Every once in a while, a single comment in a Facebook group hits like a tuning fork—vibrating with a truth so sharp that the entire industry should stop and listen. This week, that comment came from a Canadian reporter who, after earning their RPR, asked a simple question:
“If I get my Washington State certification, would I be able to do online depositions? I’m Canadian and the job market is really bad here. We’re only getting 3–6 jobs a month. Working in the States would be my last option before I go back to school for a career change.”
To the untrained eye, it’s an innocent inquiry about reciprocity and remote work. But for those paying attention, this is not a question—it is a warning.
This is the harbinger of what’s coming to the United States if we do not stop the expansion of ASR, digital recording, and the corporate race-to-the-bottom wage structure that has already gutted the court reporting profession in Canada, the U.K., and dozens of jurisdictions worldwide.
It is the glimpse of our possible future.
It is the sound of a door slamming shut.
And it is happening faster than anyone wants to admit.
When Human Stenographers Lose Ground, Entire Economies Follow
Canada’s collapse didn’t happen overnight. It happened precisely the same way it’s happening now in the United States:
- Corporate agencies promised “cost savings” using digital recording.
- Government bodies were sold on the fantasy that ASR would “close the shortage.”
- Tech companies insisted their speech-to-text systems were “good enough.”
- Bar associations were told accuracy was secondary to efficiency.
- Courts bought equipment that looked modern but delivered garbage output.
- Quality reporters left the field because the work dried up.
- Legal systems deteriorated, quietly, silently, until the damage was irreversible.
Now, Canadian reporters—once respected, in-demand professionals—are lucky to receive three to six jobs per month.
Three to six jobs.
For a certified reporter.
In a country of 40 million people.
That is not a shortage.
That is a manufactured collapse.
The Facebook post is not about Washington certification.
It is about a professional refugee trying to escape an industry that was hollowed out by the very technologies now sweeping across the United States.
This Is Exactly How Collapse Looks in the Early Stages
People assume a profession disappears with a loud bang. It doesn’t. It disappears with a series of silent, incremental shifts—none of which feel catastrophic in isolation, but together create irreversible damage.
Collapse begins with:
- Clients told they don’t need a reporter because “digital is already assigned.”
- Agencies replacing rough drafts with machine output.
- Courts cutting human reporters on the promise of “cost savings.”
- Judges being misled about ASR accuracy.
- Students dropping out because the future looks uncertain.
- Talented reporters leaving after months of under-employment.
- Foreign reporters seeking American work because their own markets fell apart.
If this sounds familiar, it should.
We are already seeing U.S. agencies replacing stenographers with:
- Digital recorders with no formal training,
- ASR pipelines in real time,
- “Hybrid” models that are stenographer-free,
- Offshore transcription labor,
- AI-assisted “clean-up editors” who are paid pennies.
We are watching multinational corporations—backed by venture capital—push low-accuracy ASR into depositions and trials at scale, while legislators who don’t understand the legal ramifications repeat whatever industry lobbyists whisper in their ear.
We are witnessing the Canadian future forming in the United States in slow motion.
Why This Matters for Attorneys and the Integrity of the Record
This is not just a court reporter issue.
It is a legal integrity issue.
Every attorney who believes “AI is good enough” has forgotten one crucial truth: the record is not just words. It is the architecture of justice. When that architecture erodes, legitimacy erodes with it.
Look north.
Canada now suffers from:
- Transcript delays that stretch for months.
- Erroneous transcripts with material misrepresentations.
- Lost audio, missing testimony, and irretrievable gaps.
- Appeals jeopardized due to incomplete or inaccurate records.
- Court backlogs caused by unreliable recording systems.
- Litigants denied access to the very words spoken in their own hearings.
This is not hypothetical.
It is not alarmist.
It is real, present, and documented.
When reporters fall from 40 depositions a month to 3–6, the system cannot function.
Attorneys cannot function.
Justice cannot function.
The Professional Refugee Problem Is America’s Warning Sign
The reporter on Facebook isn’t the problem.
The reporter is the symptom.
A symptom of a system so destabilized by ASR that highly trained professionals must leave their country to find work.
