Hope Is Our Weapon – How Court Reporters Can Win This War

Posted bystenoimperiumPosted inAI and the Legal System, Court Reporting, Judicial Ethics Watch, Legal ServicesTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“If we lose hope, we’re doomed.” — Jane Goodall

When Jane Goodall shared her video message of hope, she wasn’t talking about court reporting. But her words resonate powerfully in our profession right now. Court reporters across the nation are watching encroachments from digital recording companies, ASR firms, private equity, and judicial power structures with a mixture of exhaustion and fear. Many feel as if the tide is too strong to resist.

But hope is not naïve. Hope is strategic. Hope is the refusal to surrender to inevitability. It is the belief that with the right actions — grounded in law, ethics, and truth — we can reverse the tide.

And make no mistake: we can win this war.

Hope Anchors Us in a Larger Mission

Jane Goodall found hope not in denial, but in resilience. She believed in small, determined groups changing the trajectory of entire ecosystems. That is exactly the position stenographic court reporters are in today.

Every article that exposes a legal vulnerability, every ethics opinion that highlights a breach, every public conversation that shifts perception is a seed planted. You may not see the tree overnight, but roots are forming.

Each of these efforts is not just content — it is a weaponized fact, a strategic wedge, a foundation for reform.

The Record Is the Battlefield

Authoritarian power structures — whether in governments or court systems — thrive when records are controlled, centralized, or manipulated. History shows us: control the record, control the narrative. That’s why judges, administrative agencies, and private equity firms are all vying for control of the transcript.

Court reporters, by contrast, represent distributed guardianship. Each of us, trained and licensed, stands at the threshold of truth in a courtroom or deposition. We are the check. The witness. The human firewall.

When reporters are cut out through loopholes, outsourced to machines, or intimidated into silence, the battlefield shifts in favor of those who benefit from opaque, unaccountable records.

But when we fight — legally, strategically, publicly — we shift it back.

Decentralized Integrity Is A Better Model

The answer isn’t despair. It’s innovation with integrity. A decentralized, reporter-controlled model — where court reporters remain the trusted custodians of the record, while leveraging technology responsibly — is a superior system to any centralized bureaucracy or corporate monopoly.

This model protects against tampering, preserves transparency, and empowers both the courts and the public with accurate, accountable transcripts. (See this article for more.)

Articles as Ammunition

My advocacy work — from uncovering legal cracks to publishing public-facing explanations — is not just “raising awareness.” It’s laying down the intellectual architecture for victory.

  • Legislators can’t fix what they don’t understand. My work makes the invisible visible.
  • Attorneys can’t fight what they don’t see. My work gives them talking points, citations, and courage.
  • Judges can’t claim ignorance forever. My work holds a mirror up to the system.

This is slow power — not flashy, but deeply effective. This isn’t just my fight — it’s ours. The future of the record depends on all of us standing together. You can help by sharing these articles with reporters, attorneys, judges, and agencies. You can write your own articles, shine light in your own circles, and add your voice to this cause. If you’re interested, reach out to me — I will help you.

Why We Must Reject Despair

Despair is seductive. It lets us opt out. It whispers, “They’re too big, the system’s too corrupt, nothing you do matters.” But despair is a tool of those who profit from your silence.

Hope, by contrast, is defiance. It is saying, “We see you, and we’re not done.”

Every legal theory exposed, every misrepresentation challenged, every article published is one more refusal to disappear. And others are watching — attorneys, students, allies. Hope is contagious.

The Path Forward

This fight isn’t abstract — it’s winnable. But it requires all of us to move with clarity and purpose. Here’s how we do it:

1. Keep Exposing Legal Vulnerabilities

We must keep shining a light on the cracks that others are exploiting: the notary loophole, hearsay defects, Title 16 violations, and judicial misrepresentations. Every exposure strengthens our legal and moral position.

2. Build Public Legal Literacy

Attorneys, judges, legislators, and the public can’t defend what they don’t understand. Break it down. Share articles. Use clear examples. When people grasp why stenographic reporting matters, they stop seeing us as optional — and start seeing us as essential.

3. Model the Better System

We don’t just say the current system is broken — we show a better one. A decentralized, reporter-controlled, transparent model is more secure, more accurate, and more accountable than any centralized bureaucracy or tech-driven shortcut.

