My name is Margaret Morgan. I am an official electronic court reporter for the Minnesota Judicial Branch. I work for Judge Joseph F. Chase in Rochester, Minnesota, and I love my job. 

My employment in the court system began in May of 1992 with a position in court administration. In January of 1994 I was hired by Judge Gerard W. Ring as his electronic court reporter. Since then I have worked for other judges; mostly recently with Judge Chase for over 11 years. I am a grateful employee of the Minnesota Judicial Branch — especially during this difficult time. 

In the past 29 years, I have been active in various committees, work groups, and trained or mentored electronic court reporters. Most recently I worked closely with IT and district administration to configure the digital reporting technology to conduct felony jury trials with pandemic restrictions in our existing courtrooms. In June 2020 I reported the pilot jury trial. This year Olmsted County designed and constructed a courtroom specifically to conduct felony jury trials with pandemic restrictions. I worked closely with IT on the digital court reporting technology, including placement and pairing 30 microphones. That was a challenge! On March 1, 2021 I reported the first jury trial in that courtroom. 

Prior to my court reporting career, I worked as a legal assistant for law firms or corporate legal departments. Responsibilities included transcription, drafting and editing legal documents, assisting in preparing cases for trial, reviewing discovery, creating exhibits, summarizing depositions, and more. I worked for associate attorneys, senior partners, and head of the corporate department. My legal background provided invaluable experience and a solid foundation for the court reporter position. Throughout the years while working full time, I enrolled in college courses with a primary focus on English, writing, and psychology. 

My AAERT involvement includes: committee participation on conference planning, education, strategic planning, professional development, and certification; and past board positions as director, vice-president, and president. I am certified through the Minnesota Judicial Branch and I hold AAERT certifications for CER and CET. 

Given my background, I am particularly interested in the use of digital reporting platforms in the court system.