing your experiences and becoming a resource for the new generation. You may also realize that you need to keep current on technology trends in your industry or be looking to a new client base. There is even the possibility that you are wanting second career options.

Whatever stage of your career I recommend getting involved and staying connected through face-to-face networking opportunities as well as on social media. Remember you have to earn the right to ask others to help you so if you don’t get connected until you need them it is too late, plus you might just get something out of it along the way.

For a list of prospective networking organizations in the legal industry contact me at [email protected].

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A Bit of Reflection After the Missouri Lawyers Awards

It has taken me the five days since the Missouri Lawyers Media Lawyers Awards ceremony to really appreciate the combined talent, experience and drive of those who attended the luncheon. The winners, and others in the room, fight daily for the rights of individuals and companies harmed by others. As I began reflecting on what each of them has contributed to society over the year, and once I stopped tearing up remembering the story of the Lawyer of the Year, I began to analyze what I do for others. I am sure my family and co-workers (hopefully) would say that I am generous, helpful and caring. My neighbors would say that I am neighborly, whatever that means, and the local legal community may even say that I am involved and actively participate with association and charitable events. But what do I really do for society. As a member of the legal community it is my duty to stay informed of community needs, to be involved in outreach and other programs to assist those in need, and to work to make life better for others. Having the opportunity to review some of the legal cases of the year reminded me to put into perspective my own goals and accomplishments, and to think of what I can do for others not only during the holidays or at work but year round for society. I hope that others in our legal community will do the same in and out of court in 2014. Congrats for all that you have achieved.

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Pitfalls and Etiquette of Social Media: Part 2: Social Media Issues in Multi-generational Work Force

Each generation has different values, communication styles and ideologies. While not every member of each generation fits all of the mindsets of everyone in their generation anyone working in a professional environment needs to be prepared on how others perceive them based on generational differences. This even correlates to your use and presence on social media.
Each generation has different expectations for communication, the level of personal information shared, how information is shared and how they interpret what they read. With up to 5 generations represented in today’s workforce it is important that you understand how each considers proper communication and consider the views of each when it comes to social media. The use of social media is thus a blessing and a curse to anyone who may be connected to multiple generations on one platform. What this means for you as the “writer” is that you need to spend more time considering what you will post and determine how potential viewers will interpret the words you used but also the emotion behind them and ultimately how you are being perceived.
As you read through the list of value attributable to different generations you will notice that a lot of he values are contradicted by what other generations view as important in communication style. This makes not only communicating itself more difficult but deciding how you will communicate an important factor.
Values of different generations:
• Privacy. Do not over-share and do not expect them to share back with you.
• Formality in communication including preference to hand-written correspondence or face-to-face communication. They also expect proper grammar and appreciate if you get to the point and do not waste time.
• Open, direct style but do not control or force a point of view on them.
• View details as imperative.
• Want to see flexibility in your ideas and thought provoking insights in your communication.
• Loyalty and commitment to your point-of-view and not being easily swayed.
• Independent and creativity in your thought process.
• They want to be provided as many facts and true information as possible.
• Use email and texting as primary communication.
• Want to provide feedback and want to receive comments and dialogue surrounding themselves.
• Need to be reassured and have their ideas validated by as many people as possible, thrive on input.
• Prefer informal and not face-to-face communication.
• Will use any technology source for communication.
• Write short, direct comments.
• Only wants positive communication.
• High use of action words and challenges themselves and others
• Use action words and want to be challenged.
• Resent being told what to do.

While social media can quickly get your thoughts, feelings, and experiences across you must remember that your intended audience may not be the only ones to view electronically documented thoughts. You do not want to be perceived negatively or differently by other generations because of your participation on social media. Social media is not just social it needs to remain professional even if casual in appearance. Only you can determine which types of social media to use and how you want to be viewed. It is hard but not impossible to be viewed positively by multi-generations when in the world of social media.
The bottom line is communication is difficult and you need to remember that when using social media as your platform for communication there are more perspectives than yours to think about. Consider you were speaking to a parent, child, teacher, boss and friend when you post. Would they all be supportive of what you wrote? Will you look back in 10 or 20 years from any of the above perspectives and be proud of what wrote? If not- DELETE before you post it.