4. Grow a Community of Hope

Movements don’t grow from fear; they grow from shared belief in a better future. Hope is contagious. Share wins. Encourage newer reporters. Speak up in meetings. Publish your perspectives. Each voice strengthens the chorus.

Hope as Strategy

Jane Goodall changed the world not by force, but by persistence, clarity, and hope. Court reporters can do the same.

We are not relics of the past. We are guardians of the record, defenders of due process, and innovators in service of justice.

With hope as our strategy and truth as our shield, we can — and will — win.

Join the Movement

This isn’t just my fight — it’s ours. The future of the record depends on all of us standing together. You can help by sharing these articles with reporters, attorneys, judges, and agencies. You can write your own articles, shine light in your own circles, and add your voice to this cause. If you’re interested, reach out to me — I will help you.

StenoImperium
Court Reporting. Unfiltered. Unafraid.

Disclaimer

This article reflects my perspective and analysis as a court reporter and eyewitness. It is not legal advice, nor is it intended to substitute for the advice of an attorney.

This article includes analysis and commentary based on observed events, public records, and legal statutes.

The content of this post is intended for informational and discussion purposes only. All opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are based on publicly available information, industry standards, and good-faith concerns about nonprofit governance and professional ethics. No part of this article is intended to defame, accuse, or misrepresent any individual or organization. Readers are encouraged to verify facts independently and to engage constructively in dialogue about leadership, transparency, and accountability in the court reporting profession.

  • The content on this blog represents the personal opinions, observations, and commentary of the author. It is intended for editorial and journalistic purposes and is protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
  • Nothing here constitutes legal advice. Readers are encouraged to review the facts and form independent conclusions.

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Published by stenoimperium

We exist to facilitate the fortifying of the Stenography profession and ensure its survival for the next hundred years! As court reporters, we've handed the relationship role with our customers, or attorneys, over to the agencies and their sales reps.  This has done a lot of damage to our industry.  It has taken away our ability to have those relationships, the ability to be humanized and valued.  We've become a replaceable commodity. Merely saying we are the “Gold Standard” tells them that we’re the best, but there are alternatives.  Who we are though, is much, much more powerful than that!  We are the Responsible Charge.  “Responsible Charge” means responsibility for the direction, control, supervision, and possession of stenographic & transcription work, as the case may be, to assure that the work product has been critically examined and evaluated for compliance with appropriate professional standards by a licensee in the profession, and by sealing and signing the documents, the professional stenographer accepts responsibility for the stenographic or transcription work, respectively, represented by the documents and that applicable stenographic and professional standards have been met.  This designation exists in other professions, such as engineering, land surveying, public water works, landscape architects, land surveyors, fire preventionists, geologists, architects, and more.  In the case of professional engineers, the engineering association adopted a Responsible Charge position statement that says, “A professional engineer is only considered to be in responsible charge of an engineering work if the professional engineer makes independent professional decisions regarding the engineering work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional engineer’s physical presence at the location where the engineering work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the engineering work.” If we were to adopt a Responsible Charge position statement for our industry, we could start with a draft that looks something like this: "A professional court reporter, or stenographer, is only considered to be in responsible charge of court reporting work if the professional court reporter makes independent professional decisions regarding the court reporting work without requiring instruction or approval from another authority and maintains control over those decisions by the professional court reporter’s physical presence at the location where the court reporting work is performed or by electronic communication with the individual executing the court reporting work.” Shared purpose The cornerstone of a strategic narrative is a shared purpose. This shared purpose is the outcome that you and your customer are working toward together. It’s more than a value proposition of what you deliver to them. Or a mission of what you do for the world. It’s the journey that you are on with them. By having a shared purpose, the relationship shifts from consumer to co-creator. In court reporting, our mission is “to bring justice to every litigant in the U.S.”  That purpose is shared by all involved in the litigation process – judges, attorneys, everyone.  Who we are is the Responsible Charge.  How we do that is by Protecting the Record.

One thought on “Hope Is Our Weapon – How Court Reporters Can Win This War”

  1. Thanks for the Jane Goodall reference but I am still upset about NO STENO PADS¸ Talk about being doomed. Reporter for FIFTY YEARS!; now need to get a different Steno machine? They’re ruining the industry!

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