A symptom of what happens when governments chase “savings” without understanding the cost.
A symptom of a legal ecosystem that no longer values accuracy, ethics, or skill.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth:
U.S. reporters will face this same future if the industry does not pivot—now.
Already we see:
- Reporters scratching for work in markets flooded with digital operators.
- Skilled stenographers underbid by agencies using AI transcripts.
- Legislative pushes (like AB 711) to normalize ASR in depositions.
- National agencies quietly phasing out realtime.
- Digital recorders being marketed as “entry-level” workers to reduce labor costs.
- A surge of inexperienced workers used as substitutes for certified professionals.
- State bars and judicial councils misled by Silicon Valley promises.
The Facebook post is not an isolated question—it is a flashing red emergency light.
If the U.S. Fails to Act, Stenographers Won’t Just Lose Jobs—We Will Lose the Record
Let’s be clear:
Canada didn’t fail because reporters weren’t good enough.
It failed because decision-makers prioritized cost over accuracy.
The United States is repeating that mistake.
If we want to avoid Canada’s fate, we need immediate corrective action:
1. Attorneys must demand certified stenographers in every proceeding.
If attorneys stop tolerating ASR, agencies will stop pushing it.
2. State Bars must issue formal ethics advisories.
ABA Opinions 498 and 512 already support human-captured records. States must follow.
3. Legislators must be educated about the risks of ASR.
Not by vendors—but by real subject-matter experts.
4. Reporters must claim the narrative.
Silence is complicity. We cannot outsource our future to agencies or corporations.
5. Judges must refuse uncertified record-creation in their courtrooms.
Court reporters protect judges as much as litigants.
The Post Wasn’t a Question—It Was a Requiem
The Canadian reporter isn’t looking for opportunity.
They’re looking for survival.
This is the reality of a market where ASR “won.”
This is what the U.S. will become if we do not stop pretending ASR is harmless, if we do not challenge the corporate talking points, and if we do not defend the profession that protects the legal system itself.
The question is not whether ASR is coming.
It is whether we allow it to erase us—quietly, steadily, the way it did in Canada.
The Facebook post is a harbinger.
We ignore it at our peril.
StenoImperium
Court Reporting. Unfiltered. Unafraid.
Disclaimer
I’m not a CPA or financial planner — I’m sharing what I’ve learned as a working reporter navigating these same decisions. Everyone’s financial situation is different, so please talk with your accountant or tax professional before making changes based on this guide.
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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Your future is in your communication. Teach your leaders and your members multiple communication methods. Create communication channels to your communities (court reporters, lawyers, bar associations, judicial bodies, legislative bodies, citizens) and inform them as to your value, your accomplishments, your technology and how they serve communities.
Introduce members to Constant Messaging (CM) and develop strategies for implementing a CM plan. Use my book “Just Keep Showing Up” and particularly the chapters on Master Moments and Leave Traces.
All members should take the Trek42 personality survey for the purpose of identifying potential volunteers and to identify potential future leaders. In addition, board of director members can use their Trek42 results to increase effectiveness, improve communication, and to avoid and/or resolve conflicts. Identimap conducts an analysis on the impact of behavioral traits on decision-making for boards of directors.
For recruitment of court reporting prospects, to know whether court reporting may be for you, first you have to know who you are and why you are you. Take the NCRA Trek42 personality assessment survey. The survey can be taken live at a recruiting event, or via website link, social media link, etc. The results would indicate immediately whether the survey-taker has the qualities needed to succeed in the field. At the very least, this would comfort the parents who may be making the investment in their child’s education.
The last 50 years have been spent communicating our technology. The next 50 years will be spent communicating our competency.
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Hello,
I just wanted to say I really enjoy your articles. They are very well written and I see you’ve experienced some of the things I’ve experienced in court reporting. Keep up the good work.
Have a beautiful day
Deanna Z. Haaker, CSR 10309
[“The decisions you make and the actions that follow are a reflection of who you are… You cannot hide from yourself”]”The decisions you make and the actions that follow are a reflection of who you are… You cannot hide from yourself”
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