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Pitfalls and Etiquette of Social Media: Part One: Social Media Issues in Today’s Work Environment

Social media is the best way to get your message to the most people the fastest. Unfortunately you have no ability to individualize the context or content of your posting to different generations. While getting your message, story, tweet, etc. across to EVERYONE quickly is a perk of using social media it is impossible to make the information relevant and more importantly, clear, to everyone who may potentially see the post.
The use of social media is thus a blessing and a curse to anyone who may be connected to multiple generations on one platform. Thus using social media to support your personal and professional brand without opposing your company brand is becoming more difficult. With up to 5 generations in the workplace and 6 or more existing in the realm of social media you must be cognizant of potential readers when you consider a post. Each generation has different expectations for communication, the level of personal information shared, how information is shared and how they interpret what they read.
You must be careful to not abandon commonsense just because you are communicating through social media. Also, recognize how you are communicating (the words, structure, etc. you are using), as well as what you are communicating (feelings, events) translates beyond your generation. Assume anything that you post, forward, or share will be seen or passed along to those who you did not intend to see it (ie. Your mom, boss, client or priest). And be aware that everything that you post has the potential to be viewed by a colleague, client, or competitor.

Tips to avoid trouble spots of social media:
• Never post anything religious, political, sexual, or embarrassing to yourself or someone else.
• Think before you post, tweet, like or share anything through social media. Everything electronic is permanent and may affect your reputation now or later.
• Do not friend anyone that may make you look bad or may be in opposition of your career or company. If you have already friended them REMOVE them.
• Only post positive messages and do not complain or be offensive. If you have an issue with someone in your life take it off social media- relationships and careers are damaged quickly through electronic and social media communications. A rough day on your part can come across as a lack of gratitude, or as a whining, childish rant.
• Never post anything against corporate policy, illegal, or that you do not want to be associated with. This includes anything that you may find embarrassing in 10 years.
• Always be polite. Social media still means to be social, if you are well-mannered in public be so in your use of social media as well.
• Be authentic and personable. Post important topics and information but only share the positive, polished attributes of your personality.
• Add value not just chatter. Do not over-post or seek validation in your posts. Even your closest friends only have so much free time so make reading your posts worthwhile to them (they really don’t care what you ate for lunch).
• Do not vent through social media. If you need to vent or discuss an issue go “old school” and pick up the phone to call your most trusted confidant.
• Have a simple and professional sign-in name such as: [email protected]

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Year- End Review of 2013 Changes and Updates at PohlmanUSA Court Reporting

Going into the new year we wanted to provide a few reminders of some of the exciting changes and updates PohlmanUSA carried out in 2013.

Most recently and most noticeably by square footage was the relocation of our Chicago office. PohlmanUSA’s Chicago office completed their move without difficulty and is operating full-time from our new space located at 20 South Clark Street. The new office houses 2 private offices available for attorneys to use prior to and during depositions. It also provides a conference room, seating up to 20, available to hold depositions and video conferences. You can contact our Chicago office at:

EFFECTIVE FEBRYARY 1ST, 2014, POHLMANUSA WILL NO LONGER BE RECEIVING MAIL SENT TO OUR PREVIOUS ADDRESS.

Desktop Video Conferencing (DVC) is being offered at more depositions and is utilized by additional clients each week as an effective tool to meet client’s expectations of doing more in less time, dealing with increased caseloads, and addressing client’s sensitivity to litigation budgets. DVC combines video streaming, video conferencing, and even electronic exhibits into one powerful package. Contact us at [email protected] to get signed up or at [email protected] for questions.

MyCase™, our online case management system, recently released several updated features. Some of the initial updates are:
• The notice of deposition, stip letter, and signature/page errata sheet file names are now visible on the calendar page.
• When signed up to receive the new deposition alert, you will receive an automated e-mail indicating that a deposition has been scheduled to take place within the next 5 calendar days. The case number has now been included in the body of the e-mail.
• The live deposition alerts are generated by a Pohlman employee to keep you informed of events that may be occurring during an active deposition. The subject line of this alert message will now include the Witness Name and Depositions date.
• The transcript request e-mail is delivered to your firm when someone from your firm is present at a Pohlman deposition. This e-mail will now contain the name of the attending attorney and clients represented at the deposition.

