- Your Business/Occupation. In one or two sentences, explain your services or products.
I am the Senior Director of Litigation Technology at Planet Depos, a global provider of litigation support services. - Our Industry. A. How would you describe the challenges and opportunities that our industry faces (in the Court, Agency, and Deposition markets)? B. What do you see as the challenges and opportunities.
Opportunities that our industry faces are that we have an opportunity to shine and be the solution for the stenographic reporter shortage.
The challenges that our industry faces are that notary laws need to be updated to cover the responsibilities of a digital court reporter administering the oath in person and remotely.
Judges and attorneys are mostly getting their information about digital court reporting from stenographic reporters, which could mean misinformation or inaccurate representations.
There are a lot of myths circulating in our industry regarding digital court reporting. It’s up to AAERT and their membership to debunk those myths and educate the public.
Companies and clients do not understand when they can use a digital court reporter and when they cannot, creating confusion, which can lead to them preferring not to work with a digital reporter because they are not sure if they are breaking the law. We need a one-stop shop statewide guide to digital reporting that reflects what states digital reporters can take work in, what requirements must be met and whether or not they can work in court, and/or take state depositions. - Reason(s) To Run. A. What is/are the reason(s) you decided to run for the board? B. Whom and what do you want to impact?
The reason I am interviewing for a role on the Board is I have been involved in managing and/or training digital court reporters for the past five or six years and am familiar with their value and their challenges. I come from a stenographic background and have 30 years of experience in the court reporting industry, as well as having served on the Florida Court Reporters Association Board of Directors for five years, so I feel my experience and knowledge of both steno and digital reporting would be relevant to whatever role I would be asked to serve.
I am currently serving on the Certification Task Force. I would like to impact certification, setting best practices, advocacy/legislation that impact digital court reporting and educating the public on the value of using digital court reporters. - Your Goal. A. If you had a mandate—board authorization, financial resources, member support—what do you want to do? B. How would you improve the capabilities of our members (reporters, transcribers, proofreaders, videographers, business owners and executives)?
I would like for AAERT to have a lobbyist and team that work on legislation in the states where it is needed. Some states need the rules to be clarified. Some states need to update their rules to include current technology. Some state rules are very conflicting from one paragraph to the next. We need someone watching out for the digital reporters and paving the way into all states across the nation. We need representation at legislative hearings, structured campaigns that we involve our membership with to combat states or associations that are in opposition to digital court reporting.
The most helpful tool for AAERT’s members (outside of a lobbyist) would be a statewide guide to digital reporting that reflects what states digital reporters can take work in, what requirements must be met and whether or not they can work in court, and/or take state depositions. - Involvement. A. How long have you been a member? B. How many conferences have you attended? If you have not attended conferences, would you explain why not? C. Do you plan to attend this year’s conference?
I have been a member for three years.
I have attended two conferences so far and am attending the annual conference, which will bring my total to three conferences.
Yes. - Experience. A. What has been your leadership experience? B. Do you have experience as a board member of a non-profit organization? C. Please list the organizations, your positions, and duties.
I have held several leadership roles in the last 25+ years of reporting experience. I am currently the Senior Director of Litigation Technology at Planet Depos. I have also served on and chaired multiple committees for FCRA.
Yes, I served five years on the board of directors for the Florida Court Reporters Association.
With FCRA, I was Director, VP, President-Elect, President. I was served on all committees at one time or another including, Government Relations, PR Task Force, Membership, Fundraising, Conference, and others. Currently I serve on the AAERT Certification Task Force. I was the 2019 recipient of the Emily Mann Distinguished Service Award with FCRA.
I am currently a member of FCRA, DRA, CCRA, NNA and AAERT. I hold two stenographic and two digital reporting certifications: CSR (CA), FPR, CER, CDR