MyRecordsRetrieval™ (MRR), our custom records collection, management and online distribution service was launched supporting complex multiparty cases in St. Clair, Cook, and Madison Counties in Illinois. MRR is cost-efficient, encrypted, HIPAA compliant, customizable and efficient. For additional information on whether MRR is beneficial for your case contact us at [email protected].
MyDocServe™, our electronic service and pleading management system, recently began providing services in Massac County, Illinois in addition to the existing services provided in St. Clair County, Illinois since December, 2010. This application provides online docket management and has been designed as a cost-effective electronic document service solution in complex, fast-paced, large litigation.

PohlmanUSA also introduced a new corporate logo, tag line, and website in 2013. The newly designed site offers our clients a better online experience and a more efficient access. The PohlmanUSA that you have grown to rely on was built by a team, using our strength, stability, technology, and innovation, all which are key elements of the PohlmanUSA vision. We are committed to delivering exceptional customer service, 24/7, and anticipating our clients’ needs. We’re always listening.™
We look forward to working with you in 2014 as we continue to progress with our technological advancements and deliver exceptional customer service by anticipating our client’s needs.

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Winter White-out Solution: Desktop Video Conferencing

If you are worried about getting stranded without a flight, finding yourself wasting too much time sitting in airports, or are concerned you will not get to the deposition in time, it’s time to take advantage of Desktop Video Conferencing (DVC).
DVC provides a solution to prevent the need to travel for 2-hour depositions, reduces the stress of leaving town in bad weather, and provides a way for you to stay home for the big football game. DVC provides solutions to these and other travel dilemmas you face each week while supporting your efforts to meet client’s expectations of doing more in less time, dealing with increased caseloads, and addressing sensitivity to litigation budgets.
DVC combines video streaming, video conferencing, and even electronic exhibit sharing into one powerful package. It is not only cost conscious, convenient, and easy-to-use but most importantly it provides the ability to see witness’ gestures and facial expressions while limiting the number of attorneys physically present with the witness. With the reduction in travel time, the benefit of not having to leave your home or office, and the elimination of travel costs, DVC is the undeniable choice of future nationwide depositions.
PohlmanUSA has trained all our court reporters and videographers on the quick and easy set-up of the PohlmanUSA-provided DVC equipment. In addition, our technology staff is not only on-hand to answer any questions prior to and during a deposition, we went a step further, and will monitor the video quality and connectivity of each DVC. This ensures PohlmanUSA is prepared to troubleshoot immediately if any issues should arise.
Contact us at [email protected] to get signed up or at [email protected] for questions.

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Commit Before You Network

Professional networking offers many benefits and rewards but if not done effectively it is a waste of your time. The concept sounds simple- go and talk to people but there is more to consider before you jump into the world of networking. 1) Why am I networking? This will help you narrow down where to network – the possibilities are endless. 2) Who do I want to meet? This will give you an initial goal for the event and may also help you choose what to attend. 3) What do I want to gain from networking? Are you looking for new business, a mentor, a job, knowledge, or connections in your industry? 4) Am I comfortable meeting strangers or do I need to take a friend or colleague with me? 5) Most importantly, do I have the time to commit not only to one event but to “networking”? If the answer to the last question is no- don’t start. You will just get frustrated that you did not get anything out of “networking” and may potentially burn bridges with individuals that you meet.
If you decide you do have time to network remember your goal and use prepared questions to start conversations keeping your objective for the event in mind. After the event make the time to follow-up through social media. You should also send hand written notecards to those you want to remain in contact or you had an exceptional encounter with, keep a spreadsheet with over-view of the group or event so that you know if it is worth your time in the future. Use the spreadsheet to list who you met, contact information and any interest gained so that you can quickly contact them individually or as a group in the future. I suggest quarterly contact through email, social media, in person meetings, sending an article or story that they may find of interest. This allow for growth of the relationship and shows that you are interested in the connection.
Remember you have to earn the right to ask for their assistance so find a way to add value and stay connected. Just like every relationship you will only get out of networking what you put into it and no relationship is built at one event. The same things goes with getting invited to additional events – if you can add value by offering your time to a committee, the board or by introducing other prospective members to the group you will quickly be an integral part of the organization and be seen as being informed about the group.
Make time and remember not to over-commit yourself when networking, or you will not be successful.
For a list of prospective networking organizations in the legal industry contact me at [email protected].

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